How To Clean Banana Flower Vazhaipoo

Banana flower are the edible blossoms of the banana tree. It is a specialty, wherever the plant is grown in abundance. For instance, India, most of Asia, etc. Occasionally I do make recipes with banana flower. Just that I have not added them yet on the website. I learnt cleaning banana flower from my mom and there were days when we both would clean banana flower together. Since cleaning takes time, I generally do it in the afternoons when other household work is not there. I clean, chop and keep everything in the fridge. The next day I use the banana flowers in the recipes. They stay well for a couple of days in the fridge. Banana flower is very healthy and can be used in myriad ways in making any recipe. I generally make a curry with black peas, Vazhaipoo Vadai and a simple banana flower bhaji with coconut. I hope this post help you with the method of cleaning and cutting banana blossom easily.

How to Clean Banana Flower (Vazhaipoo)

1. Before beginning, rub some oil on your palms and chopping board as the hands as well the board gets stained when cleaning banana flower. In a bowl take 2 to 2.5 cups water and add 4 to 5 tablespoons curd in it. Mix well and keep aside. This is the curd solution. You can also use buttermilk instead of curd solution. Now take the flower and lift the bracts or the large petals. Underneath you will see small florets attached on the top.
2. Remove these florets and collect them in a plate or bowl. You can collect some amount, clean them and again start collecting them. The bracts can be rinsed and then used to serve snacks made from banana flower.
3. Now take each floret and check for the two parts that need to be discarded.1. Perianth or tepal – these are the outer papery like covers that protects the stamens and the stigma. These translucent cover needs to be removed. You just need to pluck it from the floret.2. Style – this is a long sticky structure with a bulb like top. The top sticky bulb like structure is the stigma. The entire style and stigma needs to be discarded. Pluck it from the floret.
4. Remove the paper like cover and the style-stigma from each floret. Removing both these structures from each floret take a lot of time. They are removed as they are not digestible and also makes the dish bitter if added.
5. Keep on working each flower and discard the unwanted elements in a bowl or a plate.
6. Collect each cleaned flower in a bowl. Remove the bracts. Collect the flower and clean them. a point comes when the florets become smaller in size. At this step you come across florets which are very tender and the perianth or outer cover is too tight. When you see such tender flowers, then just chop them.
7. Now take the cleaned florets in parts on a chopping board and then chop them.
8. Keep the chopped banana flowers in the curd solution or buttermilk. You can also add about ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder in the solution.
9. This way keep on collecting and cleaning the flowers till you come to a point where the bracts cannot be opened. Take the banana heart.  You will see a whitish coloured structure and this is the banana heart. keep it in the curd solution or buttermilk so that it does not darken.
10. You can slice it in two parts if you want. First slice vertically. 9. then slice horizontally.
11. Add the chopped banana heart also in the buttermilk solution. If using immediately, then you can just add in a bowl. But if you plan to use chopped banana flower after some hours, then do keep them soaked in the buttermilk solution so that they do not get darkened. Keep the cleaned and cut banana flower in the fridge.
12. Banana flower is very healthy and can be used to make various recipes. So do try to include it in your meals. Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. 27 Banana Recipes + Desserts With Ripe & Overripe Bananas Mung Bean Sprouts | How to sprout Mung Beans 40 Coconut Recipes | Coconut Sweets Recipes 16 Indian Beetroot Recipes This How to clean Banana Flower post from the archives, first published on November 2017 has been republished and updated on November 2022.

title: “How To Clean Banana Flower Vazhaipoo " ShowToc: true date: “2024-10-13” author: “Johnie Powell”

Banana flower are the edible blossoms of the banana tree. It is a specialty, wherever the plant is grown in abundance. For instance, India, most of Asia, etc. Occasionally I do make recipes with banana flower. Just that I have not added them yet on the website. I learnt cleaning banana flower from my mom and there were days when we both would clean banana flower together. Since cleaning takes time, I generally do it in the afternoons when other household work is not there. I clean, chop and keep everything in the fridge. The next day I use the banana flowers in the recipes. They stay well for a couple of days in the fridge. Banana flower is very healthy and can be used in myriad ways in making any recipe. I generally make a curry with black peas, Vazhaipoo Vadai and a simple banana flower bhaji with coconut. I hope this post help you with the method of cleaning and cutting banana blossom easily.

How to Clean Banana Flower (Vazhaipoo)

1. Before beginning, rub some oil on your palms and chopping board as the hands as well the board gets stained when cleaning banana flower. In a bowl take 2 to 2.5 cups water and add 4 to 5 tablespoons curd in it. Mix well and keep aside. This is the curd solution. You can also use buttermilk instead of curd solution. Now take the flower and lift the bracts or the large petals. Underneath you will see small florets attached on the top.
2. Remove these florets and collect them in a plate or bowl. You can collect some amount, clean them and again start collecting them. The bracts can be rinsed and then used to serve snacks made from banana flower.
3. Now take each floret and check for the two parts that need to be discarded.1. Perianth or tepal – these are the outer papery like covers that protects the stamens and the stigma. These translucent cover needs to be removed. You just need to pluck it from the floret.2. Style – this is a long sticky structure with a bulb like top. The top sticky bulb like structure is the stigma. The entire style and stigma needs to be discarded. Pluck it from the floret.
4. Remove the paper like cover and the style-stigma from each floret. Removing both these structures from each floret take a lot of time. They are removed as they are not digestible and also makes the dish bitter if added.
5. Keep on working each flower and discard the unwanted elements in a bowl or a plate.
6. Collect each cleaned flower in a bowl. Remove the bracts. Collect the flower and clean them. a point comes when the florets become smaller in size. At this step you come across florets which are very tender and the perianth or outer cover is too tight. When you see such tender flowers, then just chop them.
7. Now take the cleaned florets in parts on a chopping board and then chop them.
8. Keep the chopped banana flowers in the curd solution or buttermilk. You can also add about ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder in the solution.
9. This way keep on collecting and cleaning the flowers till you come to a point where the bracts cannot be opened. Take the banana heart.  You will see a whitish coloured structure and this is the banana heart. keep it in the curd solution or buttermilk so that it does not darken.
10. You can slice it in two parts if you want. First slice vertically. 9. then slice horizontally.
11. Add the chopped banana heart also in the buttermilk solution. If using immediately, then you can just add in a bowl. But if you plan to use chopped banana flower after some hours, then do keep them soaked in the buttermilk solution so that they do not get darkened. Keep the cleaned and cut banana flower in the fridge.
12. Banana flower is very healthy and can be used to make various recipes. So do try to include it in your meals. Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. 27 Banana Recipes + Desserts With Ripe & Overripe Bananas Mung Bean Sprouts | How to sprout Mung Beans 40 Coconut Recipes | Coconut Sweets Recipes 16 Indian Beetroot Recipes This How to clean Banana Flower post from the archives, first published on November 2017 has been republished and updated on November 2022.