Kanchkolar Khosa Bata Recipe - Bengali Vegetarian Recipes (2024)

Kanchkolar Khosa’r Ghonto or Kanchkola’r Khosa Bata is a unique Bengali side dish where the peels of green banana or plantain are smashed and cooked into a pate. This is mildly spicy and is usually served with rice. This kanchkolar khosa bata recipe is an excellent example of how Bengali cuisine often turns discards and wastes into a delicacy.

Nutrient powerhouse, the raw banana peels give us a vegan and gluten-free side dish recipe which is often served at the beginning of the meal. So, next time you are making anything using Green (Unripened) Bananas, save the peels and try this recipe.

Perfect example of ‘Best out of Waste’!

In colloquial Bengali terms, there is a popular notion that we Bengalis can use up every part of the Banana tree in some or the other way! The ripened Banana fruit is very popular, as we all know. The fruit of the banana plant, known as mocha (pronounced as mo-cha) is a delicacy. It is delicately peeled and the stigmas are removed for the preparation. Further there is a stick inside each of the stigmas which is removed and discarded before chopping them up and cooking.

The stem of the banana plant, known as ‘thor‘ is also carefully sliced and chopped up to prepare a dry-ish side dish known as thor er ghonto. The banana plant leaves are used in various ways of cooking and serving. The classic dish of ‘paturi‘ requires banana leaves to pack the fish in for steaming.

Now you see, why Bengalis have a special love for a banana plant. Also known as kola gaach, it has religious reverence as well. During Durga Puja, a banana plant is morphed into lord Ganesha’s wife and is placed beside his idol as ‘kola bou‘.

Now, coming back to this kanchkolar khosa recipe, the Bengali kitchen often makes use of unripened green bananas. It can be for the very popular Kanchkolar Kofta Curry recipe or for a simple mix-vegetable stew known as Anaj er Jhol. Kanchkola or raw bananas are also used for shukto.

In case you have any of these green banana recipes on your cards, save the banana peels in a box for this recipe. Here’s the recipe for it.

How to make Kanchkolar Khosa Bata in Ghonto style – Ingredients list

• Raw Banana peels
• Mustard Oil
• Cumin Seeds
• Bay Leaf
• Turmeric Powder
• Salt
• Sugar
• Cumin Powder
• Ginger
• Garam Masala powder
• Ghee – omit if vegan
• Coconut – freshly scraped

What is a Ghonto? Ghonto is a niramish style of cooking vegetables that uses primarily these spices, cumin seeds, ginger, bay leaf and green chillies. In the end, the dish is finished with some Bengali gorom moshla and a drizzle of ghee.

Step-by-step instructions on how to make Kanchkolar Khosa Bata

• Wash the green banana peels and finely slice them horizontally. Usually, the fibres run vertically so by cutting them horizontally, we are minimizing the chances of getting rough fibres.
• Pressure cook the sliced peels with some water, salt and turmeric powder. Allow it to whistle 4-5 times and then turn off the heat. Let the pressure cooker de-pressurize on its own.
• Discard the water and drain the cooked peels.
• Now, finely chop them up using a knife or use an electric chopper or food processor to do this. Do not worry if they turn mushy.
• In a non-stick pan, heat some mustard oil. Temper it with cumin seeds and allow it to splutter. Drop a bay leaf and sliced green chillies.
• Now, add the prepared coarsely chopped banana peels and stir. Add salt, sugar and turmeric powder.
• As it dries up, add the grated ginger and cumin powder.
• Once you see it forming a ball and leaving the sides of the pan, add the garam masala powder and ghee. Give it a mix. Turn off the heat.
• Add some freshly scraped coconut on top and serve

This dish has been popular in my family for such a long time and I have always heard them rave about it. They would always tell me how delicious it always turns out and yet all it needs some discarded peels and basic ingredients. I truly hope you will give this a try!

Have you tried this recipe?I would love to hear about it.
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