Mochar Ghonto (Banana Blossom Curry). Mochar Ghonto is a dry curry recipe and is often served along with steaming hot rice and ghee. If you like this recipe, you can also try other Bengali recipes To begin making the Mochar Ghonto recipe, we will first clean the banana blossom/plantain flower. Oil your hands and start working with the.

Mochar Ghonto, in Bengali 'Mochar' means 'banana blossom' & 'Ghonto' is roughly a 'mashed stir fry'. Prepping banana blossoms is a labourious activity, but it is worth Prep the banana blossoms, grind a basic Bengali garam masala and make the curry using potato, chickpeas and coconut milk. Mochar Ghonto or Banana Flower or Blossom Curry is another traditional Bengali preparation which is disappearing from our pantry these days. You can cook Mochar Ghonto (Banana Blossom Curry) using 21 ingredients and 10 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Mochar Ghonto (Banana Blossom Curry)

You need 1 of medium size banana blossom, cleaned and chopped finely.
You need 1 of potato, cubed.
It's 1/2 cup of boiled white / black chana (chickpeas).
It's 2-3 tbsp of grated fresh coconut.
Prepare 2-3 tbsp of mustard oil.
You need 2 of bay leaves.
It's 2 of dry red chilies.
You need 1 tsp of cumin seeds.
It's 1 of " cinnamon.
Prepare 2-3 of green cardamoms.
Prepare 4-5 of cloves.
Prepare 1 tsp of ginger paste.
You need 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder.
It's 1 tsp of red chilli powder.
It's 1 tsp of roasted cumin powder.
It's 1/2 tsp of garam masala powder.
You need 1 tsp of sugar (opt).
It's to taste of salt.
It's 2 of green chilies, slit.
You need 1 tsp of atta (whole wheat flour) mixed with 1/4 cup water.
You need 1 tsp of ghee.

When they start to crackle add pre-cooked banana flowers and mix well. Sprinkle turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder and give it a good stir. Mochar ghonto or banana blossom stir fry is unanimously the star of any lunch menu, yet it is so elusive. Mochar ghonto can be prepared in both veg and non-veg ways.

Mochar Ghonto (Banana Blossom Curry) step by step

First I recommend you to put on disposable gloves as the iron content in these flowers will discolour your nails & fingers. Then peel the layers of the banana blossom & remove the florets. Then from each floret discard a thick stamen from the centre & the outer cover. This is pretty time consuming so just be patient as the end result is really yummy..
Soak the chopped banana blossom in tamarind water for an hour. Drain and pressure cook in required quantity of water, salt and pinch of turmeric powder for 4-5 whistles. Drain the water, rinse and mash well. Keep aside..
Dry roast the coconut till golden in colour. Keep aside..
Heat oil in a pan & temper with cumin seeds, bay leaves, whole dry red chilies, cinnamon, cardamoms and cloves..
Add the potatoes and stir fry till light brown..
Add the ginger paste and all the dry spices (except garam masala powder) mixed with some water. Saute till the oil separates..
Add the boiled banana blossom and green chilies. Saute for 2- minutes. Sprinkle some water and cook, covered on a low flame..
When almost done, add the boiled chickpeas, sauteed coconut and flour paste. Mix everything well and cook for a further 2 minutes..
When done, add garam masala powder & ghee. Give it a stir and switch the flame..
Serve with hot steamed rice or chapatis..

Some like it with shrimps including me, others use simply coconut and desi chickpea or chola (kala chana). So I found the easiest way to cook it as it brings out the good flavors. The easiest way is you can get the canned mocha. It is available in any Chinese grocery store labelled as Banana Blossom in Water or Brine. Mochar Ghonto, also known as Kolar Mocha and Banana Flower Sabzi is a healthy, rich in iron and traditional Bengali food item.