Banana Stem Cutlets (Kadali Manja Bara/Tikki/Cutlet)

How many of you were disappointed when Gautam Gulati went on to win Big Boss Season 8 while Karishma Tanna was literally left stranded ?? Yeah, even Pritam went home with a cash prize of Rs 25 lakhs. India has once again proved that it prefers sons over daughters. While it is a much debated topic that Tanna's chances were adversely affected by her relationship with Upen Patel, Gautam escaped unscathed though he had a fling with a much older Diandra. The 'maa ka beta' or Mamma's boy images worked well with the audiences while that of a much independent woman ditching her old boyfriend for a new one obviously did not click. This is one debate that could go on and on but I would very much like to hear what most of you think about it . Do share your comments on this page.

And these banana stem cutlets are the perfect snacks to munch on while discussing about this development. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 25 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup finely chopped banana stem 
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 3-4 garlic flakes
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/3 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• 2-3 pinch turmeric
• 2 tsp besan
• 1/2 tsp cornflour
• 4-5 tsp oil
• salt to taste
• coriander leaves for garnishing
• a handful of peanuts

Cooking - Dry roast the peanuts on a pan. Remove and keep aside till they cool down. Crush them lightly t break into smaller pieces.

Heat 3 tsp oil in a wok. Add the onions, ginger and garlic. Fry till onions turn translucent.

Add the banana stem pieces along with all the spice powders. Cover with a lid and cook for 12-15 mins till it becomes soft.

Allow the mixture to cool down slightly before transferring it to a grinder jar. Give it a whizz or two.

Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the besan, cornflour and chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and then divide into 5-6 equal parts. Shape each portion into a flattened disc. Roll it gently over the crushed peanuts.

Heat a non-stick tawa and drizzle the remaining oil on it. Place the discs on the tawa and cook on both sides till tiny brown spots begin to appear.

Serve hot with some chutney or raita.

Mochar Chaap ( Banana flower /Plantain flower cutlets )

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 -

• 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.

Serve hot as starters/snacks with some ketchup or even as a dry side dish.

Kadali Kasa (Raw banana fry)

Simple fries served hot with white rice, dal and raita happen to be among my favorite meal options. Of course, my first choice would be some nice one-pot meal but since kid loves these fries so much that the one-pot meals are becoming increasingly rare.

This stir fry is made with green banana that was boiled first. Hence it uses very little oil for cooking. Add that to the natural goodness of green bananas and you have a very healthy and tasty side-dish that will become a regular on your lunch/dinner menu. It was a regular at home when we were kids as we had a lot of these plants growing in our garden. It used to be fun plucking the fresh vegetables and taking them right into the kitchen for preparing lunch.

Read on for the super easy recipe:

Preparation Time - 15-20 mins

Ingredients - 

• 1 raw banana
• 1 dry red chilli
• 1/5 tsp cumin-mustard seeds
• a pinch of asafotida
• few curry leaves (optional)
• 1/5 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
• 2 pinch turmeric
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp oil

Preparation - Cut the banana into two. Put it in a pressure cooker along with 1 cup water and little salt.

Cooking - Cook the banana for 2 whistles. Allow steam to escape before opening lid. Remove the peel from the banana (this step becomes a lot easy in this case as opposed to peeling the uncooked banana). Cut into small cubes.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add cumin-mustard seeds and broken red chilli. When it starts spluttering, add asafoetida and curry leaves. Allow curry leaves to brown a bit.

Add the banana pieces along with salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Fry for a few minutes till raw smell of turmeric goes away. Remove from flame .

Serve with rice/rotis.

Kadali Bhanda Patua ( Banana flower curry )

Cooking Time Required: 10-12 mins
Cost of preparation: 10-15 Rupees

Ingredients: Kadali Bhanda/ banana flowers ( 1 no), potato ( 1 small ), mustard seeds ( 1 tsp), garlic flakes ( 4-5 nos), turmeric, salt, green chilli ( 1 no. ), mustard oil ( 2 tsp ).
















Preparation: Remove the layers of the banana flower till the innermost 2.5-3 inch long section remains. Cut this into small chunks.

Cut the potato into small pieces and keep aside.
















Grind the dry mustard seeds, add the chopped banana flower, green chilli, garlic pods along with a little water and grind into a coarse paste.
















Mix the above paste with chopped potato, salt, turmeric and mustard oil. Add a few tsp of water and transfer to a wok.

Cooking: Put the wok on the small burner and cover with a lid. Cook on low flame for
7-8 mins.

Optional: Add abt half tsp of mustard oil and 1-2 crushed garlic flakes just before
removing from the stove.

Serve with mudhi ( puffed rice ) or white rice.

Alternately the addition of water is avoided and the thick paste wrapped up in a banana leaf. This can be cooked in the microwave for 6-7 mins or roasted on an iron pan with a little oil for 10-12 minutes.

Kadali Bhanda Tarkari ( banana flower curry )

Cooking Time Required: 15-20 mins
Cost of preparation: 20-25 Rupees

Ingredients: Kadali Bhanda/ banana flowers ( 1 no), potato ( 1 large ),onion ( 1 no., medium ), pancha phutana ( 1/5 tsp ), dry red chillis ( 3-5 nos ), coriander seeds ( 1 tsp ), cumin seeds ( 1/3 tsp), cardamon ( 2 nos ), cinnamon stick ( 1 inch ), chopped ginger ( 1 tsp ), garlic flakes ( 5-6 nos ), bay leaf ( 2 nos), turmeric, salt, oil for cooking ( 5-7 tsp ).

Preparation: Clean and cut the banana flowers into inch long pieces( refer to my older post for the method ). Cut the potato into small pieces and keep aside.

Boil the flowers along with the salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker for about 5 mins. Drain and wash under running water to get rid of the bitterness. ( It is preferable to taste the flowers at this stage. If it still tasting too bitter for ones palate, it should be discarded.

Grind the onion, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, 3 red chillis, ginger, garlic flakes, cinnamon and cardamom into a smooth paste with a little water. Keep aside.

Cooking: Heat 1-2 tsp oil in a wok. Add the potato pieces and fry lightly. Remove and keep aside.

Add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the pancha phutana, bay leaves and 1-2 red chilli. Follow with the turmeric and masala paste, and fry till it turns brownish.

Add the boiled banana flowers along with the fried potato and stir fry till the excess water disappears.

Add 1/2 cup of water and salt to taste. Cover with a tight lid. Cook for 5 mins.

Remove from fire. Serve hot with rice/rotis.

Kadali Manja Raita ( Banana Stem Raita )

Cooking Time Required: 15-16 mins
Cost of Preparation: 30-35 Rupees

Ingredients: Curd ( 2 cups ), tender banana stem/ kadali manja ( 5 inch long), curry leaves ( 1-2 sprigs), red chillis ( 3-4 nos), red chilli powder ( 1/4 tsp), asafoetida ( just a pinch), pancha phutana ( 1/3 tsp), oil ( 3 tsp), salt.

Preparation: Cut the banana stem into very small pieces. Add salt and keep aside for 30 mins. Squueze out all the water and wash under the tap.

Transfer the curd into a mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup of water and salt. Beat well. Add the banana stem pieces.

Cooking: Heat the oil in a pan. Add pancha phutana & red chillis. Follow with the asafoetida, curry leaves and red chillis.

Fry for 20 secs and pour over the curd - banana stem mixture. Mix togather and serve with rice and dalma.

Note: This preparation is made with very tender banana stem in which the fibres should not have developed. Banana stem has its share of health benefits, most remarkable being its ability to ease the bowels.

Kadali Manja Raee ( Plantain Stem Curry )

Kadali Manja or banana stem happens to be one of those delicious vegetables that are extremely low in calories and also loaded with fibers. It is highly recommended to those suffering from kidney/gall bladder stones, diabetes, hyper acidity and constipation. For ladies, who are usually prone to infections of the urinary tract, banana stem juice is considered to be an excellent home remedy.

Kadali Manja also happens to feature regularly in most odia meals. In the earlier days, almost every household had a few banana plants growing in their garden. Once the plant bore fruit and the plantain bunch was plucked, the plant was cut down and the tender portion of the stem extracted for consumption. Since, it is only the inner core of the stem that happens to be fit for consumption, the protective outer layers (more like a sheath) need to be discarded.

It is a rather cumbersome process yet the ladies in those days put in that extra bit of effort to ensure good health for the family. Given today's busy lifestyle, I have adapted the original recipe to reduce the cooking time as one cannot take any shortcuts with the prepping process.

Read on for the recipe -

Cooking Time Required: 15-20 mins ( Take it to be 45 mins including preparation )

Ingredients:

• 7-8 inches long Banana Stem
• 1 medium sized tomato
• 2-3 nos green chillis 
• 2 tsp thick mustard paste
• 6-7 nos garlic flakes (crushed)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp mustard oil for cooking
• 1 tbsp cut coriander leaves
• 1/2 tsp mustard oil for garnishing

Preparation: This is the most time consuming process. Clean and cut the banana stem into thin circles.

After slicing off one circle, one can feel the fibres when it tries to separate it from the remaining stem. Move you fingers in a circular motion and remove as much of the fibres as you can.

Cut the circles into small pieces. Add salt and turmeric and keep aside for half an hour.

After half an hour, squeeze out all the water from the banana stem pieces using both hands.

Cut the tomato into big chunks while removing the seeds.

Cooking: Take all the ingredients (except coriander leaves) into a pressure cooker. Add 1/4 cup water and close the lid. Cook for 1-2 whistles on medium flame.

Remove and keep aside till the steam escapes. Open lid and add the chopped coriander and 1/2 tsp raw mustard oil.

Note: Cook the banana stem immediately. If not then immerse in a bowl of warm water to which salt and turmeric has been added.

Kadali Manja Tarkari ( Banana Stem Curry )

Cooking Time Required: 25-30 mins ( Take it to be 1 hour including preparation )
Cost of preparation: 50-55 Rupees

Ingredients: Banana Stem ( 8 inch long ), potato ( 1 no., medium ), onion ( 1 no., medium ), pancha phutana ( 1/3 tsp ), dry red chillis ( 3 nos ), coriander seeds ( 1 tsp ), cumin seeds ( 1/2 tsp ), cardamon ( 2 nos ), cinnamon stick ( 1 inch ), ginger-garlic paste ( 1 tsp ), garlic flakes ( 5 nos ), bay leaf ( 2 nos), turmeric, salt, oil for cooking ( 5 tsp ).

Preparation: This is the most time consuming process. Clean and cut the banana stem into thin circles.
















After cutting one circle, one can feel the fibres when it tries to separate it from the remaining stem. Move you fingers in a circlar motion and remove as much of the fibres as you can.

Cut the circles into small pieces. Add salt and turmeric and keep aside for half an hour.
















After half an hour, squeeze out all the water from the banana stem pieces using both hands.
















Cut the onions into thin and small pieces . Cut the potato ito small cubes.

Grind the garlic cloves, cardamon , cinnamon, cumin and coriander into a smooth paste along with two of the red chillis.

Cooking: Heat 5 tsp oil in a wok. Add the pancha phutana, bay leaves and one red chilli. Follow with the onion pieces and fry till it turns brownish.

Add the masala paste with ginger-garlic paste and turmeric and fry till the raw smell goes off. Add the potato cubes and stir fry for 5 mins.
















Add the squeezed out banana stem pieces and stir fry till it is almost cooked. Time taken will depend on the tenderness of the banana stem. If its very tender it will take about 8-9 mins but if it a not so tender this time may increase to 15-17 mins.

Add 1/2 cup of water and cover with a tight lid. Cook for 5 mins.

Remove from fire. Serve hot with rice.

I am sending this to A.W.E.D. - Indian Cuisine - hosted by Ayeesha.