The last few days have been strange – rather – unreal. I am down with the ‘flu. So what am I doing here, eh?. That’s the funny part. I am here with my first food recipe post – Raw Banana Roast Recipe.
I’ve been feeling hyperactive. Okay, more than usual. Must be the plain paracetamol or something. I’ve always believed being active leaves no room for sickness. Still, that cold sneaked in and turned into fever. Invariably when one of us falls sick at home, the other two stand in line. This time Sury started the thread and I faithfully followed. Hopefully, I will scare it away.
In the meantime, I have been going through hilarious phases. One moment, I am thinking – what to cook for lunch? And it seems like a major effort. Then, the minute I enter my kitchen, I feel totally energized and get going.
On Wednesday, I thought we’d order pizza. But it was Makara Sankranti - Pongal for us and there was no way I was going to compromise. So I made Venn pongal, chakra pongal and vadas and a happy meal was had by all. Made more vadas in the evening and ate what was left of lunch.
On Thursday, I thought we’d order pizza. Then I ended up making idlis for lunch. It was a working day. Then rotis, paneer tikka masala and bhindi (okra) fry for Sury and me. For dinner we had tomato lemon rasam and sprouts curry with rice, curd, papad. Yeah, I can’t survive without curd, but especially when I am sick.
On Friday, I thought we’d order pizza. We ate dosas in the morning for lunch. Soup later. I wondered about dinner, but one look in my fridge and I decided to make a mixed curry with onions, carrots, capsicum and cabbage – stir fried and we ate it, mixed with rice. I also made a quick chocolate cake.
Yep, I enjoy cooking. And? No meal is complete without curd, papad/poppadum and pickle. And it is usually either rice or roti.
On Saturday, we thought we’d order pizza. But heck. I had three raw bananas in the fridge – and I suddenly yearned for our beloved tomato-onion sambar. So I went ahead and made banana roast curry and sambar. We enjoyed it with our staple rice, papad, curd and pickle.
On impulse, I took a photo of the banana curry on my phone and uploaded it on Facebook. I was delighted when my friends asked for the recipe. Had me wishing it was something more complicated. I wrote the recipe and then – cleverly thought – hey, why not make it a blog post?
So here I am – with my first recipe post. If there is anything that does not make sense, please do ask and I’ll be happy to answer. This recipe is 100% vegetarian, because I am. And raw bananas are very good for health.
Raw Banana roast recipe
You need:
Raw bananas (I used three medium sized ones)
One tablespoon oil
Half a teaspoon of black mustard seeds
Half a teaspoon cumin seeds
One teaspoon coriander powder
Half a teaspoon pepper corn powder
Half a teaspoon cumin seed powder
Half a teaspoon turmeric powder
A quarter teaspoon asafoetida powder
A stalk of curry leaves
Salt to taste
Fresh grated coconut – one small cup – optional. coconut powder is good, too
A pan to cook the roast
How to make the raw banana roast recipe
So, wash the bananas. Slice off the stalk and tip.
Then dice it into one inch thick pieces (with skin) and put in a vessel with water.
Add a half the turmeric and a little salt and pressure cook. (I usually stack this with the rice and lentils in the pressure cooker).
(Don’t want to pressure cook? No problem. You can cook it in a pan on the stove. Remember to add a spoon of oil to the water along with the turmeric and a little salt..and keep checking. Don’t want them squishy. Not that they taste bad that way, but that’s a different recipe! My Grandma cooked them in a pan and then washed it and used it to roast it also!)
When the pressure cooker is ready to open, drain the water from the cooked banana and run the cooked banana in cold water.
Peel the skin – it comes off quite easy.
Dice it into thinner pieces – if they’re one inch thick cylinders, depending on how soft they are, slice them in two or three. Keep aside.
In a pan, warm the oil. Then add the black mustard seeds, let them sputter. Add the cumin seeds. Don’t want them turning black!
Turn down the flame of the stove and add turmeric, salt, cumin seed powder, pepper powder, coriander powder and asafoetida powder.
Raw Banana Roast Recipe Ingredients
Mix the contents of the pan and watch them pleasantly bloom in the oil and enjoy the fragrance. Strip the stalk of curry leaves and add the leaves into the pan.
Mix.
Now add the slices of banana in the pan. I usually try to use the widest pan so that all pieces get an equal chance to roast. Gently mix. Flip the slices over. And over – a couple of times. Until they all start look delicious and you can’t wait to eat them.
The curry is done, but not quite.
Got the grated coconut? Now is the time to sprinkle it on. About a small cup of it. Gently mix.
No fresh coconut, but yes to the coconut powder in a packet? That’ll do too. Add half a cup and toss the pieces.
Time to indulge.
Raw banana roast recipe – now ready to eat
Notes:
In addition to the mustard seeds and cumin seeds, you can also add split bengal gram and black gram to the oil and let them turn golden. I don’t add those!.
You can make the raw banana roast recipe with different curry powders – but we like this best.
Questions? Please ask!
And oh, today we thought we’d order pizza. And we did.
Linking up with my favorite meme Sundays In My City hosted by UnknownMami – I love her!
Ah, just one more thing!
This blog has been nominated for the BlogAdda blog awards. Voting is open. Here is the link, if you’d like to vote. Visit this page and click “LIKE” under the screenshot of my blog. If you’re on Twitter, click the tweet button to tweet and tell others you voted. Thank you.
Namaste!
I am glad you are here. May your day be filled with smiles!
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