Banana chili

[yakalskovich]

It was remarked upon that I had never posted the recipe for my often-mentioned banana chili. I made it today for nazgulwears and my Little Lady, so I got the Nazgul to take pictures and will do a full pictorial recipe.



You need: a pound of minced beef, two onions, five bananas, concentrated tomato puree, chili powder and/or chili sauce, beef stock, salt, pepper, olive oil, and rice to go with it.



Cut the onions into little pieces.



Fry them in olive oil with a little salt and pepper until lightly browned.


Crumble in the minced beef.



Add some beef stock...


... and some water.



Put in concentrated tomato puree until it makes a smooth sauce.



Add chili powder...



... and/or chili sauce, to taste. If my mother, who is allergic to tomatoes, is there, I put in the mild(ish) red pepper paste known as ajvar, and leave out the tomato puree and the chili stuff. You can be quite generous with that stuff to make the banana chili red and hot enough.



In the meanwhile, have a visiting Little Lady or some other helper peel and slice the bananas. If there is no such person, do it yourself.



Then add to the chili.



Stir well.



Leave to simmer on a very low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, while the rice cooks.



Pay attention to any cats present while you wait.


Serve with rice.

Comments

[ceitfianna]

I need to try this recipe since I love a good curry and cooked bananas are one of my favorite things ever.

[yakalskovich]

I hope you'll enjoy it! It is savoury, slightly hot, and sweet at the same time.

[cracicotus.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing this. I had mentioned to Daniel how much I liked it, but now I can try myself.

Is there any special variation you'd do if you wanted a vegetarian version?

[yakalskovich]

Yes, actually, there is.

For a vegetarian version, you replace the minced meat with TVP, the small-shredded kind, which you buy either at a health food shop or some Indian ethnic food shop. When you soak the TVP with hot water prior to using it, you don't use plain hot water for that, you liberally sprinkle soy sauce over the TVP before you pour on the boiling water. That way, the stuff gets a taste of its own that's more reminiscent of the beef it's replacing, and less of general 'tastes like chicken, might be lizard'.