Growing up, one of my favourite dishes was the green banana curry — very often served at cultural gatherings or Indian weddings in Mauritius. Every now and then, we would enjoy this delicacy at home too.
Today is a little special; I am thrilled and honoured to be sharing one of my favourite curry dishes over at Rika’s blog — Vegan Miam. This dish brings back so many cherished childhood memories.
I discovered the inspiring Vegan Miam blog not too long ago. Rika + Doni have really got the flair to make you want to just hop on a plane and travel around the globe as they bring you snapshots of all their travel experiences, among which the gorgeous drool-worthy food of course.
So, let me tell you a little bit about the recipe I am sharing.
Back in the day, many people grew banana trees in their garden. Green (unripe) bananas were hence a cheap food source and a good starchy main ingredient used in a number of savoury dishes. Nowadays, urbanisation and construction have replaced a lot of the green space allocated to garden cultivation, but nevertheless green bananas, whenever available, still remain a fond favourite.
One of the most common ways that green bananas are prepared is in curry. They have a distinct fragrance when mixed with the spices and an intricate texture that makes a wonderful bread or roti filler too! However, they need to be pre-cooked either by boiling or frying before adding into the curry to eliminate much of their stiffness and make them more palatable.
In Canada though, I can rarely find very green bananas in the stores; it is much easier to find green plantains. Hence, I have opted for plantains in this recipe as they are equally tasty when cooked in this way.
Whole yellow peas are another ingredient that I am using in this curry. Contrary to their split counterparts, they do take quite long to cook. They took two hours to cook in a normal pot with a lid; you may want to use a pressure cooker if you have one. To make my life easier and save time, I like to cook these peas in bigger batches in advance and freeze them portioned in bags or containers until required. This curry by the way comes together really quickly if you have the pre-cooked peas or other beans of your choice; chickpeas are a good substitute too.
This curry can be enjoyed on a bed of basmati rice or, my personal favourite, with these sweet potato flatbreads that I recently shared.
So, let’s head over to Vegan Miam for this delicious Plantain and Whole Yellow Peas Curry recipe ►
And while you are there, take some time and peruse around the delicious selection of Asian and worldwide recipes.
Jessica says
Looks yummy :D… I think you can get very green banana at Sami Fruits. I will check this next time 😉
Lovlie Veganlovlie says
I've never been to Sami Fruits. Their locations are not very close to my place. I still don't have the driving license, lol! I only try to go to stores that are walking distance from my place or I order online. I think I've really got to go for a few driving lessons and sort out the driving license. I am just so lazy to go and read those books for the theory exam. :S
Rika says
Thank you so much Teenuja for contacting me to do a guest post! I'm utterly honored to have you on the blog!