This niramish mochar ghonto is a classic Bengali recipe where the banana flower or banana blossom is peeled and cooked into a dry stir-fry. This mochar tarkari is served with rice and is consumed at the beginning of the meal. Mocha r ghonto is a Bengali niramish tarkari, i.e. it is a no onion and garlic dish. Hence, a completely vegetarian side dish from Bengali cuisine.
Like several other Bengali recipes, every family has their own mochar ghonto recipe. Some add black chickpeas to it, while I skip it. Instead I add potatoes cut in smaller cubes. Not only this adds to the volume of the dish, but it kinds of bring together the strands of banana blossom in a homogenous way. My version of mochar ghonto recipe is drawn from the recipe which my mother follows, which she learnt from her own mother.
How to manage and cut a Banana Blossom or Mocha?
First and foremost, peeling and prepping a banana blossom is a bit time consuming activity. But once it is done patiently and accurately, the final dish of mochar ghonto in Bengali style is worth every ounce of energy spent on it. In order to peel it, you have to remove each of the covering layers of purple coloured petals, which look like leaves. Inside each such layer, you will find a bunch of stalks.
Separate the stalks from each other and keep them in a bowl. Repeat this till you remove all the layers of leaves and gather all the stalks. Once you reach the heart of the banana blossom where it becomes impossible to remove any more layers, remove the base stalk to which the previous leaves were attached and keep it whole to be chopped up. This is edible. Discard all the leaves.
Coming back to the stalks, this is the edible part of the banana flower. Inside each of these stalks, you will find a single hard stick with a round top. Try to remove this stick completely and discard it. Patiently do the same with the rest of the stalks.
Once done, chop the stalks as fine as you can along with the heart of the banana flower which we kept aside earlier. This is how a banana flower is peeled and prepped for cooking.
How to make Narkel diye Mochar Ghonto – Ingredients list
- Mocha or Banana flower
- Potatoes
- Mustard Oil
- Ghee
- Cumin Seeds
- Bay Leaf
- Green Chilies
- Ginger
- Cumin Powder
- Bengali Garam Masala Powder
- Salt
- Sugar
- Turmeric Powder
- Milk
- Grated Coconut
Step-by-step instructions on how to make the Mochar Ghonto in Bengali style
- Prepare and chop the banana flower as explained above. Give it a thorough wash and put it inside a pressure cooker. Pour some water, just enough to submerge them and some salt & turmeric powder into it. Allow this to cook for 7-8 minutes on high power. Turn off the heat and let the cooker depressurize on its own.
- Once the pressure cooker has cooled down completely, open the lid and strain everything. Discard the water and keep the cooked banana flower aside.
- Heat some mustard oil in a pan or kadhai and temper it with cumin seeds, bay leaf and chopped green chillies.
- As they sizzle, add the potatoes cut into small cubes. Stir everything and let it cook on medium heat till the potatoes are partially cooked.
- Now add the cooked banana flower and give everything a mix
- Season it with some salt, turmeric powder, cumin powder, salt and grated ginger.
- Add the milk and mix everything well and keep frying it till you see it drying up and reduced in quantity
- When it dries up completely and everything is cooked properly, add the garam masala powder and ghee. Mix it well and turn off the heat.
- Serve it with a garnish of freshly grated coconut
This niramish style of mochar ghonto tarkari is one of classics from the pages of Bengali vegetarian cooking. It is quite interesting how we Bengalis use up each and every part of a Banana tree in some or the other way. Apart from the leaves, almost the entirety of this tree is edible.
I already have quite a few recipes that are made using some or the other part of this tree. Here’s a list of it:
- Banana Fruit – Kola’r Bora or Banana Fritters
- Raw Banana – Kanchkolar Kofta Curry, Kanchkolar Khosa Ghonto Recipe, Shukto Recipe | Bengali Mix-Vegetable
- Mocha or Banana Flower – Mochar Ghonto
- Thor or Banana Tree Stalk – coming soon.
- Banana Leaf – for serving food or making paturis
Have you tried this recipe? I would love to hear about it.
Tag me on Instagram @priyankabhattacharya.sa or Facebook @hashdiaries and I will share it further.
This niramish mochar ghonto is a classic Bengali recipe where the banana flower or banana blossom is peeled and cooked into a dry stir-fry. This mochar tarkari is served with rice and is consumed at the beginning of the meal. Mocha r ghonto is a Bengali niramish tarkari, i.e. it is a no onion and garlic dish. Hence, a completely vegetarian side dish from Bengali cuisine.
- 1 Mocha or Banana flower Small Size
- 1 Potatoes Medium Size – cut in small cubes
- 3 tbsp Mustard Oil
- 1 tbsp Ghee
- ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 2 Green Chilies
- 1 tbsp Ginger
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ tsp Bengali Garam Masala Powder
- Salt to Taste
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- ¼ cup Milk
- Grated Coconut for garnish
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Prepare and chop the banana flower as explained above in the Blogpost. Give it a thorough wash and put it inside a pressure cooker. Pour some water, just enough to submerge them and some salt & turmeric powder into it.
Allow this to cook for 7-8 minutes on high power. Turn off the heat and let the cooker depressurize on its own.
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Once the pressure cooker has cooled down completely, open the lid and strain everything. Discard the water and keep the cooked banana flower aside.
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Heat some mustard oil in a pan or kadhai and temper it with cumin seeds, bay leaf and chopped green chillies.
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As they sizzle, add the potatoes cut into small cubes. Stir everything and let it cook on medium heat till the potatoes are partially cooked.
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Now add the cooked banana flower and give everything a mix
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Season it with some salt, turmeric powder, cumin powder, salt and grated ginger.
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Add the milk and mix everything well and keep frying it till you see it drying up and reduced in quantity
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When it dries up completely and everything is cooked properly, add the garam masala powder and ghee. Mix it well and turn off the heat.
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Serve it with a garnish of freshly grated coconut