Eating is an agricultural act - Wendell Berry

Sunday, October 31, 2010

banana bounty

four months ago, we spotted the birth of the banana bunch.

that was around 8 months since we planted the sapling.
so total lifespan of 12 months.
of a most remarkable species of tree.

here is the photo sequence.





name of the variety is karpooravalli. has a lovely taste of camphor.
total of 9 bunches and approx 15 bananas per bunch. thats a whole load of carbs from a tree entirely raised with wash water from the basin.

the middle-most part of the stem is a juicy vegetable and was harvested for the kitchen. it is a stringy stem and one should cut the innermost part of the stem (see the cross section below) into small discs and then run the index finger on the face (of the stem) to gather the strings onto the finger. please ask your mom/grandmom for demo :)




the remains of the leaves and stems etc, were chopped and shopped as mulch to the fields.

the fundas for ripening are quite simple.
ripening speed is directly proportional to heat.
we obviously did not want the entire bunch to ripen at once.

so we cut 2 bunches and wrapped them up in a jute sack and let it ripen as it cooks. and after 3 days, here is the comparison of the ripened bunch and the rest.

a couple of weeks of unadulterated pleasure.

10 comments:

Ludwig said...

innoru pazham enge irukku?

innonnu dhaane idhu!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ28x7OnarE

SurveySan said...

nice.

Anonymous said...

It is not a tree. It is a grass.

Anonymous said...

Need to mention that the stem has medicinal properties. Cleans the stomach, and very very effective in removing kidney stones.

A really wonderful Kerala dish with vazha pindi is erissery. Just replace the pumpkin here:

http://www.cookingandme.com/2009/02/erissery-recipe-yellow-pumpkin-curry.html

Would've been more satisfying if the leaves did some work before moving on to compost! :) Also, the outer layer can be peeled into long threads to make strings. Useful for tying vines to supporting sticks etc.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, just noticed that her recipe doesn't have red beans in it. You need to pressure cook some red beans and add that as well.

csm said...

lud - that is one dialogue that we can skip with this excess.

anon - grass it is. let us not split it :-)

anon 2 (same as before?) - correct. outer layers are stringed and were once used solely for flower threading. a forgotten art.
and good recipe. thanks for that.

madhavi said...

madhavi
wow csm
what a harvest, I have banana (grass) plant at my house in HYD has been around 12 months but no sign of fruit setting - any idea why - about 7 feet tall with tall leaves but no fruit - thanks for info on not ripening it at once - will try if I ever get some fruit

Choxbox said...

WOW!

Vetirmagal said...

mmm Too good :-)

Vetirmagal said...

When you mentioned the banana string I recalled the phrase " பூவோடு சேர்ந்து நாரும் மணம் பெற்றால் போல'

I can smell the fresh banana!