Arda Pikkile Randai Kele Gojju (Semi Ripe Cooking Banana Chutney).

“Arda Pikkile Randai Kele Gojju (Semi Ripe Cooking Banana Chutney)” ... Delicious salad sort of a side dish prepared with half ripened cooking bananas with addition of curds .... tastes best served with roti/poori though you can serve it with meals along with any type of rice dishes ... Yummilicious …

** I always buy harve kele/ cooking raw bananas as I love the upkari/ bhaji prepared using them especially when served with dalitoy- rice or with pejja, it simply tastes awesome. Then there is koddel, gashi etc. which are equally tasty too. Life has never been the same in the last 16 months with the increase in work load, somehow things seem to get messed up and I found to my dismay that a few cooking bananas stored in fridge had gone unnoticed and they had turned soft/ half ripe nevertheless not spoilt.

** I really was in dilemma as to what I could do with them without wasting them as my mantra has always been “no wastage of food” to the best of my ability. Well thought why not try out simple gojju with addition of spices, curds etc. and went ahead with the preparation. Surprisingly, it turned out fantastic better than the gojju prepared with ripe ones, the crunch of jeevi soyi (fresh coconut) added gave it a lovely taste and texture and we loved savoring it with roti though you can serve it with rice dishes too as it sort of a salad dish. 

** To all out there, never chuck out food, give it a good thought and I am sure like me all of you will come up with some solution. The pleasure when you realize you did not let it go waste is tremendous. We should always learn to respect the food God graciously offers us as food when wasted just means you have deprived someone of food which is how I take it, so try to think and come up with solutions for the same. I have many more which I will soon be sharing here, so keep watching out for them, Thank you.

** This is how I went about preparing this awesome “Arda Pikkile Randai Kele Gojju (Semi Ripe Cooking Banana Chutney)” … my very own concoction, a simple method to a delicious gojju without wastage ... my style ….

** Peel off the outer skin of 2 medium sized “arda pikkile randai kele/ semi ripe cooking bananas”, Chop them roughly and then you can use the following two methods to get the bananas cooked and done. I used the microwave method for cooking.

** Method 1 : Heat ½ tsp of oil in a non stick pan and then add in the chopped half ripened bananas, mix well, sprinkle just a little bit of water, cover and cook till done. Do check it out in between to stir and sprinkle some more water if necessary. Let cool completely.

** Method 2 : Add chopped half ripened bananas in a glassware dish along with ½ tsp oil and 2 tblsp water, mix well, cover with a MW resistant plate and microwave on high for 2 minutes, mix well and once again microwave it further for another minute or two, let cool.

** Beat one cup of thick homemade curds (dahi/ yogurt) to a smooth consistency and add to the cooked bananas along with salt (namak/ meeta) to taste and mix well keeping the consistency thick by adding in water only if necessary.

** Add 4-5 finely chopped green chillies (tarni mirsanga/ hari mirchi), 2-3 tblsp freshly grated coconut (jeevi soyi/ nariyal), ¼ tsp sugar powder (pitti shakkar/ sakre pitti) and mix well. Addition of sugar powder is Optional; I have added just a pinch of it.

** For Seasoning/ Tempering : In a small pan heat 1 tsp of coconut oil (nariyal tel/ narlel tela), when hot add in ½ tsp of urad dal (black gram dal) when it turns slightly in color add in ½ tsp of mustard seeds (sasam/ rai), when it begins to splutter add in a few fresh curry leaves (kadipatta/ karbevu), a large pinch of hing (asafoetida) powder, fry for few seconds and then pour it over the gojju kept ready and mix well.

** “Arda Pikkile Randai Kele Gojju (Semi Ripe Cooking Banana Chutney)” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served as a side dish with roit/ parathas or poori which is what I found the best with, however you can serve it with any dishes of your choice too.

** The next time you find some cooking bananas that have turned yellow, do not chuck them out, try out this awesome gojju recipe, I am sure you and your family will love it. Also, try to be innovative with veggies when they turn overripe, you can prepare sannapolo etc. too.

** In all a delicious dish, though I do endorse that one should never waste food, sometimes it does become inevitable and all of us somehow end up with them, if you do not want to try any dishes with them, then give it away to somehow who will gladly do so.

** During the present crisis we have learned a lot of lesson, though wastage is far from my dictionary, still I too have learnt a lot about purchases and using. I now buy a little lesser than what is necessary which is a sure way to no wastage.