Mochar Paturi

Banana Flowers Wrapped in Banana Leaves

Vegetarian●●●Origin West BengalPrep 20–30 minutes, plus soaking timeCook 20 minutes

A Bengali parcel of tender banana blossoms and diced wax gourd smothered in a pungent mustard paste, wrapped in banana leaves and chargrilled until smoky.

Ground spices

5 gMixed into the vegetable filling (step 4)

Ground turmeric · Haldi

3.8 g1¼ teaspoons

spice

Chilli powder · Lal Mirch Powder

1.3 g½ teaspoon

spice

Keep together: they go into the vegetable filling together.

Everything else

Banana leaf · Kela patta

30 g1 piece

other

Banana flower · Kele ka Phool

250 g

vegetable

Wax gourd · Pethade-seeded and cut into dice

200 g

vegetable

Onion · Pyazchopped

125 g

vegetable

Green chilli · Hari Mirchde-seeded and chopped

36 g6 chillies

vegetable

Salt · Namak

to taste

salt

Green chilli · Hari Mirchde-seeded and chopped

12 g2 chillies

vegetable

Granulated sugar · Cheeni

4.2 g1 teaspoon

sweetener

Mustard oil · Sarson Ka Telplus extra for oiling

114 g125 ml

oil/fat

Method

Soften 1 banana leaf over gentle heat, then cut it into 10 pieces roughly the size of your griddle or tawa.
Strip the outer bracts from 250 g banana flowers to collect the florets. Discard the stiff central stamens and tough base calyxes from each blossom, finely chop the petals, and submerge them in water for at least 1 hour or overnight. Drain thoroughly and squeeze out all excess moisture.
In a blender or mortar, grind 125 g mustard seeds, 12 g green chilli, 4.2 g granulated sugar, 114 g mustard oil, 2 tablespoons of water, and salt to taste into a uniform paste.
Place the squeezed banana flowers into a large bowl along with 200 g wax gourd, 125 g onion, 36 g green chilli, the mustard paste, salt to taste, and the ground spices. Mix until the vegetables are evenly coated.
Brush the griddle or tawa with a little extra mustard oil and lay down 5 banana leaf pieces. Spoon the vegetable mixture into the middle, cover with the remaining 5 leaf pieces, tuck the edges beneath the filling, then fold up the bottom leaves and tie them over the top into a secure parcel.
Set the griddle over high heat and chargrill until each outer leaf layer burns away, leaving only the innermost leaf. Carefully flip the parcel over and repeat on the other side. Unwrap the parcel to serve.

Don't have something?

Banana leaf

Green cabbage
Blanch large outer leaves for 30 seconds and use as a parcel; use the same size to wrap. No banana aroma.
Collard greens
Blanch whole leaves for 1 minute and use as a wrap; slightly tougher and more peppery.

Banana flower

Banana stem
Use the same weight; chop finely and cook without removing stamens. Texture is cleaner and it cooks about 5 minutes faster.
Cabbage
Use the same weight, shredded; cooks 5 minutes faster and lacks the faint bitterness.
Cauliflower floret
Use the same weight, chopped small; mild and firm, but not bitter.

Ground turmeric

Ground ginger
Use 50% of the weight. Mimics turmeric's warm, earthy, rhizome background, but provides none of the golden-yellow colour.
Saffron
Steep a tiny pinch (0.1 g per 2 g turmeric) in 2 tbsp warm water; use to match the rich golden hue. Contributes an aristocratic, honeyed floral flavour rather than earthy bitterness.

Wax gourd

Ash gourd
Use the same weight; peel, deseed and cut to the same size. It holds shape slightly better, so give it 2–3 minutes more.
Bottle gourd
Use the same weight; peel and deseed. It is softer and waterier, so cook 3–4 minutes less and reduce added water.
Pumpkin
Use the same weight; peel and deseed. It is sweeter and softens faster, so cook 3–5 minutes less.

Onion

Shallot
Use equal weight, finely sliced. Shallots soften and brown faster, giving a slightly sweeter and more delicate base to curries.
Cabbage
Use 80% of the weight, finely shredded and browned slowly with a pinch of asafoetida. Replicates the bulk and natural sweetness in gravies without allium.

Chilli powder

Red chilli powder
Use 100% of the weight. Provides direct, sharp heat and red colour in equal measure.
Kashmiri chilli powder
Use 150% to 200% of the weight if matching colour, but add a pinch of black pepper or hot chilli if you need equivalent fiery heat.
Cayenne pepper
Use 75% to 100% of the weight. Offers a sharp, clean heat with slightly less earthy depth and less crimson colour.

Green chilli

Chilli powder
Use 10 to 15% of the weight (about 1/4 teaspoon per chilli); imparts dry pungent heat and reddens the dish without the grassy crunch.
Dried red chilli
Use 1 dried pod per fresh green chilli; snap in half and temper in hot oil for a deeper, toastier heat.

Mustard seed

Black mustard seed
Use the same weight. The seeds are smaller and hotter; fry in hot oil until they pop, about 20–30 seconds, and reduce the heat if they darken too fast. The dish will be a little sharper.
Yellow mustard seeds
Use the same weight. They are milder and larger; fry a few seconds longer until they pop. The finished dish will have less pungency.
Ground mustard seed
Use 70% of the weight of whole seed, added with the other ground spices rather than fried whole. You lose the popping texture and the heat comes through more evenly.

Granulated sugar

Jaggery
Use equal weight; grate or shave finely so it dissolves rapidly, giving a warm, caramel-like sweetness and slightly darker sauce.

Mustard oil

Peanut oil
Use equal weight. It handles high-heat cooking well, but lacks the signature pungent, nasal heat of mustard oil.
Vegetable oil
Use equal weight. Neutral in flavour, so your curry will lack the characteristic Bengali or North Indian pungent punch.

Similar dishes

Vendakkai Pulussu

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Vendakkai Pulussu tastes tangy and sweet-sour from tamarind and tomato with a curry-leaf tempering, whereas this dish is pungent with mustard and smoky from chargrilling.

Same: Vendakkai Pulussu shares onion, green chilli, turmeric, chilli powder, sugar and salt with this dish.
Different: Vendakkai Pulussu simmers okra in a tamarind and tomato gravy with vegetable oil, garlic paste and a mustard-seed, fenugreek and curry-leaf tempering, while this dish wraps banana flower and wax gourd in banana leaf with mustard paste and mustard oil.

Vazhaiappoo Vada

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Vazhaiappoo Vada tastes crisp and lentil-savoury with fennel-cumin aroma, whereas this dish tastes smoky and sharply pungent from mustard with softer banana blossom.

Same: Vazhaiappoo Vada and this dish both center on banana/plantain flower and include onion and mustard seed.
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Maachher Roast tastes sweet, sour, and mildly spicy from vinegar, whereas this dish is sharp, pungent, and smoky from mustard oil and charred leaves.

Same: Maachher Roast shares base seasonings like turmeric, chilli powder, green chillies, onions, and sugar with this dish.
Different: Instead of banana blossoms wrapped in leaves and chargrilled with mustard oil, Maachher Roast uses fish pan-fried in ghee and finished in a gravy with ginger and vinegar.

Meen Dakhani

Fish Curry from Deccan

Meen Dakhani tastes tangy from tamarind and herby from coriander and curry leaf, while this dish tastes pungent from mustard and smoky from the banana-leaf chargrill.

Same: Meen Dakhani shares onion, green chilli, turmeric, chilli powder, mustard seed and salt with this dish.
Different: Meen Dakhani uses firm white fish, tamarind extract, curry leaf, coriander leaf, ginger, garlic and cumin and is simmered as a curry, while this dish uses banana flower, wax gourd and a large mustard-seed paste and is wrapped in banana leaves and chargrilled.