Banana Blossoms or Musa paradisiaca is also known as Banana Hearts. The flower is purple-maroon in color and torpedo shaped.

Banana blossom is about one foot long. This deep purple blossom appears at the lower end of the strong stem supporting the bunches of bananas.

To use it, the tough purple colored outer leaves are carefully removed one by one, keeping aside the undeveloped bunches of tiny banana florets found inside.

The inner portion is almost white in color. When it appears, the peeling is stopped since the thin white colored inner leaves are soft, edible and tasty.

The stigma of each of the flowers forming the tiny bunches is removed completely by pulling them out. They render the blossom bitter in taste. The fine chopped blossom is then immersed in water until it is ready to be cooked. Otherwise it will turn completely brown in color.

Light frying with a cooking oil after seasoning and garnishing the cooked blossom with coconut scrapings and cooked lentils, makes it a mouth watering side dish very popular in South India.

The sliced leaves are used in salads or eaten as a vegetable. Many Asian cultures eat banana blossoms. Blossoms are available fresh or canned in Asian grocery stores.

If we eat it raw, we have make it sure that the blossom comes from a variety that isn’t bitter. Most of the Southeast Asian varieties aren’t bitter in taste.