Hiya, today’s post shares a 1-pot recipe, where green banana is the main feature. In The Caribbean, this is a staple you can boil whole, boil an’ slice, boil and mash, or slice n’ fry, then top with a stew, or add to a plate as a ‘side.’ Yum! Almost every neighbourhood has some o’ these trees, and they’re in abundance in the countryside here in Barbados.

Rich in:

Vitamin B6, iron, fiber and tryptophan, boiled green banana is like a broom for the tummy and colon. When you boil them whole and peel off the skin, it’s sticky – almost like glue and you gotta wash your hands like 3 times with soap to get it off, so that’s what helps it to collect any junk in your system, clear your digestive tract, and ummm – ‘lighten‘ your day (let’s just put it like that.)

I usually boil them whole, juck with a fork a few times so it cooks all the way through. then peel when ready to eat, but this time – peeled first then sliced into chunks and boiled, so they’d cook faster. If they’re sliced too fine, they’ll be more suited for a mash.

Ingredients:

{Serves 3}

water (for boiling)

11 green bananas 1 can of tuna (in water)

 4 chives (finely diced)

1 and 1/2 tbsp of oil (Olive preferably. Palm oil is real nice for this dish too)

1 tomato (diced)

1/3 can of corn

1 onion (diced)

salt (1 tbsp added to water to boil green banana. 1 generous pinch to stew)

1small sweet pepper (finely chopped)

2 pinches curry

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 pinch garam masala

1. Add salt to water in pot, and bring a boil. 2. Add green banana chunks to the pot, and cook until soft-to-medium tender (more on the medium side.) 3. Meanwhile, prep tuna in a bowl: add some of the curry, turmeric, garam masala and 1/4 of the diced onion to the same bowl; mix and cover. 4. With the green banana still boiling, heat a frying pan and set on another burner. Add the oil – let sit for a minute, then add the rest of the onion, chives, curry spices, and let the aroma resonate in the kitchen for 3 minutes. 5. Now, the tomato and 2 minutes after, the tuna. Sprinkle salt to taste, and stir. Check the green banana, and remove from heat when they’re cooked all the way through, yet not smooshy (that’s a whole other delicious dish.) * Gently peel off the skin (if you boiled them whole) and dice. 6. As a final touch to tuna in the frying pan, include the corn and stir. Add a little water to make a stew from the softening tomato. 7. Pour in (drained) green banana, mix everything well so the stew fuses with the staple. Remove from heat. Set on a plate – and enjoy.

A few small splash of pepper sauce makes this dish sing!

Substitute for tuna: black beans

If you try this dish and happen to ‘over-boil’ the green banana so it starts to break into smaller bits in the pot, no worries – just smoosh it with the back of a fork or use a potato masher – mix in with tuna and veg, add a l’il flour, shape into a patty, lightly flour the outside, heat some oil in a pan, and make into ‘fries.’

Boiled green banana with tuna & veg stew {recipe} by: Indra