Banana Flower Curry is one of our most unique recipes. It is also probably our most complex recipe. However, it is very delicious and worth every minute of effort you put into it!
Banana Plant
In general, every part of the banana plant has a use. The delicious banana fruit loaded with goodness. And who doesn’t love savory, crunchy plantain chips? If you have ever eaten at a South Indian wedding, you’ll be familiar with the food served on banana leaves. You can also cook in banana leaves – they bring a great flavor to the food that is cooked in them! What about banana stems, you might ask? Check out our delicious banana stem recipe. Can you think of any other plant that is more versatile?!
Banana Plant
Banana Flower
The banana flower is quite large. The petals are also large and have a nice deep purple color. These petals cover florets and are arranged in layers like an onion. Growing up in India we always had banana plants in our backyard. My sister and I would help my mom with harvesting and prepping the flowers for cooking. We enjoyed harvesting and cooking the plantains too, not just the flowers.
Banana Flower
Banana Flower Curry
As I mentioned earlier, his recipe is somewhat complicated. The most complex part is when you pull the florets out of the petals and clip the ends. After this you will need to remove pistils from the florets and discard the pistils. And this is the part of the banana flower you cook- florets with pistils removed. Some banana flowers can be bitter. I believe the best way to check this is to take one floret, discard the pistil, wash the floret and take a bite. If it is bitter, you want to check one more the same way just to make sure, so you don’t go through the whole process.
Florets
Banana flowers are rich in fiber, protein, potassium, calcium, copper, phosphorus, iron, magnesium and Vitamin E. They are loaded with antioxidants and free radicals and are known to help control blood sugar, help with digestion and also bring down stress levels.
Check out our other delicious and nutritious raw banana/plantain recipes:
- Crispy, Delicious, Banana Nuggets
- Banana Stem Curry
- Raw Plantain Yogurt Curry
- Raw Banana-Potato Sauté
- Crunchy Baked Plantain Chips
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Banana Flower Curry
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Banana Flower - Florets
- 1/2 Cup Onion - Fine cut
- 1 Tablespoon Jaggery - (mash to powder before cooking)
- 1 Tablespoon Tamarind - (de-seed and mash before cooking)
- 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt - (or to taste)
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
Tempering
- 10 Leaves Curry Leaves - (for seasoning)
- 1 Pepper Green Chili Pepper - (for seasoning) cut to 3 pieces of 1 inch each
- 1 Tablespoon Urad Dal - (for seasoning)
- 1/2 Cup Chana Dal - ( use 1 tablespoon for seasoning)
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds - (for seasoning)
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds - (for seasoning)
Instructions
- Separate banana florets from the petals; from outer cover of the florets, remove pistil (on the right side of the image) and discard.
- Now cut the florets to fine pieces.
- Blend and transfer to a large tea filter, wash drain, transfer to a bowl.
- In another bowl, soak chana dal for about 30 minutes.
- Pressure cook the blended, washed florets along with chana dal for about 10 minutes and set aside.
- Set aside tempering (mustard and cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal, curry leaves, green chili pepper) and other ingredients, in separate bowls for easy access.
- Heat oil in a pan. Sauté tempering ingredients for a couple of minutes, add onions and sauté till onions are golden brown.
- Add tamarind, jaggery and pressure-cooked banana florets, chana dal, mix well and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Transfer to serving container. Serve hot with steamed rice and ghee.
The goodness of banana flower is made into banana curry and relished with rice popularly.
Yes, this curry can be eaten in a variety of ways. It tastes great as a side of salad too!
Interesting post. Nice dish looking good and delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this healthy recipe.
You are welcome.
Prepared. Wonderful. Tasted deliciously
Thanks for the feedback. Not many people know how to make banana flower curry, so glad you ventured to do so.
Good morning, my curry is bitter. I used the flowerets until I could not peel the flower anymore. Then I sliced the flower cone and used both in the recipe. Why is it so bitter?
Hi Donna, thanks for the question. I actually went back to my mom for an answer since I wasn’t sure why this was happening. She says that banana flowers from some plants are bitter (for instance, she has a banana plant and never cooks the flowers from that, since they are bitter). I believe the best way to check this is to take one floret, discard the pistil, wash the floret and take a bite. If it is bitter, you want to check one more the same way just to make sure, so you don’t go through the whole process. I have experienced this with cucumber or ridge gourd some times and have had to discard those. Hope this answers your question.