One of my favourite places to shop in Vancouver is a somewhat chaotically run Persian store that carries a smallish but interesting range of products. The selection of foods – including cheeses and preserves from Eastern Europe and Turkey, rice, spices, lentils, and most of all, the fresh produce – makes it a magnet for a multi-ethnic clientele.

Inching along in the invariably long line-up for the check-out, you’ll  hear what I can only assume is “Oh my goodness! Is this where the line ends?!” in languages ranging from Russian and Farsi, to Spanish, Cantonese, Tamil, and Punjabi!

Whether you’re sorting through a pile of okra, flipping nopales, or picking up big, fragrant bunches of herbs, or unripe plums and grapes, there’s a a good chance you’ll get into a bit of a chat with a fellow shopper.

Besides joking about the bazaar-like muddle (complete with trampled fruit and vegetables underfoot) that is the store,  the most common topics that come up in conversation tend to be centred around the fresh produce. Queries like “What do you make with that?” and “What do you make with that?” are traded back and forth.

Most recently, while delving into a box of plantains in the store, a curious fellow shopper who was reaching for the riper fruit, asked  what I was going to make with the “greenest ones” I was searching for. The short answer was “pan fried plantain with Indian spices”.

A few more shoppers joined in the conversation, and every one had a favourite and unique recipe suggestion, using both unripe and ripe plantains.

I love the versatility of plantains. In their unripe form, their plain starchiness can carry simple or complex spicing, and still hold out just a hint of astringency, even after cooking.

I once heard that in Coorg, serving a dish cooked from unripe bananas or plantains to a guest could be seen as a subtle hint that they had perhaps stayed just a little too long! My guess is perhaps this has to do with unripe plantain dishes being prepared for certain somber ceremonies. So it could be viewed as something you would not ideally serve to a guest, until all other options have been exhausted.

It is, however, definitely popular in homestyle cooking, so serving it to a guest could also be seen as a sign that they are now “one of the family”!  To serve or not? Perhaps it should be put to the vote.  In a culture of almost relentless hospitality, it’s only fitting that when necessary, a host should find a delicious and pleasing way to make a point. What that point is, is anybody’s guess! 😉

Here’s what I made. A dish of sautéed  unripe plantains, spiced just the way I like it – first boiled with ginger and garlic and chilli to give it depth of flavour and a bit of a punch, then finished with coconut oil, pepper and lots of crushed curry leaves.

Try it, and add your voice to the plantain republic !

Pacché baalé barthad

Raw plantain fry

• 3 unripe plantains (about 500g peeled)

• Grind together to a rough paste:

A few cloves of garlic
A small slice of ginger
A few parangi malu or fresh green chillis to taste

• A generous handful of fresh curry leaves. (More if you have small hands)
• 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tbsp thick tamarind extract
• 3-4 tbsp coconut oil
• Salt to taste

Prepare the plantains:

Oil your hands lightly to prevent your hands from getting stained black.Careful with the knife!
Peel the plantains, and cut into small cubes. Place in a bowl of cold water to prevent discolouration.

In a kadhai or wok, heat the coconut oil and fry the curry leaves to a crisp. Drain on paper and set aside. Reserve the oil.

Drain the plantains and cook in a deep pan, along with the ground ginger, garlic and chilli paste, and just enough water to cover. Cook on medium heat. Add salt to taste when the plantain shows signs of softening.

When the plantains are nearly done, there should be very little water left. Check for salt, then stir in the tamarind paste and cook for a couple of minutes more.If you think there’s too much liquid, drain it out or boil it off before adding the tamarind.

Heat the coconut oil again, and stir in the cooked plantain, along with the ground pepper. Cook for a minute. Crush the fried curry leaves and stir into the cooked plantain.

No guests were offended in the serving of this dish.

Raw banana* fry

A more traditional recipe
(Recipe courtesy Coorgrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

• Raw Bananas – 2
• Pepper – 1 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Garlic – 4 cloves
• Onion – 1
• Mustard – 1 teaspoon
• Red Chilli – 1
• Curry leaves – a few
• Oil

Method:
Skin the banana and slice it fine.

Grind pepper, cumin seed, garlic and onion well and apply on the banana slices.

Season it with mustard, red chilli and curry leaves. Cook it with just enough water to get thick consistency.

After the water dries up, the curry is ready to serve.

*Use fully grown but unripe plantains or a larger variety of banana.