But, BUT, it's not all bad. Banana steam is fibrous and nutritious so once in a while, maybe like once a year which is what I do, it's good to take the time out and do this and maybe eat it with leftover rasam and rice from the previous day.
How to Prepare Banana Stem for Cooking
The outer layer of the stem is usually removed when you buy it from vegetable stores. But, it's good to strip off one more layer before using, unless your banana stem is super fresh. Mine wasn't that fresh so I did that.
Cut the banana stem into thin discs, gently. As you do this, you will notice fibres refusing to let the discs go from the larger chunk. With your index finger, remove those fibres using a circular motion. Or however you please. Just remove them.
Side story: I remember my mom doing this. She would use the traditional aruva mona for chopping and use a swift motion to remove the fibres. At the end of it, she would have a thick, darkened, layer of banana stem fibre wound around her index finger.
Dunk these discs into a bowl of diluted buttermilk. I just added a spoon of yogurt to some water and used that. Once you are done cutting up the entire stem, you can chop these further depending on what you are making.
Need ideas for recipes with banana stem? Check out vazhai thandu poriyal or vazha pindi thoran. Another interesting, unique recipe coming soon!
Gauri
Nags,
U guys get Vazha Thandu in Singapore ??!!! Lucky you :-). Been ages (literally ages) since I had vazha thandu. Exactly where in Singapore do you get this. Asking cos we are visiting Singapore later this month and I'd love to pick some up and get it back to HK.
Nagalakshmi V
yes, you get it along race course road outside the little india mrt. as soon as you exit from mrt, there's a veg stall to your left that has pretty much all indian vegetables!
indosungod
I have heard that banana stem is supposed aid in weight loss. Eat it everyday I guess. While cleaning a little bit of oil on the finger tips prevents the stains of the thandu from getting on to the hand.
Akhila S
I should take time to leave a comment this time. Even though I have tried atleast a dozen recipes from your site and picked up a bunch of other things - all super successful. But, either I am reading the recipe on my phone and cooking in the kitchen, else I blame it on the google reader, it does not have a 'comment' option there.
Banana Stem, Lotus Root and Bamboo Shoot are the 3 dreaded things for me. Firstly, I don't know how to pre-process them and secondly, I don't know what dish taste the best. But, I always wanted to try. I love your step by step presentation with wonderful description. Keep it going!
Shabitha Karthikeyan
Very useful one for newbie's. I never got this here.
Jon
What's an "aruva mona", please? A Google search isn't very informative!
runnergirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com
I have yet to prepare banana stem, thanks for sharing will definitely make my life easier!
Taraka Anil Sabbineni
How come there is no '+1' button on this blog ??? UNBELIEVABLE.
Sangeetha Nambi
My mom use to give this tip... Thanks for Sharing Nags....
http://recipe-excavator.blogspot.com