Green Plantain Curry/ Aratikaya Kura

When i started this blog earlier this month, i started clicking pictures of everything i cooked, hopeful that i can put them up here soon. Still it took me almost 3 weeks to give you this recipe. That's partly because i have been busy re-baking the things i had already posted, chocolate cakes and chocolate chip cookies. My mom was in Hyderabad last week and who better people than parents to try your cooking experiments on, so i made a heap of chocolate chip cookies and one slab of chocolate cake to send them home with her. And now aunts, cousins, grandma, mom and dad - even if they are all the people obliged to like what i cook - have been telling me how wonderful my baked goods taste. And i am in heaven. This has given me renewed enthusiasm to take my blog forward, to keep a journal of what i have been cooking at the very least. 

Well, today its about plantains. My parents' home had plantain trees in the backyard for a few years and we had a regular supply of fresh plantains. Even though i loved plantain, i too wouldn't eat the same curry every time. So mom cooked different versions to use the plantains - into a curry with gravy, fried or as a boiled-mashed version with lime juice (which is my favourite). I still love plantain in all its forms, even as deep fried chips for casual munching. This curry i am sharing today is a gravy based curry with raw green plantains and ripe red tomatoes. It is very very easy to make, requires very little preparation before cooking and tastes great with both rice and rotis.

Ingredients

• 2 raw green plantains
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 long green chilies, sliced
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 5 small cloves garlic, peeled (optional)
• 2 sprigs curry leaves 
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
• red chili powder to taste - see note below
• 1 cup water

Method

Pressure cook the raw plantains whole with half a cup of water. Now Peel the plantains and cut the white fleshy portion into 1 inch cubes. In a large saucepan (or kadai) heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chilies and garlic.

Once the mustard seeds start spluttering add the onions and fry till translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Now add the curry leaves, tomatoes and turmeric and cook till the tomatoes soften, about 2 minutes. Add the plantain pieces, half a cup of water and salt.
Adjust seasoning, add a little red chili powder if you like your curries super spicy like us. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes and serve with a garnish of  chopped coriander or a few curry leaves.
La's note: When i first started cooking, i used to peel the raw plantains first before placing in a cooker, but peeling a raw plantain leaves a sticky black residue on your fingers that's hard to get rid of. Cooking the plantain first makes it utterly easy to peel.