Green banana is an excellent superfood for all ages ranging from babies to elderly citizens. It is recommended to consume while weaning, during pregnancy, post-pregnancy, and various other health disorders such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.

Green banana especially benefits the gut, and today, science has established enough correlation between the gut and immunity, hormones, brain health, skin, mood, anxiety, brain fog, and everything else.

While probiotics and prebiotics are essential to improving one’s gut health, a lesser understood aspect is resistant starch. Green raw banana is teeming with resistant starch. The locals in Thailand, including their children, feed on raw green bananas, which is extremely healthy. These bananas also exist in our country in abundance, and we must understand its value. Resistant starch is a starch that is capable of resisting digestion in the intestine, causing any fluctuation in sugar levels, spikes in insulin, and so on. As it moves to the large intestine, it starts fermenting and feeds your good gut bacteria, thereby improving the gut microbiome. While doing so, it also leaves behind a residue called SCFA’s (short-chain fatty acids), like Butyrate, which is also formed when we consume ghee.

Benefits of resistant starch:

• Balances blood sugar levels
• Regulates your appetite
• Improves insulin sensitivity
• Improves gut health
• Improves the walls of the colon
• Improves absorption of nutrients

Resistant starch is also found in cooked and cooled potatoes, and rice.

Green bananas can be boiled, dried and powdered, added to gravies and had with roti /rice, or relished as a simple stir-fry.

Recipe:

Serves 4

Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 5 to 6 raw green bananas
• 1 tbsp of cold-pressed coconut oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 – 2 red chillies soaked, dried and made into a paste
• 4 – 5 cloves of garlic
• ½ tbsp of fresh turmeric grated, or 2 tsp of Immunity powder
• 2 tbsp of grated fresh ginger/adrak
• 1 tsp of jeera/cumin
• 2 tsp of mustard/rai seeds
• 2 cups of fresh coconut/nariyal milk
• 2 tbsp of fresh tamarind/imli paste
• 4 to 5 tbsp of chopped coriander/dhaniya
• 4 to 5 tbsp of chopped basil
• salt as per taste

Method:

1. Take a pot, fill it with water and add the bananas (single piece separately).
2. Bring it to boil for 15 – 20 minutes.
3. Once you see the banana losing its colour, turn off the gas and keep it aside.
4. Once it is cooled completely, peel and chop into cubes evenly.
5. In a pan, take coconut oil; add jeera, mustard seeds, onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and red chilli paste.
6. Let it cook for 10 minutes.
7. Now, stir in the chopped bananas; add coconut milk and tamarind paste.
8. Cover it with the lid, and let it cook well on a slow flame for 5 to 6 minutes.
9. Add coriander, basil, and salt as per taste.
10. Serve hot with rice or roti.

Variations:

• If the gravy looks too thin, add some sattu flour mixed with water.
• Add other vegetables along with the banana for more flavour.

Notes:

• Never keep the open-cut banana in the open for too long as it gets oxidized and turns black.
• Immediately boil the banana in water and cook till mushy. Once cooled, peel it immediately and use.
• Raw bananas contain two types of fibre – resistant starch and pectin which makes one feel fuller.
• They also help in controlling sugar levels post meals.
• They are rich in potassium, and help in better iron absorption.
• They work as an excellent probiotic, feeding the friendly bacteria in the gut.

Disclaimer: In case of kidney diseases and high potassium levels, please be mindful of its consumption.

Like something sweet? Then, try Raw Banana Flour Pancakes.

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