- Submitted by Dahlia
(How to clean Banana Blossom?, Step by step guide to cleaning banana flower, Preparing banana flower for cooking)
Procedure To Clean Banana Flower
- Apply some oil in your hands before you start cleaning.
- Remove the outer few purplish red petals (or bracts)of the banana flower. You will find a bunch of pale yellow florets inside each petal. Remove these florets and collect it. Tip : If the florets are fresh , they will be yellowish in color. If they are old, they turn black. In that case, discard them. Usually the outer 1 or 2 petals will have black florets. (Each of these florets would have matured to form a banana if we leave them in the plant :-))
- Peel off the petals until it gets difficult to remove the petal. At this stage, the petals will be soft and white in color and there will not be any stamen to remove. So you can directly chop it finely.
- Now with the collected yellow florets, pluck the hard stamen and the white plastic like cover. They will be too hard and bitter if cooked.
- Once you have removed the stamen, chop the florets finely.
- Soak the chopped florets in cold water mixed with salt and a tblsp of lemon juice or curd. This will prevent discoloration of the chopped florets caused by oxidation.
- Strain using a big colander and use it for any of your favorite recipes.
Tips
Clean and chop the florets just before you are ready to use to maintain the white color of the florets. However if you are a busy working woman and would like to prepare ahead, chop and soak the florets in buttermilk or lemon water until you are ready to use. Even if you do not follow the above steps and the florets gets discolored, its OK. The taste will still be the same.
Fresh Banana Blossom
Lift and peel each petal
Remove most of the outer petals that come out easily
Once the petals turn white, they are difficult to peel. At this stage, just chop it up finely.
Remove the petals with the yellow florets inside
Fresh florets are yellowish. If you find the florets black, discard them.
Separate each floret
Open up each floret
Discard the stamen and the thick cover. Chop up the remaining floret.
