A very famous street food from Kolkata, I keep reading about in many of the blogs. Crunchy on the outside and filled with a slightly chewy mix of banana flower and potato in the inside, it almost mimics the texture of a mutton cutlet. I have used a very fragrant 'roasted masala' in my version that I had read about in a blog sometime back. Sadly I did not remember the exact proportions of the masala nor the blog name so that I could go back for a second look. But as the masala was somewhat similar to what my MIL sometimes uses in the 'Ghanta' or 'Chencheda', I went ahead and made it.
One would say cleaning and dressing the banana flowers is a hard task but one bite of this sinful treat and all that is easily forgotten. I have shallow fried the cutlets (now don't I do that every time) instead of deep frying them as is the standard norm. Read on for the recipe -
Preparation Time - 1 hour
Ingredients -
One would say cleaning and dressing the banana flowers is a hard task but one bite of this sinful treat and all that is easily forgotten. I have shallow fried the cutlets (now don't I do that every time) instead of deep frying them as is the standard norm. Read on for the recipe -
Preparation Time - 1 hour
Ingredients -
- 1 banana flower
- 2 medum sized potatoes
- 1 medium onion + 1 small onion
- 1 tsp GG paste
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/3 tsp coriander powder
- 2-3 green chillis
- a handful of peanuts
- salt to taste
- 3 tsp oil + more oil for shallow frying
- 1 tbsp besan
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- 2/3 cup breadcrumbs
For the roasted masala -
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 bay leaf
- 3-4 cloves
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 2-3 green cardamom
- 1 dry red chili
Preparation - Clean and chop the banana flowers into small pieces. Soak them in water along with 1 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp salt for 3-4 hours.
Crush them slightly with your hands and drain the water. Wash again under running water.
Chop the onions and green chilic into small pieces.
Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under 'for the roasted masala' till they give off a fragrance. Grind into a fine powder and keep aside.
Cooking - Take the banana flowers in a pressure cooker with 1 cup water and a little salt. Cook for 10-12 mins or 1-2 whistles. Keep aside to cool down.
Once the steam escapes, open lid and drain the water. Use your hands to squeeze out as much water as you can (very important else your cutlets will break).
Meanwhile cook the potatoes for 2-3 whistles. Keep aside to cool.
Heat 3 tsp oil in a wok. Add the chopped green chili and peanuts. Allow peanut to crackle before adding the chopped onion. Fry till translucent.
Add the GG paste and fry till raw smell goes away.
Add the boiled banana flowers along with turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder and 1 tsp of the roasted masala. Adjust salt. Fry on medium high flame till all the water evaporates.
Add the peeled and mashed potatoes at this point. Mix everything and cook for 3-4 minutes more.
Remove from wok and keep aside. Allow to cool down.
Meanwhile take the besan, rice flour and corn flour in a mixing bowl with salt, chili powder, a pinch of turmeric and just enough water to get a paste of medium consistency.
Heat a frying pan and add sufficient oil for shallow frying the tikkis.
Pinch some of the banana flower and potato mix and shape into tikkis or flattened dics (or you can give any fancy shape you want). Dip into the paste and then roll over the breadcrumbs.
Place the tikkis on the hot frying pan and fry on both side till brown and crisp. Remove and keep aside on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Repeat for the remaining mixture.
But why this frustated tirade ?????????? I have not even claimed that the Mochar Chaap is an Odia dish ??
ReplyDeleteThis is the saddest piece of writing ever seen on the Indian gastronomic and cultural front.
ReplyDeleteis this the only piece of heritage that you can show off to the world? Seriously there are better things to latch onto :)
a thing coming form "orissa" doesn't make it oriya :)
i am from orissa too but i am not oriya :)
oh, btw, i forgot to mention YOUR BEST CM (infact my best CM too, one of the best CMs our country ever had) doesn't even speak Oriya!
-KAMONASISH AAYUSH MAZUMDAR
MBA, IMT Bhaziabad
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
in.linkedin.com/in/7thsense
It is so disgusting that Mr. Kamonashish Aayush Mazumdar is selecting posts written by Odias & copy-posting such comments that prove his thinking. My Post has also the same words in a similar comment...
ReplyDeleteYeah even i found his comments disgusting.....but decided to publish it anyways as it also show his pedigree (IMT Ghaziabad)...m sure his alma mater would feel 'Oh So proud'
ReplyDeleteDear Sweta, I am happy that you allowed Kamonasish's nonsense comment. It shows your own open-mindedness. His intense parochialism has clouded his judgement. I don't know what he accomplishes by such hateful comments? He also denigrates other states. He even commented in a Wiki article on Lumding (Assam):
ReplyDelete"The famous kamonasish aayush mazumdar was born here."
Dear Sweta, I am happy that you allowed Kamonasish's nonsense comment. It shows your own open-mindedness. His intense parochialism has clouded his judgement. I don't know what he accomplishes by such hateful comments? He also denigrates other states. He even commented in a Wiki article on Lumding (Assam):
ReplyDelete"The famous kamonasish aayush mazumdar was born here."
Rishima Mishra
Probably, He is way too frustrated to hail from Odisha and his link with assam and blind enough to not see the first line of the blog which CLEARLY mentions "A very famous street food from Kolkata"... Credit's been given already to Bengal......
ReplyDeleteIGNORE Kamonasish@frustrated.com............
Meanwhile Sweta... Thanks alot I had bought a kadali flower from the market but was completely clueless how to clean or make it.... I had decided to make a salad out of it when i stumbled across this post and am gonna try it today... thanks alot....