Thor Chhenchki

Barnali Dutta’s Thor Chhenchki uses the tender inner stem of the banana plant with scraped coconut, curry leaves and chillies. The Bengali recipe selects mustard oil and a tempering of both nigella and mustard seeds.

A little mustard oil is rubbed onto the hands before the stem is sliced into thin rounds. The fibres are removed, and the rounds are stacked and cut into fine matchstick strips.

The chopped stem is mixed with scraped coconut, curry leaves, chopped green chilli, salt, turmeric and sugar. The seasoned mixture is kept covered briefly before cooking.

Mustard oil is heated with dried red chilli, mustard seeds and nigella. The seasoned stem mixture is added, and the pan is immediately covered with a lid.

The mixture cooks gently over low heat under the lid until the stem is soft. The selected dish keeps the chopped stem and coconut together in the same covered pan preparation.