Cooking Bajan Style: Green Bananas

I am sure that you have heard of bananas before but in the Caribbean and Barbados we use Green Banana in many dishes on the island. Green Bananas are used as vegetables and can be prepared in multiple ways, most popularly savoury dishes. It is said that Caribbean people started cooking green bananas to be resourceful as it was realized that they did not need to wait until the banana ripened. The Green Banana has a firm and starchy texture unlike a ripe banana which is sweet and soft. They can be prepared as cou cou, in a Creole sauce, curry sauce or even eaten just boiled with butter. 

Health Benefits of Green Bananas

• Green Bananas are a good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, and potassium. People on low carb diets often avoid bananas because of their higher sugar content, but eating green bananas, in moderation, could have benefits for both dieters and diabetics.

• The short-chain fatty acids produced by the fermentation of resistant starch increases the ability of the body to absorb nutrients - especially calcium along with keeping the colon healthy and possibly reducing the risk of colon cancer.

• The resistant starch in green bananas helps to keep the digestive tract healthy by acting as "food" for friendly, probiotic bacteria. These good intestinal bacteria ferment the resistant starch in green bananas and use it to make energy. This helps to drive away bad bacteria that can cause anything from a bad case of diarrhea to chronic colon problems.

Creole Green Bananas

5-7 green bananas (known as green fig or cooking bananas in the Caribbean)

1/2 teaspoon salt (for boiling the green bananas)

1 medium tomato
1 medium onion
1 scallion (green onion / spring onion)
1 clove garlic
1/4 habanero pepper (scotch bonnet or any hot pepper you like)
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil (any cooking oil you like)
1 sprig thyme (dash dried thyme)
Salt – optional (add as needed)

Since the green fig will require the most time to cook, go ahead and peel, scrape and rinse them. You can also cook them in the skin and peel after they’ve been boiled. In a deep pot put enough water to cover the bananas and bring to a boil. Then add the bananas and salt. Bring to a rolling boil and allow to cook for about 20 minutes.

While this cooks, prepare the other ingredients. Wash and chop the tomato, scallion, habanero pepper, thyme.. don’t forget the garlic and onion as well. With the bananas fully cooked, drain and allow to cool while we get things really started. In a large saucepan put the olive oil to heat on a medium heat, then add the onion, garlic and thyme. Let them cook on the medium/low heat for about 3-5 minutes. We’re trying to get the onion translucent and release the rich flavors of the garlic and thyme. Next add the green onion, pepper, tomato and black pepper. Let that cook for about 3 minutes. While this cooks, the bananas should be cool enough to touch. Cut them into bite-sized pieces and get ready to toss them into the pot.The final step is to toss in the cut pieces of cooked bananas into the pot, give it a good stir and allow it to heat through with all the other ingredients in the pot (about 35 minutes) and you’re done.

Recipe from Caribbean Pot