How to clean Banana Blossoms (Vazhai poo)

Banana blossoms are the flowers from the plaintain or banana tree. The one we get here in India, is the maroonish coloured flower. It consists of large maroon petal like encasing with long creamish or yellowish flowerettes. These long flowerettes are the edible part. The juice from the blossoms can stain the clothes and hence one needs to be careful while dealing with these blossoms.

1. Peel the maroon petals away and pick the long flowerettes.
2. Gently peel the layers of the flowertte to reveal the long strand with a slightly bulbous head and a thin plastic like sheet. Remove that bulbous strand and the thin plastic membrane like thing. They are not used for cooking.
3. If you want to prevent discolouration of the floweretts, soak them in water mixed with vinegar. They turn brown if left in the open for sometime.

4. The banana blossoms are now ready to use.

How to Thicken Gray

I am starting a new section in this blog, called "How to". This is to share very basic kitchen tips and techniques that I have picked up from elders at home and from fellow bloggers. This is intended to be a very useful learning experience for those who have just stepped into the culinary world.

There is often a necessity to thicken gravy, else it gets too runny. Especially when used as a side dish for rice varieties, the gravy should not be too runny. There are various ways to thicken gravy. We will discuss a few here: Please feel free to let me know any other methods you use.

a) Using ingredients from the gravy itself:
1. If the gravy has potatoes, mash the cooked potatoes into a fine paste and add it back. Heat the dish one more time to get the right consistency with mashed potatoes.
2. For Channa (chick-pea), take some cooked channa and grind it into a fine paste. Add it to the channa masala and bring to a boil.
3. Before making the gravy vegetable, chop one or two onions and a tomato and fry them using a tsp of oil. Allow the onion and tomato mix to cool down and then grind into a fine paste. Add this paste to the gravy just before actual cooking begins (after the fry stage).
b) Using external thickening agents after the gravy is cooked:
1. If you do not mind the smooth texture of chinese gravy, make a tsp of corn-flour with 1 tbsp of water. Add this to the gravy and bring to a boil until the gravy thickens to desired consistency.
2. For a more desi taste, add either a tsp of besan or rice-flour to 1 tbsp of water, make a paste and add to the cooked gravy. Bring the mix to a boil until the gravy thickens to desired consistency.
3. Make a paste of 2-3 tbsp of dessicated coconut and water. Grind in the blender until the coconut shreds cannot be felt. Add this coconut mix to the gravy and bring to a boil until the gravy thickens.
4. Soak 5-6 cashews in 1/4 cup of hot water. Once the water has cooled down to room temperature, grind the cashews in the water to a smooth paste. Add the cashew mix back to gravy and bring to a boil until the gravy thickens.

For the methods 3-4 in "b", remove the gravy from heat just before the desired consistency. The gravy continues to thicken as it cools down.