Banana Stem Curry/Sabji
Banana Stem Curry/Sabji
Every part of a banana plant is useful. It gives us bananas, its leaves are used for serving food in south India, banana flower, fruit and stem are used for cooking, the plant fibres are used as natural craft materials, used in making flower garlands, etc. In the olden days, every house used to have banana plants and coconut trees in their backyards and once in a month banana flower curry or banana stem curry would a part of the lunch menu, but now in the modern times we don't have them but get it from the markets.
Banana stem has lot of fibre content and hence it aids digestion, good for stomach and prevents constipation. You can also consume it in the form of juice, after cleaning and chopping the stem, grind it in a mixer and strain it, add some salt and buttermilk to the juice and gulp it. It doesn't taste great but it's so very beneficial for health, people who suffer from stones in kidney should have this juice once in a week. The benefits are many, not all can be listed here. Now let's see how to make Banana Stem Curry. Cleaning & chopping the stem is the difficult part, whereas making the curry is easy. Please refer video for details on how to chop the stem.
It will be great if you can get the bottom part of the banana stem. As you move up the banana plant, the stem becomes less fibrous, smaller in diameter and also taste varies by little. So try to get the bottom part of the plant for better taste & benefits.
Ingredients : (Serves 4)
Banana stem : 1 piece
Mustard seeds/Rai/Kadugu : 0.5 tsp
Red chilly : 1
Green chilly : 1
Fresh grated coconut : 3 to 4 tbsp
Fresh Curry leaves : few
Oil : 3-4 tsp
Salt : as per taste
Turmeric : 1/4th tsp
Asafoetida/Hing : 1/4th tsp
Urad dal : 1 tbsp
Chana dal : 1 tbsp
Moog dal : 50g soaked in water for 10 to 15 minutes
Note : You can adjust chillies as per taste or its hotness.
Procedure:
1. Slit and remove the outer layers of the stem, then peel off the waxy smooth surface till you reach the fibrous non-smooth centre portion.
Chop the stem and put it in curd+water mixture, otherwise the chopped stem will turn blackish. For this curd+water mixture you would need 3-4 tbsp curd. Also while chopping, you need to remove the extra fibres coming out from the chopped portions. Refer the video for better details of this step.
2. Boil some water in a pressure pan, strain the chopped stem from the curd+water mixture and add it into the boiling water. Add some salt, turmeric and 2 tbsp curd. Pressure cook it for 2-3 whistles. Wait for few minutes and once you can open the cooker, strain excess water, also try to squeeze the chopped stem and remove excess water. Keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan/kadhai, add mustard and let it crackle, add red chillies, Urad and chana dal, curry leaves and chopped green chillies. Saute for a min till dal turns golden brown.
4. Add the strained banana stem pieces into the pan, mix well, close the pan with a lid and allow it to cook for a minute.
5. Open the lid, add little salt, again close pan with lid and let it cook for 1-2 min.
Note: We have already added salt in step2, so add salt accordingly.
6. Open lid, add the soaked Moog dal(after straining and removing excess water from dal), mix well again close with lid and let it cook for 2-3 min.
Note: The dal need not cook completely. Hence 2-3 min is enough.
7. Open the lid, add freshly grated coconut, mix well, saute for a 1-2 min and switch off the flame.
Note : If you want, you can add 1/2 tsp sugar in this step.
Every part of a banana plant is useful. It gives us bananas, its leaves are used for serving food in south India, banana flower, fruit and stem are used for cooking, the plant fibres are used as natural craft materials, used in making flower garlands, etc. In the olden days, every house used to have banana plants and coconut trees in their backyards and once in a month banana flower curry or banana stem curry would a part of the lunch menu, but now in the modern times we don't have them but get it from the markets.
Banana stem has lot of fibre content and hence it aids digestion, good for stomach and prevents constipation. You can also consume it in the form of juice, after cleaning and chopping the stem, grind it in a mixer and strain it, add some salt and buttermilk to the juice and gulp it. It doesn't taste great but it's so very beneficial for health, people who suffer from stones in kidney should have this juice once in a week. The benefits are many, not all can be listed here. Now let's see how to make Banana Stem Curry. Cleaning & chopping the stem is the difficult part, whereas making the curry is easy. Please refer video for details on how to chop the stem.
It will be great if you can get the bottom part of the banana stem. As you move up the banana plant, the stem becomes less fibrous, smaller in diameter and also taste varies by little. So try to get the bottom part of the plant for better taste & benefits.
Ingredients : (Serves 4)
Banana stem : 1 piece
Mustard seeds/Rai/Kadugu : 0.5 tsp
Red chilly : 1
Green chilly : 1
Fresh grated coconut : 3 to 4 tbsp
Fresh Curry leaves : few
Oil : 3-4 tsp
Salt : as per taste
Turmeric : 1/4th tsp
Asafoetida/Hing : 1/4th tsp
Urad dal : 1 tbsp
Chana dal : 1 tbsp
Moog dal : 50g soaked in water for 10 to 15 minutes
Note : You can adjust chillies as per taste or its hotness.
Procedure:
1. Slit and remove the outer layers of the stem, then peel off the waxy smooth surface till you reach the fibrous non-smooth centre portion.
Chop the stem and put it in curd+water mixture, otherwise the chopped stem will turn blackish. For this curd+water mixture you would need 3-4 tbsp curd. Also while chopping, you need to remove the extra fibres coming out from the chopped portions. Refer the video for better details of this step.
2. Boil some water in a pressure pan, strain the chopped stem from the curd+water mixture and add it into the boiling water. Add some salt, turmeric and 2 tbsp curd. Pressure cook it for 2-3 whistles. Wait for few minutes and once you can open the cooker, strain excess water, also try to squeeze the chopped stem and remove excess water. Keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan/kadhai, add mustard and let it crackle, add red chillies, Urad and chana dal, curry leaves and chopped green chillies. Saute for a min till dal turns golden brown.
4. Add the strained banana stem pieces into the pan, mix well, close the pan with a lid and allow it to cook for a minute.
5. Open the lid, add little salt, again close pan with lid and let it cook for 1-2 min.
Note: We have already added salt in step2, so add salt accordingly.
6. Open lid, add the soaked Moog dal(after straining and removing excess water from dal), mix well again close with lid and let it cook for 2-3 min.
Note: The dal need not cook completely. Hence 2-3 min is enough.
7. Open the lid, add freshly grated coconut, mix well, saute for a 1-2 min and switch off the flame.
Note : If you want, you can add 1/2 tsp sugar in this step.
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