Banana peel curry: A great recipe for minimising food waste

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“We have eaten banana peel our whole life, so we are in no way shocked or bamboozled by something like this,” says Nadiya Hussain.

“I know that is not normal for everyone, but if you are making banana bread or have kids like mine and go through bananas like they are going out of fashion, give this a try. It’s so easy and such a great way to use up something that pretty much everyone chucks way.”

Serves: 4

Prep time: 8 minutes | Cook time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Peels of 6 bananas

1 lemon, juice only

5 tbsp oil

2 onions, diced

1½ tsp salt

2 tbsp ginger paste

2 tbsp garlic paste

1 tomato, diced

2 tbsp tomato purée

3 tbsp garam masala

2 tsp chilli powder (optional)

300ml water

Thinly sliced coriander, to serve

Method:

1. Start by thinly slicing your banana peels and squeezing the lemon juice all over to stop the browning process a little. They will brown as soon as they are peeled – they are notorious for it – but that is OK.

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2. Pour the oil into a medium non-stick pan and as soon as the oil is hot, add the onions and salt and cook until browned.

3. As soon as the onions are soft and brown, add the ginger paste, garlic paste, tomato and tomato purée, cook for a few minutes and then add the garam masala and chilli powder and mix through.

4. Add the sliced banana peels and cook in the spices over a high heat for a few minutes. Pour in the water and cook over a medium heat, with the lid on, for 30 minutes.

5. Take off the lid and cook now until the mixture is drier and not watery. Sprinkle over the coriander and serve.

Tip: Don’t throw away the lemon halves after squeezing. Fill the cavity with bicarbonate of soda, pop into a bowl and place in the back of your fridge to capture any nasty fridge smells.

Recipe from ‘Cook Once Eat Twice’ by Nadiya Hussain (Penguin Michael Joseph, £28).