Have you ever tried cooking a banana flower or a banana blossom? Purple in colour, heart – shaped, it is commonly seen in Indian groceries where it is considered as a vegetable. It’s a very good source of fibre and many medicinal values.
Do you prepare the banana flower? Is it used in your culture? Please do share.
Banana flower is the purplish-red flowers growing at the end of the long banana stem. The mature flower often has hard husks on the outside. When the husks have been peeled away, the leaves in the middle can be used to cook. It is also used to make salad in some countries as well. If you are about to buy some for cooking, you should make sure to choose the fresh ones which are tight and undamaged. The outer husks should be closely overlapped each other for freshness purposes. Some people having experience of cooking banana flowers usually recommend that you should wear gloves beforehand. This is because the leaking banana flower liquid can leave some stains on your skin or on your clothes. You can also rub some cooking oil on your hand which makes the liquid easier to be washed.
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Serves – 4
Cooking time- 20 minutes
Cooking time 25 minutes
Ingredients:
Banana Flower – 1 nos
Onion (chopped) – 1nos
Green chilli (chopped) 2 nos ( or to taste)
Garlic (chopped) – 5 cloves
Dry red chilli – 2 nos
Coconut (grated) – 1 cup( either fresh or desicated cococnut)
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
Cumin – 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Urad dal -1 tsp
Pepper powder 1/2 tsp (optional)
Coconut oil – 3 tbsp
Method
- Oil your hands and knife before cleaning and cutting the banana flower to prevent discoloration.
- Peel the banana flower stalk (each layer will have many tiny flowers). Remove the outer layer, till you find no more tiny flowers. This last white bit inside should be chopped into fine pieces.
- Heat coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and cumin, when it splutters add urad dal and saute for 1 minute.
- Add onion, green chillies, garlic, dry red chillies, curry leaves, salt and turmeric powder and fry till the onions turn transparent.
- Add the chopped banana flower and mix well and fry on medium flame for 3 – 4 minutes covered. Keep stirring ocassionally.
- Add pepper powder and stir well. Add grated coconut and saute well and fry on low flame for 2-3 minutes till all water evaporates and the flower is not soggy. Put off the flame.
- Healthy Banana blossom Stir Fry is ready.
Yum yum 😊
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Thank you Riya.
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Looks scrumptious
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Thanks a lot Karen.
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After chopping leave it in water for 10 minutes, then drain and cook. The bitterness will be reduced / gone. In village people use only certain kind of banana flower.(cherupazham flower). The big bananaflower ( nentrakka in malayalam) is bitter.
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Thanks for this amazing tips Sanchari. 😊
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This is a beautiful recipe I would love to try to make this
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You will love it Gayle. And thanks for stopping by.😊
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Waw, what a fantastic truly amazing recipe! Love it! xxx
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Thank you Sophie.
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Wowwww!!! Yummmm!!
It was amazing.
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Thanks a lot 😊
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Great one Sumith as usual! The blossom is supposed to have some amazing health benefits!
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Thank a lot Rashmi. They are very good in medicinal values.
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Looks such a lovely dish and it’s the first time I’ve seen banana flowers too! Thank you for sharing this great experience. 🙂
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Thanks a lot Lili 😊
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Sumith always shines
Awesome bananas recipie, preparation…
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Thanks a lot utkarsh 😊
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That is a new dish for me, but I am totally convinced to try it!!☺👍 Looks delicious and provoking!!👍 Last but not the least, You presentation part is magical indeed!!☺👍
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Thanks a lot Vivek for your magical words. I am so glad you liked it 😊
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I am of African descent,we don’t eat that part of banana but sounds interesting & looks great
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I am from Kerala, down south of India which is very tropical. We eat that very healthy and medicinal. If you haven’t tried that, explore new tastes. Hopefully yout will enjoy it.
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I will definitely try this out. Wonderful decoration as always… 🙂
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Thank you Mani for your compliment 😊
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I’ve seen them in the Indian store, but I didn’t know what they were. Another one to try! Thank you, Sumith, for teaching me!
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It’s the cousin of bitter gourd. Slightly bitter if you like it then you will love it. And very healthy too.
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I am a curious cat – I have to try. Then I’ll report back to you.
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Dolly, explore new food’s. I love it!! Treating your taste buds with some thing new😊
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Yes, I love exploring and experimenting!
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Reblogged this on Retired? No one told me! and commented:
I love the sound of this and as banana flowers are very plentiful here…one for me try 🙂
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It’s bit like bitter gourd. We remove all the purple petals and use only the tender part or will be very bitter in taste. Give it a try!! And enjoy cooking.
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This is the first time I have seen a recipe for Banana flowers…we eat them here but steamed as a vegetable and served with other vegetable and fish and with a generally hot,spicy dip. 🙂
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Hi Blondieaka, I have seen it using as salads as well in few recipes. This is a common vegetarian side dish in Kerala. Hopefully you will like it.
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Something very new for me Sumith… thanks for sharing:)
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You are welcome Divya 😊
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Sounds interesting.. never heard of banana flowers recipe… beautifully presented 👌👌
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Thanks a ton Rateka 🙂
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Love it! I’ve never had banana flower before or even heard of it… thank you for opening my horizons. I will see if I can even find it here in Montreal.
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Hi Annika, it taste some thing different. I love the taste of bitter gourd. This is the cousin of bitter gourd. If you want to try make sure you remove all the purple petals and wear a glove. It could stain the hands and clothes. Explore new ingredients😊
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Thanks for the advice… I will keep this mind… let me find them first.. oh and I love bitter gourd so now I especially want to try these.
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Happy cooking Annika. Now let’s find something new now -:)
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You even lay out your ingredients tastefully
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Thanks a bunch for your words Derrick😊
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🙂
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Wow, beattiful styling as always Sumith. Great to see such mouthwatering images!
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Thanks a lot for your beautiful word!!
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Very nice….It will be more delicious if you add green gram too
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Thank you Anu for sharing this. Will try it next time with green gram.
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I love banana blossoms.Your recipe is so good. Your presentation makes this look even better.
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Thank you for your kind words Anuradha😊
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You are welcome Sumith.
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😊:)
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I love banana flowers fry. Looks perfect and so yummy 😊😋
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Thank you MalinI glad you like it.
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What an exotic dish and beautiful display.
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Thanks a lot Cornelia.
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Very interesting. I didn’t know you are able to use banana flowers in cooking. Beautiful pictures.
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Thanks a lot Aheikkinen. It has many medicinal values too.
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OK, Sumith, I have seen banana flowers on plants, but never ever heard of eating them! You make it all look so beautiful and delicious! You’re introducing us to so many new intriguing things! thanks.
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Rhonda let’s explore the world of cooking and enjoying good food! This has many health benefits as well. Thank you for your compliment.
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I’ve come across stir fried banana flower many times in Thai cooking. Thanks for sharing this recipe – I’m keen to try it 🙂
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Thanks a lot Penne. I have seen this in Thai cooking for salads and found very interesting. Seen in some recipes eating the very tender part raw. I would like to try this in salads now.😊
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This is my favourite vegetable, lovely presentation and recipe too!👌
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Thanks a lot payel😊
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Beautifully presented as always Sumith, and very informative. I have never eaten banana flower. I will keep my eyes open for one. Thank you.
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Exploring new foods is really amazing. It’s never ending. More we try more we enjoy. Thanks a lot for your compliment Myra.
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Never tasted nor ever tried making the banana flower recipe, but have always wondered how to cook it. I do see the flower here in some stores selling vegetables from Kerala, maybe if ever I wish to cook this I now have your recipe to follow 🙂 . Do we eat this with roti/parathas or with rice along with some tangy Sambhar or dal?
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Hi Ash, usually we eat this as a side dish with rice. We cook only the tender part inside the flower. The purple part is bitter in taste has to be removed. Enjoy cooking!!
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Sumith, I saw the banana flower today in the vegetable shop and have purchased a smaller one, will try and make the sabji tomorrow. Thanks for this recipe 👍🏻
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Ash, enjoy cooking!!
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I made an attempt at using banana flower once. I used only the recommended parts and discarded the rest but it was still intolerably bitter. I must have misunderstood the instructions and done something wrong. It was rather labor intensive too. If I try it again it will be with who knows what they are doing making the preparation!
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Hi Greg, the purple outer layers of the flowers should be completely removed. That part is very bitter in taste. Some soak this in turmeric to remove the bitter taste of it. Though it’s not bitter as bitter gourd😋.
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Authentic Kerala dish A taste of Kerala
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Thank you Jain chetta
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I’ve never tried a banana flower but I would love to. One for the wish list!
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Hi Osyth, there is a great thrill in tasting foods which you have never tried before. I love exploring new foods. You will love this. I remember one time I carried this in my suit case on a holiday back from Kerala😅😂
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Great story!!!! 🍌 🌺 🎒 😂
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😂😘:)
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This looks so good Sumith bhai. 🙂
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Thanks a lot Harsh bhai:)
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You’re welcome Sumith bhai. 🙂
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Looks delicious Sumith . It’s an healthy food but need lot of patience to clean it 🙂 . I used to prepare a sidedish by combining chanadhal and banana flower.
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Thanks a lot Priya😊 Chanadhal and banana flower is great in combination:)
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My pleasure Sumith 🙂 Yeah, it tastes great.
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Love it! Somehow the ones in Kerala always taste much better than what we get here.
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Hi Indu, very true, I got this flower after a long search, here in Manchester. Fresh ones are the best one’s for better taste.
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yeah we too get it occasionally from the Asian grocers here. They are not always available 😦
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Yes Indu it’s very seasonal.
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Lovely clicks. Looks delicious! Mustard spiced banana flower curry is a traditional dish in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh.
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Thanks a lot Rama. Love to hear you use banana flower in Andhra pradesh for curry.
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I’ve never had banana flower, and doubt I can get it here, but the dish looks very tasty! 🙂
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Thanks a lot Ronit! This was one of my moms favourates 😄as we had many banana trees at home, back in kerala, India.
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I’ve seen a few posts that show how to extract the flowers. Seems quite hard. No doubt it is a labor of love… 🙂
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Ronit, it’s so easy to prepare and to cook.
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It didn’t look like it, but I’ll take your word for it. I’ll try and see if I can get it here. I’m very curious about it. 🙂
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Love your passion in cooking!! Me too very curious in trying new ingradients which you have never tried before. And gained too much knowledge from your blog too!! Thank you Ronit😊
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Glad to hear. 🙂
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😊:)
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I have never had the pleasure to try or use in my own cooking. Will definitely have to try, looks delicious!
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You will love this. Taste some thing diffrent. And has many medicinal values to. Thanks for stopping by😊
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You are very welcome! And can’t wait to try! Thanks again for the post! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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You are very welcome my friend😊
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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This is beautifully presented, Sumith, as always. I have never heard of eating banana leaves before and have never seen them in local stores in South Africa. Great to learn about a new and interesting food.
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Hi Robbie thank you, let’s explore new foods which we have never tried before. Enjoying good food is really an art!!
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Looks delicious… Though I never tried but will surely do soon.
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You will love it Ruchi😊 It tastes great.
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Yes me sure…. Your presentation of dish is awesome as always..
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Thanks a lot dear Ruchi:)
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Should be great !
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Yes Veena it tasted great and has many medicinal values too.
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Sumith ,here in the north ,Himachal Pradesh we don’t get half of the ingredients to try out your recipes but I can enjoy reading about them .
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I am so sorry to hear that. I always uses to get my spices in bulk when ever I get a chance. As most of them are dry you can keep for a long time as well.
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Thanks for the suggestion .The quality of spices in your state is very good .
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Back in kerala, we grow most of the spices and vegetable at home. Love those fresh vegetables.
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We have lots of apples in the upper regions and local vegetables but no spices .I have heard a lot about the beautiful spices which people see growing as they travel through the state.
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Hi veena, one time you should visit kerala. It’s so beautiful and you will love the food aswell.
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Thanks for the invitation will certainly make plans.you too must visit our state .Shimla and its surroundings are beautiful .Now look your food has got me to Kerala. Honestly food is my weakness and I love your recipes ,very different to our flavors.Lots of warm wishes and blessings.🙂🙂
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Thanks a lot for the invitation. Heard Shimla is very beautiful. I am very glad you like my recipes. And thanks for your encouragement.
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I love banana flower preparations. The way you have presented it I wish if I could taste it right away. Yummy! 🙂
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Thank you Amitav. I wish there was a send button on word press. I would have pressed on that to send it to you😋
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LOL… I wish Artificial Intelligence will take us there. 😀 But for now we can work on the send button. As usual your signature style made this presentation awesome.
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Lol..😄 You are a great source of inspiration for me. And too so impressed on your writings. Love your blog😍!! Wish I could write like you.
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Contrary to my writings your dishes always come out so delicious, each of the dishes cajoles the senses to visit you blog and drool. 😀 I am sure lot of bloggers will agree, cooking is an art that requires passion, skill, and sense of Art for new presentation designs. All kudos to the exemplary cooking that you do and share with us (for now virtually). 🙂
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Thanks a lot for your compliment. You are very true Amitav, with passion and sense of art you will enjoy cooking to the next level.
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Very welcome, Sumith. You are blessed and I wish you the best, always. 🙂
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Thanks a lot for your blessings Amitav:)
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