Banana Blossom Cutlets

Finger Food Fridays !!!

And this time with a Healthy Pan fried Banana Blossom and white peas spicy cutlet.

Speaking of Friday, guess where we are off to today??? 

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA.... Really!!! (I'm still pinching myself)

I'm super excited. I was in a state of disbelief until I had to pack. I hate packing. May be a little less than unpacking though. But YESSS... the tickets are booked, hotel's spoken for, the bags are packed and the Passports are out and ready to be stamped. It's been so long that we took a vacation, and we've been all working so hard in office, that this is such a welcome break.

I'd never heard of Cambodia, while Raj went on and on that we should go there once in our life. This was waaay back some 5 yrs ago. I ignored him then and we went to Phuket (which I loved loved loved). But then I saw photos of these magnificent temples online and I wanted to see them NOW. So here we are, a few hours away from actually seeing those beautiful temples, but before that we have miles to go and lots of airport wait time.

Has anyone of you out there been to Cambodia and can give me tips on what to see and where to eat and where to shop? I'm all ears. 

What this means next Tuesday, I won't be blogging live, it will be a scheduled post. Watch out for it though, it is on the lines of Caramelized Onion Mushroom Tart, only minus the mushrooms and plus some colorful ingredients, but just as delicious. But I will (hopefully) be active on Twitter tweeting our latest photos of sites we saw, food we ate (I'm excited to try out the Khmer curries, I've heard wonderful things about them) and knick-knacks we shopped for (dying to see what Siem Reap has to offer in the night market) - don't miss it out, follow @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter.

Back to Friday's finger food - Banana Blossom Cutlets. Banana Blossom or Banana Flower as it is sometimes called is a popular in South East Asian cusine (so perfect for today's post). Banana flower is very much like an artichoke in structure and in flavour. Usually, a typical Banana Blossom Cutlet uses potato along with the banana blossom to bind it. But here, I've used mushy white peas and a little bit of besan or chickpea flour to bind them. The banana flower in itself has no taste, (but it is loaded with texture), so generously use spices. 

Preparing a banana blossom needs patience, but the reward at the end is worth it. Did you know it acts as an anti-depressant? So by the time you are done eating, you WILL be happy! So back to preparing, 

• The maroon outer layer is to be discarded, the tiny flowers attached to the stem are for keeps. 
• Continue peeling away the layers until you reach a white heart where distinguishing the layers becomes difficult. 
• Chop this heart finely and immediately soak it in water with added lime juice to prevent browning. 
• For each of the tiny flowers, remove the inner filaments and chop the flowers finely and add to the water. 
• These need to be soaked for 4-5 hrs or overnight to remove any bitterness it may contain. 

The white peas need soaking too, until they can be cooked. So this would be the right time to soak them too.

After 5 hrs, cook the peas until mushy and cook the banana blossom until done. Drain both and mix. Add in besan or chickpea flour, spices, salt and mash well. Shape into patties and pan fry while spooning oil on each of the cutlets.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Goan Banana Blossom Curry - Semi dry curry made with banana blossom and white peas in Goan style
• Sabudana Vada - Shallow fried vadas or poppers made with Sabudana/Sago, Peanuts and mashed potatoes.
• Raw Banana Fry - Dry spicy curry made with raw banana or plantains in South Indian style.
• 10 minute Plantain Chips - Goan style chips made by pan frying finely sliced plantain dipped in spices and fine semolina.

Banana Blossom Cutlets

Banana Blossom Cutlets are vegan pan fried snacks made from cooked banana blossom, mushy white peas and spices.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            South Indian
Prep Time:     8 Hours (includes soaking time)
Cook time:     1 Hour
Yield:                10-12 cutlets

Ingredients:

1 cup Banana Blossom, chopped (Refer to the post on top to see how to prepare banana blossom)
0.25 cup dried White Peas
2-3 Tbsp Chickpea Flour or Besan
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
Oil to fry
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the chopped banana blossom in water overnight or for 4-5 hours. 
Soak the dried white peas in water overnight or for 8-10 hours.
Drain out the water and pressure cook for 1 whistle or cook in a sauce pan until done.
Separately pressure cook the white peas with 1/2 tsp salt for 2-3 whistles or until done.
Drain out the water from the banana blossom and the peas.
Combine the banana blossom and peas and mash them slightly.
Add in the turmeric powder, garam masala, red chilli powder, besan and salt and mix well.
Shape into cutlets.
Heat a frying pan and grease it.
Place the cutlets on the pan and spoon 1 tsp of oil on each of them. Cook on medium heat.
Flip them when the first side browns. Cook until the second side browns.
Serve hot with ketchup or chutney.

Read more ...

Eggless Banana Bread Recipe | How to make Banana Bread Without Eggs

Banana Bread recipe without eggs. This banana bread is a dense cake made from ripe bananas and without eggs. It is perfect as a breakfast or a tea time cake.

In a hurry? Jump to Video or Jump to Recipe

This time, my weekend has begun, unlike last week when I had to work a Saturday to make up for an unexpected holiday. I wish every night could be a Friday night when I get to lie down on the sofa and watch TV all night. I rarely cook elaborate meals on Friday night. Bare minimum to stop me from being hungry. So it is usually some kind of pressure cooker rice dish like Mint Pulao or Vangi Bhaat. I don’t like doing dishes either on Friday nights.

This week though, I have an added treat to my Friday night. We bought these large bananas on Sunday that were starting to go all black on the outside and ripe on the inside. I felt my whole house had begun smelling bananas. Usually, overripe banana means making Mangalore Banana Buns for me. But this time, I tried a new way of using them up in this zero effort Banana Bread. It takes like 10 minutes to whip up the batter and then just put it in the oven and allow it to cook while you continue with your other work.

This Banana Bread is dense and moist as any good banana bread is meant to be. It is perfect to eat at tea time as isn’t too sweet. I pretty much ate it for tea, snacks and dessert. So there isn’t a time when it isn’t the right time to eat this Banana Bread.

The Banana Bread has a slight hint of vanilla. I used condensed milk to add liquidity and sugar, and hence did not use sugar in the bread. If you want to skip the condensed milk, just use more of regular milk and sugar. You can also add maple syrup instead.

If you have never baked a cake in your life, then I’d suggest starting out with this Banana Bread, it is a no fail and zero effort recipe.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

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Video Recipe

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Eggless Banana Bread Recipe | How to make Banana Bred Without Eggs

Moist Eggless Banana Bread made using ripe bananas, condensed milk and all purpose flour. 

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     20 minutes
Cook time:     40 minutes
Yield:                1 loaf

Ingredients:

3 ripe Banana
1.5 cups All Purpose Flour (Maida)
100gms sweetened Condensed Milk
1/3 cup Butter (melted and cooled)
1/2 cup powdered Sugar
1/4 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder (Optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
2. Brush the bottom and sides of a loaf tin with butter and dust with flour. I used a 9"x 3"x 2.5" loaf tin.
3. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and keep aside.
4. Mash the bananas.
5. Add the condensed milk, melted butter or oil, milk and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas and mix until combined.
6. With a wooden spoon or a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients gently into the wet ingredients until you get a thick batter. Do not over mix, else the bread will become hard.
7. Taste the batter and if you feel it needs more sweetness, add in powdered sugar as desired.
8. Scrape the batter into the greased loaf tin.
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
10. Remove the bread from the pan after 5-8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
11. Allow it to cool and then slice it.
12. Serve at room temperature or warm.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Honey Cake

Vegan Date Walnut Cake

Banana Buns / Mangalore Buns

Read more ...

10 minute Plantain Chips | Balekayee Podi | Kelyachi Kapa

Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Coated with fine semolina and coloured yellow by Turmeric. A dash of heat and seasoning. Sounds fancy doesn't it? 

I'm only describing these awesomely EASY to make 10 minute quick Plantain Chips. Yup! that's all it takes to make them. 10 minutes. And did I mention, they are pan fried? YES! They are NOT deep fried. That just made them healthy, did it not? Healthy chips - that's the way we roll....

And the ingredients are even lesser in number than the time- Just 6. And that includes salt and oil. Now isn't that economical.

This recipe comes from Goa - the tiny state on the west coast of India is extremely popular for its heavenly beaches and with the beach, comes the amazing seafood (or so I've heard). I'm a vegetarian, so I haven't sampled any of this amazing seafood, but I believe my friends when they say it. On certain days, even the most hard core non vegetarian craves Vegetarian food. On those days, comes out the fish fry substitute - Plantain chips. Sometimes it is made with Potato or Brinjals too. For us vegetarians, this is just daily food.

These chips are a very common side dish / accompaniment to a rice and dal meal. It goes amazingly well with the starchy soft white rice and the mild yellow dal. These chips just add a bit of texture to the meal. They are crisp, they are soft, they are yellow and they are just slightly hot.

Some days I don't even make the rice and dal, I just have them as a snack in the evenings. 

I ate it differently this time. I had my last week's Olive Hummus in the fridge and I baked a few whole wheat pita breads, and instead of stuffing my Pita Pockets with falafels, I stuffed it with my Plantain chips. Soooo QUICK  to make. Did I mention they hardly take 10 minutes? So what are you waiting for? Get set go...

10 minute Plantain Chips | Balekayee Podi | Kelyachi Kapa

Quick and easy pan fried semolina coated plantain chips. A famous accompaniment to rice and dal in Goa

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:          Indian / Goan
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     10 minutes
Yield:              20-25

Ingredients:

1 Raw Banana / Plantains
1 tsp of Turmeric Powder
1 tsp of Red Chilli Powder
1/2 cup of fine Semolina / Chiroti Rava
Oil to fry
Salt to taste

Method:

Peel the raw banana and slice into discs. I usually keep them at least 3-4mm in thickness.
Toss the slices with turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt.
Heat up a griddle or a flat bottomed frying pan.
Dip the slices one by one in the fine semolina and place on the hot griddle.
Spoon over oil so that each one is coated in oil.
Once the first side browns a little, flip them and cook until done.
Insert a knife to check if done, if the knife goes in smoothly and there is no resistance, the chips are done.
Serve hot.

Read more ...

Raw Banana / Plantain / Balekaayi fry

For the coastal people of Konkan, the banana plant forms an integral part of life. Every part of the plant is used for something. The fruit is eaten when ripe, it is used in cooking when raw, the blossom and the stem are also used for cooking. Of all these, the raw banana is probably the most versatile. We make chips out of it, bhajji, sabzi / palya etc. But I recently learnt that a few Jains use it as a replacement to potato in sabzis and paratha. I'm yet to try that out, but apparently you just cannot make out the difference once you add all those aromatic spices...

The recipe serves 2-3

Raw Banana / Plantain / Balekaayi fry

Raw banana fry/dry curry.

Recipe Type:  Side
Cuisine:          South Indian
Prep Time:     15 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Yield:              2-3 Servings

Ingredients:

2 Raw banana/ Plantain/ Balekaayi
2-3 tbsp Oil
8-10 Curry leaves
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
Salt to taste
A handful of Coriander leaves (Optional)

Method:

• Cut off the edges of the banana and peel it.
• Slice the banana lengthwise and then cut into semicircle.
• Heat oil in a kadhai and add the mustard seeds
• Once they splutter, add the curry leaves and the banana
• Stir well
• Add the turmeric, red chilli powder and a little salt and mix well
• Cover and allow it to cook until the banana is cooked through
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with chapatis

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Avial

Avial is I believe a Tamil/ Kerala version of the Kannada majjige huli. Majjige huli is made only from white pumpkin, but Avial has loads of vegetables. An awesome combination with dosa or adai (dal dosa). Don't fret if you don't have all the vegetables mentioned in the list, just add what you have at home and make your own version of avail like I did.

Avial

South Indian stew made with vegetables, coconut and yoghurt

Recipe Type:  Main Course
Cuisine:          South Indian
Prep Time:     20 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:              2-3 Servings

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Coconut
3 tsp Jeera / Cumin Seeds
2-3 Green Chillies
1 cup Curd / Yoghurt
2.5-3 cups of mixed Vegetables
4-5 Curry Leaves
2 tsp Oil
Water
Salt

Method:

• Cut all the vegetables roughly, appx 1” pieces.  Generally used vegetables for avail are Drumstick, Carrot, French beans, Yam, Pumpkin, Raw banana and brinjal. I did not have all these, so I used Carrot, French beans, brinjal, potato and capsicum.
• Boil water in a pan and add the vegetables to it and cook until they are done but still firm. Add the vegetables that take longer to cook first. Veggies like brinjal, capsicum, raw banana can be added after 3-4 mins.
• Grind together coconut, 2 tsp jeera and green chillies into a fine paste.
• Add the paste to the vegetables once the vegetables are done
• Add salt and 1 cup water and boil for 3-4 mins. Adjust the water according to the desired consistency.
• Beat the curd until smooth and add to the avial. Cook for 2 mins on low flame.
• Heat oil in a small pan and add the cumin seeds. Once they slightly brown, add the curry leaves and pour this tempering to the avial.
• Enjoy hot with rice or dosa.

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Banana blossom and white peas subzi

Banana blossom or banana flower is the maroon tear drop shaped thing we probably see in our vegetable shop. It is found at the end of a banana cluster on the tree. I never knew how to cut it or cook it having never eaten it. But a thai place around my house serves banana blossom cakes and they added lemongrass and all those wonderful thai spices and made an awesome cutlet out of it. I simply loved that. I have not yet tried making that but I'm sure that will be soon on the menu. Meanwhile, I got this recipe from my mom which works out great for me. It is the Goan way of cooking banana blossom. It must be good, coz hubby dearest wants it again soon :)

Ingredients:

Banana blossom - 1
White peas/ Green peas - 1 cup (dried)
Fresh grated coconut - 2 tbsp. (Optional)
Oil - 2-3 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder / Haldi - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt

Method:

The important thing with banana blossom is knowing how to peel it and cut it
Discard the maroon layer and keep the small buds at the bottom of the stem. We only use the buds. Cut the buds into smaller pieces and soak in water to avoid oxidising.
Keep removing the layers until you can. After a point it is difficult to separate these layers.
Once the maroon layers are over, the layers will turn white. These are difficult to separate.
Start cutting the blossom into slices once you cannot remove any more
Soak this in water overnight. You can keep this in the fridge.
Squeeze out the water in the morning and pressure cook for around 2-3 whistles (10-12 mins)
Separately pressure cook the white peas for 1-2 whistles (8-10 mins) until done
Heat oil in a kadhai and add the msutard seeds.
Once they splutter add the cooked banana blossom and the white peas.
Add a cup of the water the peas were boiled in.
Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt
Cook until the water evaporates.
Garnish with coconut and serve

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