Mochar Ghonto Narkel ar Bhaja Bori diye | Bengali Banana Blossom Curry

Mochar Ghonto is a signature Bengali delicacy. Mocha in Bengali stands for Banana blossom aka Banana flower. Niramish Mochar Ghonto is a Bengali-style mishmash cooked with Banana flowers.

There are several recipes available with ingredient variations for Bengali Mochar Ghonto. One such variation is cooked with coconut and fried lentil dumplings aka Bhaja Bori. Among the different variations, I prefer this one.

There is nothing much to say about this delicacy apart from the fact that I avoid cooking it often! The cutting and cleaning process is not that easy while the cooking part is comparatively easy. Let me rephrase the "not easy" part. Well, it takes a lot of time to discard the Pistil and calyx from each tiny flower. If you know how to do it; you just need a precious hour of yours to clean the banana blossom.

Watch how to make Niramish Mochar Ghonto with Mocha Kata (মোচা কাটার পদ্ধতি সহ নিরামিষ মোচার ঘণ্ট রেসিপি)

Mocha Kata / How to cut and clean Banana Blossom

One of the important and trickiest parts of cooking banana flowers is cleaning and cutting the banana flower. We call Mocha Kata o Porishkar kora in Bengali. While planning this post with the detailed recipe video, I decided to include the process of cleaning and cutting as well. I waited for Maa to come to my place. While she cleaned and cut, I captured the moments. I am listing the process below along with a set of pictures. You can also see the video for a better understanding.

Mocha chopping Tips

How to cut and clean Mocha

In the Markets of West Bengal, we get already cleaned Mocha these days. If you are not willing to do the hard work (like me; hence, my mother is doing the cleaning!), purchase cleaned banana flowers. You will see the flowers are arranged in layers within the bunch and covered with boat-like coverings. Remove each covering and separate the bunch of flowers. The inner core is chopped as it is. It will take around 45 minutes to clean a medium-sized Mocha.

Is banana flower good for health?

Banana flower is treated as a superfood contrasting the nutritional content. It is loaded with the goodness of phosphorus, calcium, potassium, copper, magnesium, and also iron. It is a natural laxative as well.

Variations of Mochar Ghonto Recipe

First and foremost is Mocha cooked with Chola Shiddho aka boiled Black Chickpeas aka Kala Chana and Potato aka Aloo. In fact, some people prefer to add potato while cooking banana blossom with bori and narkel as well. However, the recipe I am sharing does not call for both. I will share the version with potatoes and chickpeas separately.

Apart from the Vegetarian Mochar Torkari, we cook Mocha with Prawns or Shrimp as well which is known as Mocha Chingri. I will for sure share the recipe of the same here at Debjanir Rannaghar soon.

Though not Ghonto, however, Mochar Chop aka Banana Blossom Fritter is quite a treat. I remember having those regularly from Kalika. Kalika is a legendary Fritter shop from Central Kolkata, near my ancestral place.

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Mochar Ghonto Narkel ar Bhaja Bori diye | Bengali Banana Blossom Curry

Mochar Ghonto is a signature Bengali delicacy. Mocha in Bengali stands for Banana blossom aka Banana flower.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Bengali

Keyword Debjanir Rannaghar, mochar ghonto recipe, mochar torkari recipe, niramish mochar ghonto narkel o boribhaja diye

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 People

Calories 319kcal

Author Debjani Chatterjee Alam

Cost Rs 150

Ingredients

• 1 Banana Flower Mocha
• ½ Cup scrapped Coconut
• 50 g Bori
• 1 Tbsp. Ginger Paste
• 4 Tbsp. Mustard Oil
• 2 Tsp. Ghee

Spices

• 1 Tsp. Turmeric Powder
• 1 Tsp. Salt
• 1 Tsp. Red Chili Powder
• 1 Tbsp. Sugar
• 1 Tsp. Bhaja Moshla
• 1 Tsp. Cumin Powder

Tempering

• 5 Bay Leaves
• 2 Dry Chili
• 1 Tsp. Cumin Seed
• ½ Tsp. Asafoetida aka Hing

Get ingredients with

Instructions

Mocha Cleaning

• Do not forget to apply Mustard oil to your hands before starting the process of cleaning. Else you will see your hands with sticky black spots all thanks to iron!
• It will take around 45 minutes to clean a medium-sized Mocha. After removing the outer cover, separate the florets.
• From each tiny flower, separate the Pistil and Calyx and discard those!
• Once cleaned, chop the flowers. Chop the inner core as well. Keep the chopped flowers in a bowl full of water to avoid blackening.

Cooking Mochar Ghonto

• Add 2 Cups of Water to a Pressure Cooker.
• Now add cleaned mocha to it along with ½ Tsp. each of Turmeric Powder and Salt as well.
• After mixing, put the lid on along with the vent weight.
• Pressure cook on medium flame the cooker releases pressure two times (2 whistles).
• Open the cooker once the pressure drops completely. 
• Now open the lid and add 2 cups of water in room temperature to reduce the temperature.
• Separate the water.
• Use a masher to mash the boiled banana blossom. You can use your hands as well when the flowers are not that hot. However, I prefer a masher.
• Now heat a pan.
• Add Mustard oil and heat it properly.
• Fry the Bori in small batches ands train from the oil.
• Add half of the ghee to the remaining oil.
• Temper the ghee and oil mixture with bay leaf, dry chili and cumin seed as well.
• Now add asafoetida and give it a quick mix.
• Add 2 Tbsp. water to this mixture and mix quickly.
• This helps in not burning the tempering.
• Cook till the water evaporates completely.
• At this point add Ginger paste and mix well.
• Now add ½ Tsp. Turmeric Powder, 1 Tsp. Red Chili Powder and 1 Tsp. Cumin powder as well and mix properly.
• Once mixed, add sugar and mix that too.
• At this point adjust the salt considering salt has already been added to the boiled mocha.
• Now add boiled and mashed mocha to the pan.
• Mix properly.
• Cook on low flame for 10 minutes.
• By this time the mocha will be well cooked.
• If needed adjust the salt.
• Mocha will release moisture and no need to add water at this point.
• If you feel Mocha is not well-cooked after 10 minutes add ½ cup of  the water separated after boiling the banana blossom.
• Cook till the mocha is well-cooked.
• Now add ½ of the grated coconut followed by half of the fried Bori after crumbling those.
• Mix properly.
• The curry should be mushy.
• At this point add 1 Tsp. Bhaja Moshla and mix properly.
• Now add remaining ghee and give a proper mix.
• Lastly top it with remaining grated coconut and fried bori aka bori bhaja anf give a light mix.
• Serve Mochar ghonto hot with steamed rice. Dal should be served after mocha.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 120g | Calories: 319kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 2.8g | Fat: 18.3g | Saturated Fat: 7.1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 521mg | Fiber: 3.6g | Sugar: 26.7g

Have you tried the easy Mochar torkari recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!

I would love to see a picture if you are making it following my recipe. You can share here at dolonchttrj@gmail.com. You can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar and share it through Instagram as well. and in addition, you can tag me at @foodofdebjani.

Here's the Bengali mochar ghonto Recipe Pin for your Pinterest Board!

About Debjani Chatterjee Alam

I am Debjani Chatterjee Alam. A CSR specialist by profession and a food writer, food blogger, and food photographer as well. I live in Kolkata along with my Husband Mehebub who is an architect by profession, my daughter Pasta, and also my dog daughters Coffee and Luchi.

Learn more about me →