Mochar Ghonto

Here is the recipe of the week.Its called 'mochar ghonto'.Bengalis use every part of a banana plant.The tender interior of the stem,the fruit(unripe & ripe},the flower,all are part of their delicacies.Even banana leaves are of use. They are used in making 'Paturies'(a fevered delicacy which i will reveal to you in my subsequent posts) & foods traditionally were used to be served on banana leaves in Bengal,specially on festive occasions. 
Mochar ghonto uses the flower(mocha),of the banana plant.Mocha(ch pronounced as in churn) looks like a cone covering small elongated flowers  with rough reddish brown looking flaps.Flowers are plucked one by one & non edible parts are separated. You can easily identify the non edible parts by looking for two parts of the flower:one is a pin like structure in the middle & the other is a artificial looking translucent petal covering the flower.Here is the complete recipe:

Mochar Ghonto:- 

                       1  chop the flowers finely after separating the non edible parts & cook in a pressure cooker adding  water with a pinch of  turmeric & salt..After one or two whistles take out the contents & drain away the water.

                      2  To the boiled flowers  mix 1.5 tea spoon full of ginger& cumin paste 
little salt, 
sugar
chili powder
a pinch or two of wheat flour. 
 3   mash the mixture.
4   Heat a little mustered oil in a pan,add a couple of bay leaves & cumin seeds for tempering.
5   Add the mashed mixture & stir- fry for few minutes.when you are done add some ghee(refined butter) to it & mix well.And that's it.you have your 'mochar ghonto'.To make it more interesting you can add fried & crushed 'bori'(dried blobs of pureed pulses, most commonly lentils) or grated coconut or fried papad(you can find them at any Indian grocer's store if you are living out side India)Just sprinkle them over it.