Mochar ghonto with rice
A treasured Bengali niramish (no onion, no garlic) dish: banana flower florets cleaned one by one, chopped and boiled, then cooked dry with fried potatoes, ginger, cumin, grated coconut and a little sugar, and finished with ghee and garam masala. Cleaning the flower takes time, so it is a weekend dish. Many homes add a handful of soaked chana; in Tamil Nadu the same flower becomes vazhaipoo usili.
- 1 h 10Time
- 54 minHands-on
- 4Portions
- 9 gprotein per portion
- 530kcal per portion
Ingredients for 4 portions
- 1Banana flower (mocha)
- 1 tspTurmeric
- to tasteSalt
- 2Potatoes, peeled, in 1 cm cubes
- 3 tbspMustard oil
- 2Bay leaves
- 1 tspCumin, seeds
- 2Dried red chillies
- 20 gGinger, grated to a paste
- 1 tspCumin, powder
- 1 tspCoriander powder
- 3 mlRed chilli powder
- 2Green chillies, slit
- 1 tspSugar
- 50 gGrated coconut
- 1 tbspGhee
- 3 mlGaram masala
On the side
- 300 gRice
- ≈ 700 mlWater, for the rice
Method
- Clean the banana flower: oil your hands lightly so the sap doesn't stain them. Peel off the purple bracts one at a time and pull the hard, matchstick-like stigma and the clear papery petal out of every floret. Finely chop the florets and the pale, tender heart and drop them straight into a bowl of water with a pinch of salt so they don't darken.
- Drain, put the chopped flower in a pan with fresh water, half the turmeric and salt and boil for about 10 minutes, until tender. Drain and squeeze out the water.
- Meanwhile, wash the rice two or three times, put it in a pan with the water and bring to the boil.
- Cover, turn the flame to low and cook for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Keep it covered until you serve.
- Peel and cube the potatoes, grate the ginger to a paste and slit the green chillies.
- Heat the mustard oil in a kadai until it smokes, then lower the heat. Fry the potatoes with a pinch of salt until golden, about 5 minutes, and lift them out.
- Add the bay leaves, cumin seeds and dried red chillies. When they crackle, add the ginger paste and fry for a few seconds.
- Stir in the cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and the rest of the turmeric with a splash of water and fry for a minute.
- Add the banana flower, potatoes, green chillies, sugar and salt and mix well. Cover and cook on a low flame for 8–10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the potatoes are soft and everything is dry.
- Scatter in the coconut and stir for 2–3 minutes.
- Stir in the ghee and garam masala and serve with the rice.
