Green banana does not happen to be my favourite vegetable for cooking.  Still I vowed for the kofta curry made with green banana, whenever my mother used to cook back home.  Here in Europe I simply can’t make most of the Bengali regular recipes as the required vegetables are not available. So, when I first found green banana in the Asian market , I decided to try my hand at my mother’s recipe of kofta curry. To my delight, I could deliver close to the desired taste in the end.

I would suggest to all my friends, who are a bit wary of using green banana in curry, to try out this kofta recipe which may turn out to be your favourite.

Ingredients to serve 3 – 4 :

1. Green banana – 1
2. Potato – 3 (small) + 1 (large)
3. Chopped tomato (small) – 1
4. Ginger paste – 1 tbspoon
5. Cumin powder – 1½ tbspoon
6. Coriander powder – ½ tbspoon
7. Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
8. Garam masala powder – ½ teaspoon
9. Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon
10. Cumin seed – ½ teaspoon
11. Whole garam masala ( Cinnamon – ½ inch sticc, Cardamom – 3, Clove – 3)
12. Bay leaf – 1
13. Salt and sugar to taste
14. Ghee (optional) – ½ teaspoon
15. Cooking oil

Procedure :

Wash and cut the green banana into big pieces, there is no need to peel the banana.

Then pressure cook the green banana pieces with 3 small potatoes (with skin) upto 5 to 6 whistles or until they become soft.

Let the banana and potatoes cool at room temperature, then remove their skin and mash them.

Now take ½ tbpoon cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder in a small ovenproof bowl and roast them in microwave for 1 minute.

Mix well this roasted spices, ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, ½ tbspoon ginger paste, pinch of turmeric powder and salt with the mashed potato and banana.

Now make small koftas form this green banana mixture. You can make your koftas round or even flat as I did. I gave my koftas flat shape as they require less amount of oil for deep frying.

Now deep fry your koftas in sufficient amount of oil over low to medium heat.

Wash and peel the remaining potato and cut into small square pieces.

Now heat 2 tbspoon of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds, whole garam masala and bay leaf, saute them for a while.

Then add the pieces of potato. Fry the potatoes followed by adding salt and turmeric powder till they are half cooked.

Then add chopped tomatoes, remaining ginger paste and again cook till they turn soft.

Now add the remaining cumin powder and red chilli powder and cook until their raw flavour disappear and oil comes out from the mixture. At this point you can add little bit of water if your spices starts burning.

Now add water as to make the gravy. Season with sugar and salt (if needed) and let it cook on moderate flame putting the lid of the pan.

As the gravy thickens as per your desire put the gas off and sprinkle over garam masala powder and ghee and again put the lid of the pan.

Now place the koftas in a serving bowl and pour the gravy over them.

Serve with rice, roti or paratha. 🙂

Note :

1. You can add little amount of Besan or Chick peas flour to the green banana & potato mixture if it seems too soft for making the koftas.
2. Fry the koftas on moderate flame otherwise they will not get cooked from inside.
3. Don’t put the koftas in gravy. Then they will turn very soft and may break.
4. Try to make large portion of gravy as koftas have a tendency to absorb the gravy. I ended up with a small amount of gravy which is not exactly I wanted. 🙂