Category Archives: Green Banana Kofta’s

CarolCooks2…This week in my Kitchen…Green Bananas…

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments and reblogs/shares last week it seems Carbonara hit the spot…It is a popular dish in this house made with egg yolks and pasta water…sometimes traditional recipes are the best…

Reconstructed recipes and fusion have a place and some are very nice…I reconstructed my crumble and it is far better no soggy bits…I add fish sauce and chillies to many recipes a bit of fusion can be good…But the old adage  ” If it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it” applies to many recipes…and Carbonara is one of them…Why add cream??? It is a sacrilege…

This week I was given 5 hands of green bananas and a huge watermelon…All fresh from the trees and the watermelon fresh picked from the field…I am giving a shout out to all my lovely fellow cooks…I need recipes for green bananas…

Bunch bananas oct 2017 1

Green Banana Koftas is a recipe from my friend Reena and they are beautiful..but there are lots of bananas and only so many koftas one can eat…

Ingredients for Kofta’s

  • 2 Raw Green bananas
  • 1/2 cup Cottage cheese (optional)… I did not use the cheese.
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 tsp chopped green chilli… I used red chillies as had no green.
  • 1 tsp Coriander powder
  •  1 tsp Garam masala powder
  • 1/2 tsp Red chili powder(optional)
  • 1 tsp Amchur(dry mango ) powder…I used a squeeze of lime juice.
  • 1 tbsp Cornflour(as a binding agent)
  • Chopped dry fruits for filling(cashew, walnuts, raisins, pistachio or dry berries)
  • Butter cut into very small cubes
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for deep frying

 

To Make Koftas

Slit the top and bottom of the bananas. Pressure cook the bananas with skin on till soft or if like me you don’t have a pressure cooker I slowly cooked mine in their skins in some water or you could steam them until soft.

Peel and mash the bananas add all ingredients except nuts, raisins, butter and oil. Mash everything nicely to make a dough. It’s better to use your finger to make a dough. Make equal sized balls out of the dough. Take one ball on your palm and make a hole in the middle with your finger. Fill the hole with dry fruits and a butter cube in it. Close the hole and reshape it like a small oval. Repeat and make such ovals out of the dough. Sprinkle, little cornflour over it and keep aside.

green banana koftas frying in oil

In a deep wok add enough oil for frying the koftas in batches of 3-4. Fry over a medium flame till brown. Do not fry over a high flame otherwise, the koftas will be browned from outside and inside it will remain undercooked. Turn gently to brown the other side.

green kofttas with curry sauce

Serve with a curry sauce…and add a swirl of natural yoghurt. They are lovely eaten as a snack and also with the curry sauce

I made a few changes from the original list of ingredients I use red chilli instead of green and lime juice instead of the mango powder and no cottage cheese…I was going to use feta cheese instead but thought I would try them without. The mix of filling for the centres I used pistachios, walnuts and raisins chopped finely.

Luckily I had some curry sauce in the freezer I always keep a few pots for when I make koftas…

Thank you, Reena this recipe is a keeper…

I was reading a post the other day using powdered peanut butter something I haven’t heard of or tried…or can get here… well I can at a price from Amazon so I will wait until somebody visits and get them to bring me a jar as it does sound good especially in these awesome peanut butter biscuits…It made me realise how popular Peanut Sauce is…I mean I love it but obviously so does the rest of the world…I will say it made me want a peanut cookie… Not only can Richard Dee write he can bake…For the recipe head over to Sal’s x

Thai Peanut Sauce…

chicken satay

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup fresh dry roasted peanuts (unsalted)
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 cloves garlic very finely chopped or minced
  • 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 2 tsp. sesame oil
  • 1 to 2 tbsp. brown sugar (to taste)
  • 2 to 2 1/2 tbsp. fish sauce (for vegetarians: substitute 2 1/2 to 3 tbsp. regular soy sauce)
  • 1/2 tsp. tamarind paste (or 2 tbsp. lime juice)
  • 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or 1/2 tsp Thai red chilli paste more or less to taste)
  • 1/3 cup coconut milk

Let’s Cook!

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until the sauce is smooth. If you prefer a runnier peanut sauce, add a little more water or coconut milk.

Taste.... adding more fish sauce (or soy sauce) if not salty enough, or more red curry or cayenne if not spicy enough. If too salty, add a squeeze of fresh lime juice. If you’d prefer it sweeter, add a little more sugar.

This sauce tends to thicken as it sits–just add a little water or coconut milk to thin it out, as needed. Otherwise, it stores well if kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

To serve…As a dip: Peanut sauce is the perfect dip for fresh vegetables, crispy tofu, meats, and spring rolls, but you can also coat your seafood skewers or dip your dumplings.

In a marinade: Blend peanut sauce with soy sauce, ginger, onions, and a dash of hot sauce for a delicious meat or vegetable marinade. No wonder every one love peanut sauce…

National Soup Month…

tom yum and tomato soups

I love soup and had soup for my supper last night lovely homemade tomato soup…It is the closest I have come to replicating my favourite Heinz tomato soup…Yes, I am a cook from scratch girl but occasionally love a bowl of Heinz tomato soup. This soup was very nice and even looked like Heinz…

All I did was omitted the spices from my original Tomato soup added a bay leaf and some thyme, roasted one bell pepper then blitzed it and I got the most tomato flavoured soup ever everyone even hubby who doesn’t quote “like tomatoes” proclaimed it to be ok…That was praise indeed…

To my tom Yum soup, I added salmon, a few noodles, a boiled egg and some coriander…Of course, soup is such a wonderful bowl of yumminess that you can add almost anything and it tastes awesome…

That’s all for this week…

I hope you have enjoyed the recipes if you have any questions please just ask…

Lastly…Please don’t forget to send me your green banana recipes ….I love koftas but can only eat so many…..

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

 

 

Fruity Fridays… The Banana

Fruity Fridays Banana

We have many exotic fruits here, so armed with my camera I went to the local fruit market. Well, lots of oranges are in season at the moment as are Watermelons galore and the mangoes are just coming back into the season….but what I was looking for…not in season…

Back home I went disappointed and thinking hard as a lot of the fruits are what I call staples available most of the year and now because of progress available all over the world.

What can I feature??? Well, I am sure most of you can get Bananas in your supermarket which will probably be the Cavendish by name as the original Banana favoured by the supermarkets was the  Gros Michel which became extinct by 1960 as it was wiped out by a fungus called the Panama Disease.

This could happen at any time as Bananas are actually clones and if they become infected with a fungus it just runs rampant and kills them all.

Banana it is then..here in Thailand and in my garden Bananas grow in abundance.

Its scientific name is Musa Sapientum which roughly translated  means  Fruit of wise  men

Here it is called Kluay pronounced glue eye.

Seasons vary slightly around the regions and it is a tree-like perennial and officially classed as a herb, the world’s largest herb as it can reach 25 feet in height. The fruit is also classed as a berry. Did you know that?

Here in Thailand leaves are used to serve food on or wrap food in like these little parcels of tri coloured sticky rice topped with shredded pork floss.

Tri Cloured sticky rice with pulled pork

Coloured Thai sticky rice with pork floss

The saying that you eat with your eyes certainly applies here as so much of the food is just so beautifully served and such lovely colours like this rice isn’t it pretty and all wrapped in a banana leaf.

The purple flowers of the banana are steamed and eaten with a spicy dip see the picture in the header image.

To make Thai spicy dip:
Finely chop one small shallot, 1 clove of garlic, finely slice 6/8 fresh chillies, add 3 tbsp fish sauce and 2 tbsp fresh lime juice…I stir in a little-chopped coriander. If the dip is too salty add a little warm boiled water.

chili-sauce-908355_1920

Thai Chilli Dip

The inside of the skin is also used to stop itching and inflammation of insect bites and burns. It is also said that if you tape a piece of banana skin side down over a wart every night that the potassium in the skin makes the wart disappear with 1-2 weeks.

Mashed and mixed with a tbsp of heavy cream, and a tbsp of honey and then applied to dry hair covered with a shower cap and a hot towel. Left for an hour and then rinsed off before shampooing the hair it is a wonderful moisturising treatment.

There is no end to the properties of this low calorie, no fat, no sodium, no cholesterol berry which is also rich in Vitamin C, Potassium, fibre and B6.

Here it is used to make bread and muffins.

Banana Bread https://blondieaka.wordpress.com/2015/04/25/if-your-dreams-dont-scare-you-they-arent-big-enough/

If cooked the banana skins are edible, you will see fried bananas in abundance on the street food stalls…they are fried in batter, grilled on the BBQ in their skins and turned into golden fritters ( Kluay phao)

fried-banana-285222_1920

Banana spring rolls with a sweet dip or eaten green and raw with a spicy dip.

To make Thai spicy dip:
Finely chop one small shallot, 1 clove of garlic, finely slice 6/8 fresh chillies, add 3 tbsp fish sauce and 2 tbsp fresh lime juice…I stir in a little-chopped coriander. If the dip is too salty add a little warm boiled water.

They can be used to make a beautiful Banana Blossom stir fry.

Green unripe bananas are also used to make Tam Maak Kluay which is a version of the famous Som Tam ( Papaya Salad) which I first had from a roadside stall near Bang Tao beach in Phuket and it is beautiful.

My most recent favourite dish with green bananas is a recipe from my blogging friend Reena…I have made it a couple of times now and it is awesome we just keep eating them they do not last very long and a great way to use green bananas when you get so many bananas as we do…

Green Banana Koftas

Ingredients for Kofta’s

Raw Green bananas-2
Cottage cheese—1/2 cup(optional) Did not use the cheese.
Finely Chopped onion- 1/4th cup
Grated ginger- 1 tsp
Chopped green chilli- 1 tsp (or more) I used red chillies as had no green.
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Shahi Garam masala powder– 1 tsp
Red chili powder- ½ tsp(optional)
Amchur(dry mango ) powder- 1 tsp…I used a squeeze of lime juice.
Corn flour- 1 tbsp(as binding agent)
Chopped dry fruits for filling(cashew, walnuts, raisins, pistachio or dry berries)
Butter cut into very small cubes
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

green kofta ingredients
To Make Koftas
Slit the top and bottom of the bananas. Pressure cook the bananas with skin on till soft. Peel and mash the bananas add all ingredients except nuts, raisins, butter and oil.
Mash everything nicely to make a dough. Its better to use your finger to make a dough. Make equal sized balls out of the dough. Take one ball on your palm and make a hole in the middle with your finger. Fill the hole with dry fruits and a butter cube in it. Close the hole and reshape it like a small oval. Repeat and make such ovals out of the dough. Sprinkle, little cornflour over it and keep aside.

green banana koftas frying
In a deep wok add enough oil for deep frying the koftas in batches of 3-4. Deep fry in medium flame till brown. Do not fry in high flame otherwise, the koftas will be browned from outside and inside it will remain undercooked.

As this was the first time I had made these I didn’t make Reena’s curry sauce but I had a small pot of sauce in my freezer which I defrosted and used with the Koftas. Purely because I didn’t know if we would like them. They were amazing…Well, the menfolk queried the lack of meat but they are such carnivores…lol

green banana koftas in curry sauce
They are lovely eaten as a snack and also with the curry sauce…

As you can see from the original list of ingredients I use red chilli instead of green and lime juice instead of the mango powder and no cottage cheese…I was going to use feta cheese instead but thought I would try them without. The mix of filling for the centres I used pistachios, walnuts and raisins chopped finely.
With thanks to Reena for a lovely recipe for Green Bananas. They are amazing my friend…Thank you

 

Just a piece of trivia...did you know? That more songs have been written about the Banana than any other fruit.

Previous Fruity Friday posts you may have missed.

https://blondieaka.wordpress.com/2018/02/02/fruity-fridays-the-pineapple/

https://blondieaka.wordpress.com/2018/02/16/fruity-friday-the-humble-fig/

https://blondieaka.wordpress.com/2018/02/09/fruity-friday-pomegranates/

Thank you for joining me for Fruity Fridays I hope you are enjoying the posts and recipes if you have any fruits which you want me to feature then please just message me with a name and or picture.

Also sharing is caring so if you love my posts please reblog or share on your favourite social media channel..Thank you xxx

 

Raw Green Banana Kofta curry- Its healthy…Its delicious….

A lovely recipe for green Bananas of which I have plenty from my blogging friend Reena…Thank you, Reena ….I love both Thai and Indian food and there is not much to choose between them for me I love them both 🙂

Cook With Reena!

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This post is specially for one of my fellow blogger whose garden is overflowing with bananas. Blodieaka( I know your blog name only), it for you. There are so many delicious dishes we prepare with green bananas. It has numerous health benefits. It is good source of fiber, vitamins high on Iron, help control blood sugar too. So make as many dishes as possible and enjoy the fruit.

Green  bananas are also eaten boiled just like mash potatoes. We mash it with salt, oil and green chili. This is popular as village food. To make it exotic, coconut scrape and mustard paste is also added. Banana chips are as popular as potato chips. It is cooked, as curry, dry with variety of spices.

Here, I am sharing the recipe for green banana kofta curry. I have added cottage cheese to make it more flavourfull but the koftas made out of…

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