mochar chop recipe | how to make mochar chop at home| banana blossom cutlet recipe

mochar chop is a traditional and highly demandable Bengali snack. It’s basically mochar cutlet as we Bengalis generally identify the chop as dipped in a gram flour batter before frying it in oil. And whereas, the cutlet is nicely coated in breadcrumbs before deep frying in oil and this mochar chop is following the later one.

Mocha is basically Banana Blossom or banana flower. So this cutlet can be identified as banana blossom cutlet among non- Bengalis. Mocha takes an important part in Bengalis vegetarian kitchen for decades. Not only banana blossom, but almost every part of banana plants are also used in our Bengali kitchen as it’s a good source of iron and off-course for its delicious taste. And Bengali veg is quite different from the actual veg concept, to us, onion and garlic are also considered as a part of our non-veg kitchen. Though today I have made some simple change in my mochar chop by adding a little onion to it.

Here, the monsoon is going on, and this is the right time when we  Bengalis eagerly wait for enjoying our delicacies with the rcipes of Ilish(Hilsa fish), khichuri and different snacks like aloor chop, mochar chop, beguni and many more. Though here I have described this Bengali recipe mochar chop or mochar cutlet as a starter,  sometimes we use it as an evening snack.

Right now, the whole sky is covered with a flock of dark clouds and rain can start at any moment. So I thought why shouldn’t I share my the recipe of my mochar chop which I prepared last Sunday when the weather was the same as today. So I’ve started writing this mochar cutlet recipe post, hope you will like it.

As I belong from a small town of WestBengal and my mom loves gardening, in my childhood I’ve seen my mom used to plant the banana plant in our backyard. And my mom and dad both could recognize when the banana plant is going to grow its fruits.

First, a long banana blossom emerged from the plant and this blossoms have lots of bracts in it. And under each bract, the slightly pink colored florets are lying in two rows and all florets are well connected with each other with its bottom line. Slowly the florets of each bract turned into small bananas and turned out to be a cluster of bananas within 18-20 days. When all the bananas get formed only the pinkish red colored mocha or banana blossom will be left just end of that banana clusters. I’ve seen my dad used to separate the mocha or blossom carefully from the banana cluster by using a sharp object.

According to my mom and dad, only yellow-ripe-sweet banana mocha is sweet and tasty. Whereas, the raw banana(green banana) mocha is bitter and astringent in taste. So if you get a bitter one then soak the chopped banana florets in any acidic water with some salt in it. Just like use lemon or tamarind or even curd in water with some salt and leave it for about 1 hour to remove its bitterness and astringent taste.

As I always love each preparation of mocha since my childhood, my husband is also a great admirer of mocha preparation, so mocha is one of the favorite veg preparations of my household. And that preparations might be mochar cutlet, mochar ghonto, mochar kofta whatever it is I don’t mind.

If you may like my chicken roll recipe as an evening snack or you can try my chicken cutlet recipe or Bengali fowl cutlet recipe, stuffed mushroom cheesy bite, butter garlic prawns, crispy fried chicken tenders recipe and Prawn cutlet recipe as a starter.

Even you may try my pav bhaji recipe as an evening snack.

Please, let me know how this mochar chop works in your kitchen and leave a comment in the comment box below.

mochar chop | banana blossom cutlet recipe at home

Ingredients of mochar chop

• 1 1/2 cup chopped florets of mocha
• 2-3 medium potatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 medium tomato
• 3/4 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 2 green chilies (chopped)
• 2 tsp bhaja masala powder or dry roasted spices in powdered form.
• 1 tsp garam masala powder(green cardamoms, cloves, and cinnamon sticks)
• 1 tsp amchur powder or dry mango powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp black salt
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp mustard oil
• salt (as required)

Ingredients for the coating and frying the mochar chop

• 6 tbsp cornflour
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup +2 tbsp of water
• 3/4 cups of  breadcrumbs
• refined oil for deep frying

For making bhaja masala

• 1 1/2 tsp cumin and coriander seeds
• 2 dry red chilies
• 6-8 whole peppercorns

Dry roast all the spices and ground it to make a smooth powder.

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Served in: 1 hr 25 mins (including keeping the chop in the freezer)

Cuisine: Bengali

Course: Starter/ Evening snacks

Served for: 4 people

Author: Moumita Paul

How to make mochar chop at home step by step

Instructions

How to prepare(peeling and chopping of florets) the mocha for this chop:

• First, grease your palm with a little oil before peeling and chopping the florets. As that will leave a black stain on your hands and nails too. And these black stains remain on your palm and nail for several days.

• Take the banana blossom or banana flower and remove each bract or boat like the pinkish red cover which basically protects the florets. And carefully take out the florets and remove the small light pink colored hard petal-like portion form each floret. And then remove the stigma( I found similarities in stigma with a matchstick since my childhood) from each floret too. Peel the florets until you get the soft part of the blossom where the florets are too soft, can’t be peeled out.

• Now chopped the cleaned banana florets and soak it in water and wash it for 4-5 times. Bite a little portion to taste it, if feel the bitter and astringent taste, soak it in acidic water(contains lemon, tamarind or curd) with some salt for about 1 hour.

Preparation of the chop stuffing:

• If it’s a good quality mocha then directly boil it on a slow flame with 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 cup of water. Cover it to get a nicely boiled mocha. As I want my mocha to be boiled and totally soak the water in it. Don’t add the salt for soaked chopped florets in acidic water with salt, only add turmeric powder while boiling it. Stir it frequently that the mocha should not get burnt.
• Take 2-3 medium potatoes, wash it thoroughly for 3-4 times prick with a fork and boil it in a pressure cooker on a medium flame.  One whistle is enough for boiling. Keep it aside for completely cooling down.

• In the meantime, chopped the onion, green chilies, and tomato. Grate the ginger to get a nice paste. Make the dry roasted masala powder or bhaja masala powder and ground the whole garam masalas to make a fine powder. And peel out the boiled potatoes and mashed it with a masher or by using your hand.
• Take a pan, place it on medium heat, make it hot and add 2 tbsp mustard oil or refined oil to it.
• Add the chopped onion and sauté it for some time and then add chopped tomato to it. And let it cook until the tomato won’t get soft. While the tomato gets soft, mash it with the spatula or masher.

• Then add ginger paste and chopped green chilies, sauté it for 30 secs. Then add cumin powder, coriander powder, sugar, and black salt to it. Saute it till the raw smell of masalas or spices won’t go off.

• Now add the mashed potatoes and boiled mocha one by one to it.

• Mix it well together, cook it 2-3 mins then add roasted masala powder or bhaja masala powder, garam masala powder and salt (as required).  Mix it nicely and cook the mix until the moisture exists in the pan.

• When the mix is almost ready to add dry mango powder or amchur powder to it and mix it together. And the chop stuffing is ready, turn off the heat and pour the mix in a plate to cool it down.

How to coat the mochar chop :

• Take a mixing bowl, add cornflour, all-purpose flour, water, and 1/4 tsp salt in it to make a smooth batter. Then take the breadcrumbs in a plate and add 1/4 tsp salt to it, mix it together.
• Now take the stuffing(completely cool down) and first make a round shape ball. And then slightly press it down with your palm to make it slightly flat. As you can see the shape in the pic.

•  Take each stuffing, first dip it in the batter and roll it on the breadcrumbs to coat it nicely from each and every side. The breadcrumbs coat should be so perfect that the stuffing shouldn’t be visible from the outside.

• once the coating is done, then again dip it in the batter and again coat it nicely with the breadcrumbs.
• Once twice coating is over. Then put the coated chop in the freezer for 15-20 mins.

• Take deep frying pan place it on medium heat, add the required amount of refined oil to it for deep frying.  Make the oil hot, take out the mochar cutlet from the freezer and directly add it to the oil. Fry these chops in batches according to the size of the pan, the pan shouldn’t be crowded.

• And the rest of the coated chops keep it back in freezer till the next batch turn won’t come.
• Fry the cutlet until it gets golden brown in color. And when frying is done, place it on a paper towel to remove the excess oil.
• When all the batches are done, sprinkle the amchur- black salt powder and the chop. And serve it with kasundi and salads. As right now I don’t have kasundi in my home, served it with tomato ketchup.

Tips

•  Mocha is a good source of iron, vitamin, and minerals, so I don’t prefer to remove the water after boiling it. But if the mocha is bitter and astringent then we won’t use the water or else, won’t be able to eat.

• Keep the chops in the freezer before making it for getting the nice crunch from its coating.

Summary

Recipe Name

mochar chop recipe | banana blossom cutlet recipe

Author Name

Moumita Paul

Published On

2018-07-31

Preparation Time

30M

Cook Time

35M

Total Time

1H5M

Average Rating

4 Based on 11 Review(s)