Green Banana Curry
The origins of this recipe come from Africa. Where many moons ago I was privileged to travel with Qatar Airways for their inaugural new destination opening in Nairobi, Kenya.
During my stay I very lucky to meet with many wonderfully friendly locals who delightedly shared with me memories of their favourite childhood meals; recipes their mothers, families, friends and loved one prepared and enjoyed eating together.
With bananas being part of the staple diet in Africa, you can appreciate that they are enjoyed hot, cold, baked or raw and the best bananas I found where the ones locally grown and sold on the side of the road. All different shapes, colour and sizes. I really was in ‘banana heaven’!
Please enjoy this dish, either on its own as vegetarian fare or as an accompaniment to a meat curry. Great with plain boiled rice but equally delicious with Coconut Rice – please click the link to access this recipe.
Do also read my blog Out of Africa as this will give you great insight to my journey through Africa.
By the way I have categorised this recipe as a vegetable, as I am not sure many of you would look for a curried fruit and I believe the banana can be both! If you disagree, let me know!
Ingredients
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2 tbsp coconut oil
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1 large red onion- finely chopped
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3 tbsp mild curry powder
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6-8 green bananas- or firm yellow bananas
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1 x 400ml can coconut milk
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1 vegetable stock cube
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1 tsp Worcester sauce
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2 tbsp sweet mango chutney
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½ lemon- juice only
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Freshly ground black pepper- to taste
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Sea salt- to taste
Instructions
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01 Fry chopped onion in oil until tender.
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02 Add curry powder and cook 2 minutes.
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03 Remove peel from bananas, leave whole or cut into 1cm pieces and add to the pan. Fry for a further 2 minutes.
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04 Now add the coconut milk, stock cube, Worcester sauce, chutney, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
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05 Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes or until bananas are soft, adding extra liquid (water) if necessary and stirring occasionally or bake in the oven if you prefer.
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06 Serve hot garnished with fresh coriander a bowl of boiled rice and mango chutney.
Notes
I recommend using the small Indian ‘monkey’ banana for this dish as they are much easier to peel and just as delicious to eat. Make sure they are firm to the touch and still ‘green’ plus always oil the hands well during preparation; this prevents the bananas staining black!
