A Zero-Scrap, Zero Waste Meal from Bananas

Do not discard those peels, they're the main ingredient

I was lost to the pleasures of savory and sweet flavors coexisting in a dish. Because I am pigheaded, I believed that desserts monopolize sweetness and appetizers and entrees must be savory, and the twain shall not meet.

My Guru rid me of this fallacy. He is my spiritual guide and an outstanding cook who continues to teach me the ins and outs of cooking. Though I learnt the culinary fundamentals by watching my mother, my aunts and my mother-in-law, what he has inculcated in me is the eye for details, those details which take the guesswork out of the cooking process and lead to the desired result.

Here are some examples of his teachings that have made my cooking intentional –

• how to cook vegetables in a sabji in a way that they are cooked through but still retain their shape. He adds salt right after putting the vegetables in the tadka, so they cook in their own juices coaxed out by the salt). This rules out the need for water, which can make the vegetables mushy. (Please note for future reference - sabji is a word in Hindi [the national language of India] for a cooked, spiced vegetable as well as raw vegetable. But when I’m talking about a sabji, it is generally the cooked vegetable, aka the curry.)

• how and why to listen to the evaporating moisture while rice is cooking on the stovetop

• how to stuff vegetables like okra, potatoes, eggplants with the spice mix so that the stuffing does not spill out in the process of cooking and a balanced proportion of vegetable and stuffing is available in each bite

• how to make a pressure cooker do what you want it to do and not just wing it and pray for the best.

• how to stretch produce for a large group. He combines lentils (red, brown, split mung, whole mung) with ridge gourd, spinach, opu squash, zucchini to cook a hearty stew that pairs beautifully with rice or roti. This kind of stew is ideal to serve a crowd and light on the wallet.

• But the most important lesson he has taught me is about mindfulness. Do everything as if it’s the only thing that matters in that moment - be it heating up the milk, stirring a sabji or deciding which vegetables to buy. He does not typecast a task as small or big or discriminate based on an action’s result or reward. In short, the only agenda is to do it right for the pure sake of it. Doesn’t this have gigantic implications for our modern life fractured with inattention and causation?

Well, the list is long, but you get the drift!

He has always said – food should have shata rasa, meaning six tastes, a concept in Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of holistic medicine. These six tastes are sweet, sour, pungent (like chiles), salty, bitter and astringent. He uses sugar in his everyday food, and I am now appreciative of how the seemingly clashing tastes dance harmoniously on the tongue.

Today’s meal, consisting of recipes learned from him, is total bananas. We make sabji from the peels and raita from the banana.

A total bananas meal

RECIPE – BANANA PEELS SABJI OR IF YOU MUST, CURRY

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons chickpea flour aka besan

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil divided

• 2 ripe banana peels (what to do with the banana follows)

• ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds

• ¼ teaspoon turmeric

• ¼ teaspoon red chile powder

• 3/4 teaspoon coriander powder

• 1 pinch garam masala

• ½ teaspoon salt

Yield – Serves 2-3 people

Method

• Mix 2 tablespoons chickpea flour and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a bowl with your fingers. This ensures that the oil integrates thoroughly into the flour and forms lumps. Set aside.

• Cut the banana peels crosswise into ½” strips. Discard the strings.

• Heat a thick-bottomed sauté pan on medium heat. Pour 1 tablespoon vegetable oil into the pan and after allowing 2 minutes for the oil to heat up, add ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds.

• Follow up with ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and combine in cut banana peels, 3/4 teaspoon coriander powder, 1 pinch garam masala, ¼ teaspoon red chile powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir well.

• Spread the oiled chickpea flour over the banana peels and cover with a lid.

Banana peels sabji in the making

• After 5 minutes, stir the top layer of chickpea flour into the spiced banana peels. Swirl two teaspoons of water around the pan, stir well and cover with a lid.

• Turn the heat off after 5 minutes.

• I paired it with a homemade roti. You can pair it with either warmed up store-bought paratha or a whole wheat pita.

  

  Banana peels sabji

RECIPE - BANANA RAITA

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds

• 2 bananas peeled

• 1.5 cups plain yogurt (preferably full fat)

• ¼ teaspoon red chile powder

• 1 Thai chile pepper sliced thin (optional)

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon sugar

• Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Yield – Serves 2-3 people

Method

• Crush 2 teaspoons mustard seeds in a mortar and pestle for a coarse powder. If you don’t have a M&P, put the seeds in a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

• Cut 2 bananas into pieces, first cut ½” thick round slices and the cut each slice into 4 pieces.

• Mix the banana pieces with 1.5 cups yogurt, crushed mustard powder, ¼ teaspoon red chile powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon sugar and sliced thai chile pepper in a bowl.

• Garnish with cilantro.

• Cover the bowl and let rest for 2 hours for the mustard to bloom in the yogurt. In my mother tongue, Marathi, the bloomed mustard is translated as “advancing mustard.”

• The raita is sweet, tangy, creamy, hot and zingy, all the tastes dance on your tongue at the same time.

  

  Banana raita aka yogurt-based salad from bananas

  CHRONOLOGY OF THE MEAL

• Peel bananas, don’t throw the peels

• Prepare the raita and let it rest for 2 hours for the mustard to bloom.

• Watch another episode of The Diplomat. Who I am I kidding, like me, you’ve probably finished watching it. Currently watching “Nobody wants this.”

• Cook the sabji from the peels about 30 minutes before sitting down for dinner.

• Make a meal out of the sabji, raita and store-bought paratha or pita bread or store-bought chapati.

ChutneyLovers is two months old but Dal Chawal (lentils and rice), the comfort food of India and a meal I covet every few days, has not appeared on its pages. That travesty will end in the next post.