Breakthrough banana flour is reinventing dishes

A farmer couple making banana flour in Uttara Kannada. Photo courtesy: Adike Patrike Collection

Raw banana flour being prepared. Photo courtesy: Adike Patrike Collection

Banana flour being produced at farmer Abhishek's home in Kodagu. Photo courtesy: Adike Patrike Collection

Laddu made from raw banana flour. Photo courtesy: Adike Patrike Collection

Biscuits made using raw banana flour. Photo courtesy: Adike Patrike Collection

When Ajjappa Kulgod, a farmer from Sunnal in Ramdurg taluk of Belagavi district, saw his friend feeding bananas grown organically to cattle during the Covid-19 lockdown, he thought of ways to utilise it beneficially.

He then struck upon the idea of converting these raw bananas into powder, just like raw mango powder.

Ajjappa then mixed this powder with chapatis and milk (added like malt), which enhanced its taste. He then gave free samples of this flour to his regular customers, who gave him good feedback. In the last few months, he has sold around eight quintals of raw banana flour while his wife has prepared dishes like maadli, Manchurian, shankar pole, chakli and others using this flour.

In Athikatte village in Tumakuru district, Nayana Anand, another organic farmer, faced the problem of plenty. She had a lot of bananas and was out of dishes. She then got in touch with a researcher from Kerala who taught her how to make banana flour.

Raw bananas are peeled and then soaked in diluted rice starch solution with salt for a few minutes to prevent darkening. They are then sliced and sun-dried. It is then made into powder either using a regular mixer at home or in flour mill. Five kg bananas is required to prepare one kg flour.

Excited with the new flour, Nayana came up with a new array of dishes almost every day and posted it on a WhatsApp group drawing the attention of food lovers.

Near Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district, farmers Vasundhara and her husband Prabhakar too learnt how to make banana flour and experimented with various dishes. Vasundhara then put it up on a social media group, where others purchased it.

On the strength of word-of-mouth marketing, Vasundhara began selling the flour commercially and slowly, it reached Bengaluru, Mysuru and other regions.

In this way, raw banana has been getting an image makeover in Karnataka’s kitchens. Banana flour, which began as an experiment to save bananas from getting wasted, has become such a game-changer today that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the innovative idea in his Mann Ki Baat.

Right from sweets like payasa, halwa, jalebi, laddu, cakes, holige, and gulab jamun to savouries like nippattu, goli bajji, roti, thalipittu, pasta and noodles, women have come up with diverse and interesting dishes made from raw banana flour. Recently, a young farmer from Puttur has also begun selling biscuits made of banana flour through an organic product outlet.

Multiple uses

“Banana flour is not a new concept. It was traditionally used as baby food. A few decades back, people also survived on it during famines and used it while fasting. However, what is appreciable is the culinary skills of women who took it to a whole new level with their dishes while opening doors of livelihood opportunities for farmers,” says Shree Padre, who has been working to popularise Ba Ka Hu, short for Balekai Hudi (raw banana powder).

V Venkatasubramanian, the Director of ICAR-ATARI in Bengaluru, says banana flour is gluten-free with high amounts of resistant starch with other nutrients like potassium, anti-oxidants, vitamins and fibres. The dishes prepared by it is easily digestible and can be a healthy alternative to junk food.

He added that the idea of banana flour has now travelled from Karnataka to Mizoram and other north eastern states. “Banana is grown all over India and almost every variety of banana can be converted into flour that can be stored for up to six months, using a simple technique. It can also be an excellent income-generation opportunity, especially in segments like milk powder. We are thus working to get quality certification for the product by training women,” he said, predicting that big companies would soon catch up.

Seeing banana flour as a food that can offer food security and reduce food wastage, Uma Subbaraya, Director of National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli said that turning banana into flour can reduce post-harvest loss which is around 20 to 25% in the country. This can, in turn, reduce distress selling.

She added that the centre has also come up with a new technology to convert overripe bananas into flour which can be used in making confectionery and baby foods and would share the technology with enterprising people.

Meanwhile, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) in the state are doing their bit to create awareness about it among farmers as well as consumers by holding webinars and workshops.

Recently, the KVK of Sirsi and Horticulture Department in association with other organisations held a workshop and cookery contest on dishes made from banana flour, in which around 55 women prepared around 120 dishes.

“Currently, people are selling the flour for Rs 200 per kg but the price may come down once it is produced on a large scale. However, people have become more health conscious now and they know the value of the money they spend on buying healthy foods,” said Dr Devraja T N, senior scientist at ICAR-Taralabalu KVK, Davangere.