Spice up your dinner with plantain curry

If you’ve tried our recipe boxes, you’ll know we’re all about easy ways to spice up dinnertime without reinventing the wheel. This plantain curry is a perfectly sweet and spicy combination, but we’ve left out any fancy sauces. So you won’t have to focus on that. This plantain curry allows the sweet plantain and aromatic spices combine to make a dinner delicious enough to devour.

Where Does Plantain Curry Come From?

Plantain is raw green banana that’s found in tropical climates on the shores of the Caribbean, South America or Asian and Africa. Plantain is cooked in all of those places in differing ways, but this particular plantain curry is inspired by Caribbean flavours. If you’re a fan of Jamaican exports like jerk chicken and rum, you should give this plantain curry a go. It takes around 40 minutes but it’s a great way to wow your friends and family.

 

Vegetarian Plantain Curry Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, sliced and deseeded
• 1 red chilli, (scotch bonnet is preferred)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 3 plantains, sliced
• 200g black-eyed beans, tinned and strained
• 200g chickpeas, tinned and strained
• 200ml vegetable stock
• 6 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• Coconut Oil, for frying

Instructions:

1. Add 1 tbsp of coconut oil into a large pot on medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon and stir slightly, then allow to simmer for 2 minutes.
2. Now add in the thyme, peppers, chopped tomatoes and plantain and stir into the other ingredients. Allow to cook for 5 minutes.
3. Pour in your stock, black eyed beans, sliced chillies and the juice of a lime. Now turn down the heat to very low and allow to simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.
4. Serve with steaming hot basmati rice.

Some photos of our (very) photogenic chefs in action:

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7 Tips for Cooking Plantain

The great thing about plantains is that they’ve got that texture which is almost a bit like potato but a sweetness like banana which means you can cook them in so many different ways. They taste great oven baked

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They taste great grilled

Here’s a delicious Cuban recipe for grilled plantain. It will not disappoint – and it’s easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

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They taste great mashed

This one is not for the faint hearted but if you really want to try some traditional plantain dishes, this one is popular in the Dominican Republic

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They taste great with pork crackling

Originally from Puerto Rico, this dish called Mofongo. It’s fried, mashed plantain seasoned with pork crackling.

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They taste great as little cups for spicy prawns

Plus… who would say no to a little avocado on to. Here’s a super simple video to make it.

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They taste great caramelised

Ok, so everything tastes good caramelised but plantain are a 10 out of 10, Try this recipe.

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They taste great in a garlicky broth

This broth is called Aguají and it’s traditionally eaten in the Dominican Republic.

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