Plantain Curry in Spicy Coconut Paste (Kele Koddel)

A simple Konkani curry for simpler afternoon lunches. Plantain Curry In Spicy Coconut Paste or Kele Koddel has been my childhood favorite. Time and again, I used to insist this dish to be cooked just because I loved eating the spicy cooked Plantains.

I used the short, green plantain variety which has a thick bark. It can be stored in fridge for few days is you wish to push the ripening process. If the skin goes black, don't bother,the plantain can still be used after stripping off few layers of the skin. Its a simple curry with no jazz and loads of nutrition. Best tastes if fresh grated coconut used and not the frozen variety. The Garlic seasoning offers the much required aromatic closure to this dish.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Unripe Green Skinned Plantain (sliced into 1/4th " thickness pieces) - 2 or 3 cups sliced
Grated coconut - 3/4th cup
Red Chillies - 6-7
Tamarind juice - 2 tablespoon

Turmeric powder - 1/3rd teaspoon
Water - For gravy consistency
Salt - as per taste

For seasoning -
Garlic (crushed) - 5-6 pods
Oil - For frying

Method:
Trim the head and tail end of Unripe Plantains and strip off the first layer of thick green skin on the surface. This leaves with a starchy and stringy layer which needs to be retainedon the vegetable. Further, slice the plantain into pieces of 1/4th" thickness and boil in water with 1/3rd teaspoon turmeric. Boil till Plantain gets cooked completely. If using Indian Plantains, you could cook them directly in gravy and skip this step and Indian plantains cook faster.

Roast red chillies in oil, allow to cool. Grind with grated coconut, tamarind juice and salt. Add enough water for grinding consistency. Boil the ground paste and add boiled plantain pieces. Bring to boil and simmer on low flame for 10-15 minutes. Once completely cooked, turn off the flame. In a small deep dish saucepan, heat couple of spoons of coconut oil and saute crushed garlic in them till they are browned. Pour this seasoning on the curry. Serve hot with warm rice as a side dish.

Suggestion: Crushed Garlic oozes the oil which offers the much required seasoned aroma to the curry. Retain the skin of the Garlic if you wish to for more flavour. This is my granny's tip.