Banana Flower Pakoda is healthy evening snack recipe or Crispy Pakoda Recipe or Banana blossom fry which is very perfect during this winter season. This Banana Flower is an authentic and traditional recipe generally prepared in South India. Banana Flower Pakoda is very simple and tasty recipe using banana flower just in 15 to 20 minutes if you have cleaned the banana flower before only. It has no much much masalas in it , flavored only with red chilly powder , fennel seeds and ginger.
Banana Flower or Banana Blossom is also known as bale moothi or bale hoovu in kannada , has many health benefits. All parts of the banana plant are of great use to us. We are all familiar with the fruit. We can make many types of dishes with raw banana stem and raw banana flower. Banana Flower is very healthy , contains Vitamin A , C , E , minerals , good antioxidant source. No one can even identify the banana flower in the pakoda ,so you can even make the children to consume the banana flower in a hidden way. Do try this traditional and nutritious recipe with out fail during this winter and reap the health benefits.
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cooking time – 10 minutes
Total time – 20 minutes
Serves – 2 to 3 persons
Ingredients :-
- 1 banana flower ( approximately 1 ½ cup of flowers )
- 1 1/4 cup gram flour (besan )
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 to 3 green chilly fine chopped
- 2 to 3 tbsp curry leaves chopped
- 1 tsp red chilly powder
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 cup coriander leaves fine chopped
- 1/4 tsp cooking soda
- Salt to taste
- Water
- Thin butter milk
- Chaat masala powder
- Oil
Method :-
Cleaning the Banana Flower is very important for using the banana flower in this recipe or for making any other dish from the flower.
Grease your hands with oil to avoid blackening of fingers and nails before you start the flower.
Open the petal one by one and remove the bunch of long yellow florets attached to the leaf.
At the end you will find the innermost layer: a white cone keep it aside.
Take out each flower and slightly brush it , remove that thin feathery plastic part.
Then remove a black long stem like part and soak it in thin butter milk to avoid the turning of brownish colour .
Soak the flowers in butter milk atleast for 2 to 3 hours and then use it for preparing any dish.
You can finish all this process of cleaning one day before using and store in fridge with buttermilk.
Then you can prepare the pakoda within few minutes.
Combine gram flour , rice flour , green chilly , curry leaves , coriander leaves , asafetida , ginger paste and all dry masalas along with salt and mix nicely.
Then strain out the buttermilk from the banana flower nicely and put on the besan mixture and give a nice mix.
Then add in soda and mix once.
Drizzle the water little by little and go on mixing simultaneously so that banana flowers nicely coated with the gram flour paste.
Do not prepare like bonda batter, just only the flowers should be coated with besan.
Heat the oil in a kadai and then put the pakodas in the hot oil by separating each flower as much as possible and fry on medium flame.
Then fry the pakoda till it turns golden brown and becomes crispy.
Put the fried Banana Flower Pakoda on the strainer and sprinkle chat masala powder and give a nice mix.
Serve the piping hot Crispy Banana Stem Pakoda as it is or you can serve with green chutney or ketchup.
Tips :-
- You can store this crispy pakoda for two to three days.
- Soaking the flowers in butter milk is mandatory before using.
- Sometimes some flowers will be slightly brownish when removing from the petals only , in that case there is nothing to worry , you can use that flowers.
- Clean the flowers nicely in advance only and store in the fridge and use when ever you want.