| This curry surfaces on our menu every once in a while and I invariably overeat when this stuff is on the table. It tastes great with rice and good with toasted bread too.
Lightly oil your hands, then peel and chop the bananas anyway you wish. Sprinkle some salt and turmeric powder over then and keep for about 20 minutes. Drain away any shed water and deep fry till firm outside, drain and reserve. In a little oil, crackle some mustard, fry some onions, curry leaves, a pinch of garam masala and de-seeded green chillies. When the onions are soft, add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the fried bananas and stir till the curry is yellow, the bananas tender, but not mushy. Serve with hot rice. - Sid |
Green Bananas and Coconut Curry
– September 2, 2008Posted in: Columns & Recipes
When you say green bananas, do you mean the sort that, if Mr Tesco would only leave them on the palm for longer we’d be able to buy ripe fruit, or, do you mean the sort that in the West Indies they call plantain, which is a larger beast?
Another banana question, why do you oil your hands before peeling the skins off?
We oil our hands, because the sap from the banana skin turns black on being oxidised and the first time i made this, stained my fingers for a few days. I also remember, we had a banana tree in our backyard a few years back and when the tree was dying after it had borne fruit, i decided to try and harvest some of its bark. It shed a huge amount of watery sap when i cut the trunk and a little of it splashed my t-shirt. That stain *never* went away.
Oiling the hands helps wash away the stain, if any, very easily.
Glad I made you laugh! You knew exactly what I meant didn’t you? I bet you never saw a ripe banana when you were here! OK then, I can easily buy those, it’s the ripe kind that I have trouble getting…I’ve never peeled a green one so didn’t know about the black on the skin, I think I’d wear rubber gloves. The yellow ones turn black after you’ve taken them off. At least the ones we get here do.
And why did you want to harvest banana palm bark?
The sun shone again today, I’m so happy!
Hello Toni – I wanted to see if the bark can be rolled out into sheets and used as makeshift plates just as the leaves are.
Looks absolutely delicious! I’m constantly looking for different ways to enjoy my favorite fruit, banana, and this one might be on the top of my list. Will try it out soon!
@DrMercola: Glad you like it. Here’s another one for bananas, which you may like if you have a sweet tooth – http://food.sidkhullar.com/posts/sweet-fried-bananas.html
I am so glad I found your website! I have to say the comments made me laugh as well. I have NEVER cooked with green bananas, but I really look forward to trying this recipe. I love curry and bananas, so this will be fun to try. Thanks for the tips! My wife will be happy too!
@David: Good to have you here too… and thank you for your kind comments! BTW: Did you make that pumpkin for halloween?
What’s everyone up to nowadays? I haven’t cooked for a month and we haven’t been anywhere different to eat so no news from me. I suspect that I’ll be starting off a vegetable soup quite soon but the weather has been lovely and warm for the past week or so and I’m not yet craving the warmth of a hearty soup. Sid, are you going to post about your trip to Goa soon? I certainly would like to know about the area as well as what you saw there.
@Sid – I am off to find that pumpkin recipe you’re talking about! @Toni my wife is in soup mode, vege soup for the kids for school every day. It’s a tradition. They used to make vege soup in kindergarten on Thursdays and bake bread so now they love it for lunch – I think it’s a comfort thing
Hello David – I was speaking of that ghoulish pumpkin picture on your website.
Yeah, soups are so comforting especially when eaten with home made bread. God, its been a while since I’ve baked any bread. Perhaps it’s time for some baking!
Hi David, what a great idea to have children involved in cooking at kindergarten. Soup is definitely a comfort food for me. Whereabouts are you based?
Sid, I fancy baking bread now! How about we do it on Saturday and compare notes? BTW, my ISP is not letting me reply to e-mails at the moment, will try to respond later.
That is great stuff right there – Wow, nothing like a new interesting curry.
Oh, that makes sense Sid – lol – my pumpkins. Yes we will be carving more and making the “pumpkin” seeds, we do the normal salty ones and then also cinnamon and sugar
We’re in California
Sid,
I just absolutely love this dish. In my opinion, the delicate aroma of the coconut is something that few food ingredients can equal. It’s great =)
Sincerely,
Keith Maven
FatLoss4Idiots Editor
@Keith: Thank you. Yes, Coconut milk has a lovely flavor, especially when combined with seafood.
@Matt: Thank you!
I love curry , I like it on almost anything ( meat , chicken etc… ) this will make a nice addition to my collection of curry dishes. I also like to combine it with pita bread and some veggies to add some bulk in the meal.
Fried bananas hmmm I never thought of that but I think the flavor will mix well with the curry aroma , I’ll definitely try it out thanks^^
Fab site this!:)…
while on the banana bark harvesting topic, the inner heart of the banan trunk..the spongy white pith, is eminently edible……..when you harvest the trunk, just get this out, and chop them up into small little cubes (they are rather sticky- fibrous, but oiling your hands should work!), and this can be used to make a great raita, or even a salad ( with maybe some southern seasoning (mustard seeds, whole red chillies, curry leaves and a pinch of hing in oil) and a squeeze of lemon….and going by my grandma’s stories, this is the secret food to eat, to avoid kidney stones.
@Aadarsh: Thank you for that detailed bit of information – never knew that!
Hi Sid
This is very yummy and intresting dish of raw banana. I really loved alot, tried it with rice. Every part of Banana tree is useful and healthy including flower part. Good Curry.
I look forward to try more vegeterian recipes of yours. Thanks for the tips.