Raw Banana Pickle

Whenever we go to our native, we come back with lots of foodies and vegetables which are organic and home made. This time, when we had been to my husband’s native, we brought back a bunch of raw bananas. For a week, we had raw banana in one form or the other in all the dishes we prepared. The problem with raw banana however is that it ripens quickly and at that semi ripe stage, it can’t be used for a savoury dish or any sweet dishes. As I didn’t want to waste any of this good natural grown bananas,  I thought of trying something different with them. I was looking around the kitchen for inspiration and my eyes locked on the jar of pickle sitting on the counter top. Wallaah…😁 What else could be a better way to preserve the vegetable…!!

Ingredients:

• raw banana: 5, sliced into small pieces.
• Green Chilli:1/2 cup, chopped
• Garlic: 1/2 cup chopped
• Curry leaves: a handful
• Mustard seeds: 2 tspn
• Turmeric powder: 2 tspn
• Red Chilli powder: 4 tspn
• Kashmiri chilli powder: 2 tspn(optional)
• Fenugreek powder: 1/4 tspn
• Jaggery: 1 tbspn, grated
• Vegetable oil( I used rice bran oil)
• Salt to taste
• White Vinegar: 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Marinate the sliced raw banana in 1 tspn turmeric powder and salt. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
2. Make a paste of red chilli powder and fenugreek powder with minimum water.
3. Fry the marinated raw banana pieces in hot oil till it turns golden colour. Keep it aside and pat them dry with a tissue paper.
4. In the same oil, fry garlic, green chilli and curry leaves.
5. To it, add the chilli powder and fenugreek powder paste. Saute well.
6. Pour 1 tbspn of vinegar and mix well. 
7. Add the fried raw banana and saute well till it has mixed well.
8. At this stage, add Kashmiri chilli powder if needed.(for more colour and hotness)
9. Pour the rest of the vinegar. Let it cook well.
10. At this point, add salt if needed.
11. Add the grated jaggery and let it melt. Keep it in medium flame for 5 minutes.
12. Take the pickle off the stove and let it cool. Once it has reached room temperature, store it in a dry glass jar.
13. Serve it after 1 or 2 days.

Tips:

• Raw banana chips can also be prepared with only 2 steps mentioned above😉. While marinating the raw banana, add 1 tspn turmeric powder more.Fry them until crisp. 
• Usually gingelly oil is used for preparing pickle. Since I did not have it, I opted  Rice Bran Oil.But make sure not to use coconut oil for pickles.
• One can also add 1/2 tspn of asafoetida powder for more flavour.