Tomato Chicken with Bell Peppers and Raw Bananas

We had a serious surplus of small green raw bananas after C's aunt sent over 2 batches over 1 week! I had never cooked or had raw bananas and it sat for another week till I was forced to figure out what to do with it. Our cook/servant only knew of using them in fish curries and I am not fond of buying fish (a lil scared!) so - we had to get creative. So one night we cooked it with beef curry and replaced potatoes with the bananas. The next day we boiled it a bit and then cut them like fries and cooked them like fries as a snack - realized it can be cooked like potatoes! Apparently 1 raw banana is equivalent to 1 potato in starch/carbs.

We had a half a big bell pepper left over and before it spoiled I wanted to use it up. But when he went to cut it - it was already half spoiled! So we had only a few pieces of bell peppers - hardly enough for even 1/4 of a chicken! Looked around - and aha! the dang raw bananas!! Cut them into little pieces and added them to the pile - wallah! Enough base for a good curry.

So here goes me experiment - brahahaha! It started off as a recipe I saw online but by the time I was cooking it - it became something quite different!

You need...
Chicken - cut into bite size marinate in 1 tsp salt
Bell pepper - 1 is enough for 1/2 chicken
Raw Banana - I used about 4 - these are small
2 Tomatoes or canned tomato puree will work
Onion, Garlic, ginger pastes (mixed about 3-4 table spoons)
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Red Chili powder
Fresh green chili - split lengthwise on top
Sugar
Salt
Oil
Fresh Coriander leaves
Bay leaf
Cinnamon stick
Tomato Ketchup 1-2 tsp (optional for a sweet/sour taste)

Prep time: efficient kitchen and quick chopping will take no time at all =)
Cook time: 15-20mins

Heat some oil in pan. Fry the banana, green chili and bell pepper. Take out and put aside - try not to overcook it.

In a blender, make a tomato puree. Take tomato or tomato puree, 2-3 cloves of garlic, pinch of salt, red chili powder and ketchup. Put aside.

In same oil put the pastes (onion, garlic, ginger) and fry till the oil rises to top. Put in the cleaned chicken pieces and fry for a bit. Pour in the puree and toss. Add the garam masala, a bit of salt, sugar. Let it boil for a few minutes. Put in the bananas and let it simmer. In 5 minutes put in the peppers and green chili so its still a bit crunchy.

Taste to see if it needs more sugar or salt. If its strong taste - add sugar to tone down and even the taste. It should be spicy, little sour and a little sweet and will smell and taste like chinese =)

Serve with fresh coriander sprinkled on top. It will look a nice reddish curry with green peppers/coriander and white-ish chicken.

Its a crazy concoction but it tasted surprisingly good with some rice! Btw - it isn't necessary to add the bananas - I added them cause I had so much to get rid off!

Recipe: Sweet, Spicy, Sour Chicken Curry

I saw this recipe on TV the other night and tried out last night. Cal loved it. It gives a really unique taste to chicken curry... here goes the recipe.

You will need
Chicken - cut into pieces
Oil - for deep frying
Onion - chopped
Garlic - chopped
Ginger - chopped
Sour yogurt
Salt
Black Pepper
Chili Powder - adjust to your taste
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 1 big
Cardamom - 2-3 pods
Cinnamon stick - half of 1
sugar
fresh chili and coriander

Clean chicken and cut to desired pieces. Marinate in salt and black pepper for abt 1/2 hr. Deep fry in oil just until it puffs up - it doesn't have to fully cook. Put aside for later. In the oil cook the onion, garlic and ginger till onions are transparent. Put in all the spices - adjust to your taste. Stir and cook the spices for a bit then put in the chicken and mix in with the spices. Pour water or chicken stock to cook the chicken in - cover and let simmer. Mix in sugar and salt into yogurt to your taste of how sour you want. Pour in the yogurt once the water is boiling. Stir well and cover and let simmer. Once the yogurt is cooked (it starts really soaked in the chicken) you have few options. You can adjust the sweet (add a bit more sugar), spicy (add a bit more chili powder) and sour (by adding sour yogurt).

option 1: mix in some green chili (split in half) and top it off with fresh coriander
option 2: mix in some almonds and cook for 2 more mins and serve with some almond slivers on top.
option 3: fry some onions till crispy and serve with it sprinkled on top.


Serve with fluffy white rice or parothas.

i am an amazing cook! :P

last night, i came home at 10p and Ryan wanted dinner but american/european meal. so the chicken was defrosting and i had picked up some mushrooms on the way home as well as this green eggplant shaped squash...just wanted to try it. anyway..i had no clue what to make! i ransacked my mother's cabinets and came across soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, maggie seasonings and chicken abode marinade. Had fresh limes, tomatoes and broccoli. and put some potatoes to boil.

i marinaded the chicken in a mixture of all the liquids w dash of lime. cut up 1 and half purple onions. I sauteed half the onions in some oil and put the chicken in. let it cook a little bit then poured in all the marinade into the pan and covered to let it simmer. next i had to fig out what to do w mushrooms. ryan wanted a gravy. meanwhile i boiled broccoli and the squash and Ryan made the mashed potatoes with too much salt!

to make mushroom gravy i boiled a half cup of water and mixed in 1 heaping table spoon of all purpose flour and made a thick concoction. the chicken was done on 1 side and flipped to brown the other. Pulled it out and put in serving plate. the pan had oil, marinade and the remainder onions cooked in. i poured in the flour concoction and stirred w a whisk to get a nice consistency then put in the mushrooms and cooked for a bit. added a bit of lime juice to give a bit of tangy flavor. once that was thoroughly mixed and cooked, poured over the chicken. served the broccoli, squash and tomatoes suateed in olive oil and garlic -and mashed potatoes on the side.

my goodness. the chicken and mushrooms came out fantastic! i should just open a restaurant!!! seriously make my best meals unplanned n from bare fridge and cabinets!