Banana Curry (Plantain Curry)

Banana Curry is a simple curried dish of plantains also known as raw bananas, cooking bananas or green bananas in India. This traditional South Indian Plantain Curry is equal parts healthy, delicious and simple to make. Eat it as is or mixed with plain rice & ghee. It also goes well with rotis or any kind of flatbreads like bhakri or ragi rotti. You can make this to a dry curry (sabji) or with a bit of gravy to suit your choice.

This Banana Curry also goes well in the office and school lunch boxes. It can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for 2 days.

About Plantain

Known by different names such as Aratikaya in Telugu, Kache kela in Hindi & Vazhakkai in Tamil, Plantain is a kind of banana that is used in cooking. These are used for cooking purposes when they are still unripe, firm and green.

Plantains are different from the regular bananas and are distinguished by their usage. Plantains are always cooked, mostly consumed unripe while the skin is still green. But the regular bananas are always eaten ripe when the color of the peel changes to yellow. These can be eaten uncooked or cooked.

Here is a picture of the plaintains.

Plantain also known as “Cooking Bananas” or Raw bananas are a popular vegetable cooked often in the South Indian homes, especially in Andhra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These are used to make various dishes such as curries, stews, kootu, snacks and stir fry.

Semi-ripe cooking bananas are also used to make fried snacks. Though it is a fruit, it is treated as a vegetable. They are available all-round the year and are best consumed early after harvesting.

They taste best when tender, young and firm. Plantains can also be refrigerated for about 2 weeks beyond that they begin to turn softer.

About Banana /Plantain Curry

In this post I am sharing a traditional way of making a curry with plaintains, the way my Mom made it. Albeit there are numerous ways to make a banana curry, this one is our favourite. I can say it is flavorful, spicy and the plantains taste delicious.

In the past, non-hybrid bananas were grown very commonly in India and a lot of people also would grow these in their backyards. The Non-hybrid kind are harder and take longer to cook just like any other Non-GMO foods.

So traditionally these green bananas were parboiled first before adding them to curries or stew else the acidic ingredients like tomatoes and tamarind will hinder them from cooking faster. Even more they may never cook well!

The traditional way of making this dish is to parboil or steam plantains till al dente and then added to the masala. Though you can add them directly to the gravy I can’t guarantee if they cook well.

I have been there a lot of times with hard undercooked plantains. So I have given 2 options. If your green bananas are hybrid and young they don’t need to be precooked and can be added to the curry directly.

But the Non-GMO kind and the mature produce needs steaming or parboiling before adding to the curry.

3 Ways to Prepare Plantains

There are 3 ways you can prepare the plantains for this curry. You won’t over cook the plantains but just until cooked or slightly under cooked is fine. We usually peel the bananas with a knife and not a peeler. Grease your knife before you peel so it is easy to clean up the sticky residue.

• First way is to peel and chop them. Transfer them to a steam basket. Steam them in a steamer or a pot until al dente.
• Second way is to cook the whole raw banana in a pot of water. Bring the water to a rolling boil and then simmer until the peel discolors. Pierce it with a fork to check, you know when it is tender. This is the easiest way to cook as you don’t need to peel them.
• Last way is to boil the peeled & diced plantain in a pot of water. Use some of the stock to make the gravy so you don’t lose the flavors.

More Plantain Recipes
Aratikaya Curry
Raw Banana Fry
Vazhakkai Fry
Banana Bajji

Photo Guide

How to Make Banana Curry (Stepwise Photos)

1. Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons oil. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds. When they begin to splutter, add curry leaves (rinsed & pat dry) & a pinch of hing.

2. Add 1 cup onions and 1 green chili chopped.

3. On a medium heat, stir fry or saute until light golden. Add 1½ teaspoon ginger garlic paste. Meanwhile fill a small bowl or pot with 2 cups water. Peel 2 green bananas, Remove the greens completely and chop them. Add them to the water and keep aside.

4. Saute until it turns aromatic for a minute or so.

5. Add ¾ cup chopped tomatoes, ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder (optional) and 1 teaspoon garam masala.

6. Saute well until the onion tomato masala smells good. This takes only a minute.

7. Option 1 : If using hybrid or young green bananas, add peeled and chopped green bananas pieces (from 2 green bananas) to the pan.

8. Mix well.

9. Pour half cup hot water and mix well.

10. Cover and cook until tender. Use a spoon or a fork to check it is fork tender and fully cooked but not mushy. If it is undercooked and there is no moisture, you may add some hot water and cook further.

11. We like a dry curry so I prefer to dry out the excess moisture. Taste test and add more salt or spices.

Option 2: If using Non-GMO green bananas or mature bananas that are harder, boil the cubed pieces in water in a separate pot for a few minutes until slightly tender but not mushy. Pour half cup water of this water to the onion tomato masala and cook it until thick like a gravy. Then add the boiled banana pieces to the gravy and simmer for a while until the pieces are cooked through completely.

As the curry cools down, it will dry out so it is best served hot or warm. Serve Banana Curry with rice or chapati.

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