Mocha'r Paturi
Banana flowers slow roasted in a fiery marinade of mustard, coconuts and green chillies: an East Bengal specialty
- Cooking time1 hour, 20 mins
Calorieskcal
This is an extremely easy recipe, once the mocha is prepped. Whole mocha florets, or banana blossoms, are marinated with mustard paste, coconut and green chillies, and roasted slowly on a tawa or in a kadai. The same dish can be made in a banana leaf or gourd leaf parcel too.
Paturi, according to food historian and consultant Pritha Sen, does not always have to be cooked in a leaf parcel. Watch Pritha Sen make a lovely mulo'r paturi.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients
Serves
5 servings
- 200 g mocha flowers (cleaned)
- 13 g total salt
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 15 g brown mustard
- 15 g yellow mustard
- 5 pcs green chillies
- 40 g coconut
- 10 g sugar
- 50 g total mustard oil
- 200 g brinjal
- ¼ tsp kaalo jeere (nigella seeds)
- 2 pcs dried red chillies
Method
- Soak yellow and brown mustard seeds in water for 2 hours. Strain and add them to a grinder jar. Add 2 green chillies, 6 g salt and 100 g water, and grind into a smooth paste. Add roughly chopped coconut to the grinder jar and blitz everything again until the coconut completely disintegrates.
- Clean the mocha so that you have individual banana blossoms with their calyx and pistil removed. Transfer the cleaned blossoms to a saucepan with 5 g salt, ¼ tsp turmeric and 400 g water. Cover and steam the mocha for 5 minutes. Strain and throw away the water. Set the mocha aside to cool slightly.
- Once cool, add the mocha to a mixing bowl, followed by the mustard-and-coconut paste, 10 g sugar and 10 g mustard oil. Mix together thoroughly and set aside.
- Cut brinjal in 3-cm-long pieces.
- Heat 35 g mustard oil in a pan. Fry the brinjal until they are brown (about 4 minutes). Remove from the oil and set aside.
- Temper the same oil (if oil has been absorbed into the brinjal, you may need to replenish it with some more) with dried red chillies, green chillies and kaalo jeere. Now add the marinated mocha. Spread it across the surface of the pan in as thin a layer as you can, and roast on low heat. Stir once in while, not very often. Mostly let it roast on low heat in a single layer.
- Once the raw smell of the mustard paste has disappeared, add the fried brinjal. Continue cooking until the brinjal is soft. Deglaze the pan with water if you find the mocha and spices sticking.
- Finish with 2 slit green chillies and 1 tsp raw mustard oil, and serve with steaming rice.
