Normally, i used to cook plantain by frying them like chips, or cut them into 1/4 inch thickness and pan fry like fish. Today i was looking for a new recipe with a new flavor to introduce to my children palette. I stumbled upon a new recipe and got hooked on to it and wanted to try them right away. I bought 2 raw banana from the Mustafa supermarket yesterday. I washed them, cut off the skin and chopped them into 1/2 inch cubes.
Since i was trying this recipe for the first time, i was more curious and completely forgot to take pictures about the steps involved in making this yummy,tangy dish. Let me give you the recipe and some modifications i did to suit the recipe to our family style. This dish is to be served with fluffy rice and Rasam / Sambar/ Kootu anything. This can be also used as masala for masala dosa. Also goes well with Rotis.
My son was getting ready for his afternoon school session and i served him his lunch at 12. 20 pm. I was bit concerned about the taste and expecting my son to complain about the dish being spicy. But, to my surprise he loved the combination and gave me a thumbs up. So , i decided this dish to be posted on my blog the very same day with the memories of my son giving me a thumbs up for the raw banana masala.
This is now officially our family favorite recipe.
Ingredients:
Dry powder 1:
2 Tbsp of White dhal ( urad dhal)
1/2 tsp black pepper corns
11/2 tsp of fennel seeds
4 dried chillies
Dry powder 2:
4 tbsp freshly grated coconut
11/4 tsp sugar( The actual recipe says add jaggery 1 1/2 tsp, but i substituted with sugar and it tastes good)
1 inch piece of tamarind.
For Seasoning:
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1 big red onion finely chopped
2 sprigs of curry leaves
2 raw bananas.( steamed and roughly mashed)
water to mix the dry powders.
Method:
- Wash the raw banana and cut off the skin, chop them to 1/2 inch cubes . On heavy bottom pan fill it with water and boil it. Place the diced raw bananas in a bowl and steam it for 7 to 10 minutes. Till the cubes gets soft and break into two pieces when poked with a fork.
- To prepare the dry powder 1: Take a dry skillet and roast the ingredients for the Dry powder 1 in low fire till the urad dhal gets brown. Transfer the spices to a plate and let it sit there for few minutes till they cool down. Then make a dry powder using a Rapido blender.
- Prepare dry powder 2: Take 4 Tbsp of shredded coconut and dry roast them on a low heat till the colour changes to light brown , transfer the coconut to a plate. After sometime, put the coconut, salt to taste, 11/4 tsp sugar, and tamarind in a mixer and make powder.
- Heat a non-stick skillet, about 3 tbsp peanut oil , heat the pan and add mustard seeds. Wait for it to crackle. Then add curry leaves and chopped red onions.
- Fry till onions gets translucent.
- Add the roughly mashed steamed raw bananas to the pan. Stir fry and add dry powder 1. give it a nice stir and if dry add some water to the mixture. cook in medium fire.
- After 2 minutes add the Dry powder 2, to the mixture and add some water to incorporate the spices to the mashed raw banana.
- Adjust salt to taste . Then let the masala cook for about 6 to 8 minutes in medium heat, When it gets dry, Sprinkle some water or drizzle some extra virgin olive oil.
- Transfer the masala onto a serving dish and enjoy it hot with fluffy basmati rice and tomato Rasam.
This recipe took me about 25-30 minutes , as i have to prepare the dry powder from scratch. You can also prepare the dry powder 1 ahead and store it in the freezer. It is handy that way and can cut short the cooking time.
Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post and try this recipe and leave me a comment below.
Tips and Tricks:
1.This is what happens when you are in a hurry to cook some food to family members and trying a new dish for the first time. Your eyes will forget to see some important cooking methods. Like mine, Actually this recipe the author says steam the raw banana with the skin and after cool down, peel off the skin. But before i read that,i cut off the skin and i chopped the raw bananas . Guess what, i steamed it hoping it is going to be miserable this way. But, The eureka moment arrived, when i opened the lid of the steamer after a good 8 to 10 minutes and poked the cubes with the for they were cooked to perfection .
2.This recipe can be used just replacing the raw bananas with eggplant and root vegetables like Yam etc .For the Root vegetables, Steam the vegetables and follow the same instructions. For the eggplant. Burn the eggplant over the fire, this softens the flesh of the veggie. Peel off the skin and mash it with fork .
Njoyeveryday 
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