Raw banana stew/ Balekai Bolu huli/ Bolu kodilu

This is a simple recipe which is handy when you are running out of time, but should cook something to fill stomach. This tastes good with rice if you give a super duper tadka/ seasoning with garlic. This goes well with hot rice and a dollop of fresh ghee or with curd rice too.

If you make the thicker consistency, it can be called as gojju or saaru/stew if it is of thinner consistency. Refer my recipe of okra/ bendekai gojju. This recipe holds good for vegetables like brinjal, bottle gourd (sorekai), bitter gourd, sambar southekai (cucumber), Ash gourd and more…

Raw banana is a vegetable rich in starch, which can be used in making sambhar, majjige huli, mosaru gojju, palya, chips, dosa, Raw banana Pakoda and bajji (only few variety). I need not mention the uses of ripe banana. Other than eating right away, it can be used in cooking like in, Banana buns, Banana Dosa, Banana bread, Banana payasa (prathama), Banana Soup, smoothies, halwa, etc…

Now please find the recipe of bolu huli (stew)/ saaru.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Raw bananas – 2, suggested to use varieties that cook soft*

Tamarind – gooseberry sized

Jaggery – lemon sized, adjust to taste

Salt – 1 tsp/ to taste

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Chilli powder – 1 tsp, as you like

Coconut oil/ cooking oil – 2 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Garlic cloves – 8-10

Dry red chilli - 1

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Method:

• Wash, scrape banana’s outer fibre layer and chop into small piece. Take these pieces in a vessel covering with enough water for few minutes (say 5 minutes).
• Meanwhile, soak tamarind in water and set aside.  
• Drain the water from chopped banana, add fresh water and keep on a stove for boiling.
• Add tamarind pulp (in water) mashing a bit with fingers. 
• Add salt, jaggery, chilli powder and turmeric powder too. Boil until bananas are cooked properly.
• Simmer the stove until it thickens a bit. You can press few pieces of banana with a ladle to increase the thickness of gravy.
• Switch off the stove once done. You can adjust the taste by adding or reducing salt, tamarind, chilli powder and jaggery.
• Now, prepare a seasoning of mustard, broken dry red chilli and peeled & crushed garlic in oil. On spluttering add curry leaves to the tadka and add it to the saaru/ gojju.

Notes:

• You can replace banana by other vegetables like bottle/ ash gourd, brinjal etc.. Adjust the ingredients according to the vegetable.
• Some like this with mild sweet & tangy taste, whereas others with strong taste.
• If you like thicker gravy, you can add 1 tsp rice flour or corn flour dissolved in water while boiling the saaru. It thickens.
• Optional cooked dal can also be used.

*Bananas like sambhar banana or banana robusta cook fast & soft.