Thor'er Chhechki
A dry stir-fry of banana stem
- Cooking time45 mins
Calories130kcal
Thor or "bharali" is the stem—rather, the pith; the light, crunchy, fibrous centre—of the banana plant. Bengalis, like many tropical coastal cultures, use every part of the banana plant. Thor (rhymes with "lore") is loved for its unique texture.
Thor'er chhechki is probably the easiest things one can cook with banana stem. The only time-consuming part of the recipe is the prepping of the stem. There are a lot of thin floss-like fibres that need to be removed before it is cooked—otherwise it can be unpleasant to eat.
Chhechki in Bengali cuisine is essentially a dry stir-fry. The only spice aside from the tempering at the beginning is turmeric. Give this a try. It is really quite delicious!
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients
Serves
4
- 375 g thor (banana stem, cleaned; from 850 g whole thor)
- 30 g mustard oil
- 1 dried red chilli
- ½ tsp kaalo jeere (nigella seeds)
- 4 pcs green chillies (slit)
- 4 g salt
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 25 g grated coconut
- 8 g sugar
Method
- Remove the outer covering of thor and peel the inner plastic-y layer. Slice cross-sections 2-mm thick and pull out the fibres between each slice. Stack a few slices together and chop in 2-mm juliennes.
- Heat mustard oil until it turns pale yellow. Temper with dried red chilli, kaalo jeere and one slit green chilli.
- Add all the thor, cover, and cook on low heat for about 4 mins. (If your thor is too fibrous you may want to steam it for 5 mins and drain the water before cooking with it.)
- Add salt and turmeric, and continue cooking with the lid on for another 3–4 mins.
- Add grated coconut, sugar and the remaining slit green chillies.
- Everything now needs to be gently stir-fried on low heat, covered, for about 15 mins or so, until the thor is soft and well seasoned throughout.
