Banana Blossom / Flower Thoran

                            

                                          

                                            

I was in the kitchen cooking evening dinner when I got a call from my college friend Vaishali.. she had called to invite me for her son’s thread ceremony to be held at Ratnagiri..I told her that I want to definitely come and will work out travel plans with our group friends whom she had also invited.  I was so excited that I stopped cooking for a while and called up my school / college friend Varsha who lives in Pune and we finalized our trip to Ratnagiri.  I told my husband after I finalized the trip and he said go and enjoy… you will get a break and I and kids will also party with my friend’s family.

We travelled one day before the event… Vaishali had made our hotel reservations.. We travelled by road and thanks to Varsha’s driver Vijay, who drove us to and fro for this event.   We took very few breaks and had carried breakafast with us so just stopped at a restaurant had our breakfast and masala chai and throughout the journey i.e. 6 to 7 hours I and Varsha were non stop talking and remembering school / college days.. We stopped by at a small hotel named Konkani Aangan at Ratnagiri for lunch where they served delicious fish thali and other local food.   The food was divine!   We checked in at the hotel freshened up and visited Vaishali’s home in the evening… She took out time from her busy schedule and took us out to few places and beaches that evening…

The next day i.e. 18^th February we had a great time at the thread ceremony!! We had amazing food and clicked loads of pictures….  After the event, we went to few historical places and beaches and again in the evening visited Vaishali’s home for a Sangeet and dance programme organized by her girls and relatives.  After having dinner at her place we came back to the hotel.  Checked out the next day from the hotel and visited Ganpati Pule on the way back to Pune.

My vacation still continued as my husband and his friend came to pick me up from Katraj and we headed to NIBM where we visited my husband’s School friends home where another classmate and her family also had come.  We celebrated my husband’s birthday on 19^th February at Prashant’s home and had a great time with all of them!! Thank you Pooja and Prashant for all the arrangements!!! We had a fantastic evening with you guys!!! Before we were getting ready to leave, Rajjo handed over Banana Blossoms which she had got from her garden from Lonavala … The recipe I am sharing today is Banana Blossom / Flower Thoran which I learnt from my mother in law!   Thank you Rajjo... The sabzi of this flower tasted yummy!!

So ladies… take out time for yourself… go meet your friends, do things that you like to do and very important be Happy!!!  Being a woman itself is a superpower. Celebrate that. Happy Women's Day!!!

Let’s see how to make this delicious dish..

Ingredients:

Banana flower - 1(remove the outer covering and the flower) finely chopped

Chawli (Black eyed beans) 1/4^th cup (soaked overnight and cooked)

Fresh grated coconut 1 cup

Cumin seeds ½ tsp

Garlic cloves – 5 to 6 nos

Turmeric Powder ¼ tsp

Chilli Powder 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

For tadka

Dry red chillies 2 nos

Urad dal 1 tsp

Curry leaves 2 sprig

Mustard Seeds ½ tsp

Red raw rice ( 1/2 tsp)

Coconut oil 2 tbsp

Water as required

Method

Thoroughly wash the soaked Chawli and pressure cook with little water for around 5 to 8 minutes.

 

First of all apply some oil on your palms.  Remove the outer layers and wash the banana flower. Finely chop the flower and add 2 tsp oil and salt and mix well and keep aside for 10 minutes.  This will help to remove the stickiness from the flower.  After 10 minutes squeeze out the water from the flower and transfer to another bowl. Discard the leftover water released from the flower.  Add little water and required salt and cover and cook this on medium flame for around 5 minutes.  Keep aside.

                                       

Coarsely grind together fresh grated coconut, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garlic and cumin seeds. Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds, let it splutter. Add urad dal, dry red chillies and curry leaves, raw rice and toss for few seconds.  Add the  coarsely ground mixture and saute for a minute.  Now add in the cooked banana flower and the cooked chawli beans and stir well. Check and add more salt if required… Switch off the flame and serve the thoran with rice / chapati.

Do try the recipe and I would really be thankful if you can pin it or share this with your Facebook / Instagram or Twitter followers!  All it takes is a simple click on the “pin it” “like,” “share,” “tweet,” or Google+ buttons below the post. This will definitely keep me motivated.