Green bananas are just ordinary ones, but very unripe, very hard and with no sweetness. Think of them as vegetable rather than fruit, as they are high in fibre and low in sugar at this stage. In this simple curry they actually have a cooked texture rather like floury potatoes, and may well completely change your idea of what vegetables (or indeed fruit) work in a savoury dish! See Cook’s Notes below for how to avoid curdling the yoghurt - as you can see from the photo we didn’t follow the rules but it was still delicious! Use our Sambhar blend for a vibrant, tangy and unusual meal. serves 4-6
4 green bananas, the greener the better!
2 tbsp oil
1 carton Sambhar spice
1 heaped tsp grated ginger
2 small chillies, finely chopped
250ml yoghurt
handful chopped fresh coriander
squeeze lime juice
Add the whole,unskinned bananas to a pan of boiling water and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until they feel slightly soft. Remove and peel before cutting into slices about 2cm in depth.
Fry the oil in a large pan and heat the spices, ginger and chillies until fragrant.
Add the yoghurt and bananas and heat very gently.
Just before serving stir in the coriander and a squeeze of lime juice to taste (don’t worry if this makes it curdle - it won’t affect the flavour).
Cook’s notes
Making sure the yoghurt is at room-temperature before adding to the dish will help to avoid curdling, which happens when there is a dramatic change in heat levels. Adding the lime juice right at the end also helps. You can also stir a tsp of cornflour into the yoghurt before adding to the dish.
