Vegan Plantain Curry
on Sep 29, 2018, Updated Jul 18, 2024
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This vegan plantain curry is what easy dinner dreams are made of. It’s perfectly sweet and spicy, without the need for any fancy ingredients. Sweet plantain adds a beautiful layer of flavour and texture that pairs wonderfully with beans, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin and spicy peppers.
What are Plantains?
Plantain is raw green banana that’s found in tropical climates on the shores of the Caribbean, South America or Asian and Africa. Although they look like bananas, they don’t peel as easily as a banana, they don’t taste like banana and you don’t eat them raw like bananas. Plantains are very starchy which means they need to be cooked before eating.
As far as ripening, plantains are like banana in that they out firm and green, slowly turning yellow, then spotty and finally completely brown. For this recipe, look for plantains that are a little spotty or have some black markings, much like in the picture below.
How to Peel a Plantain
A ripe plantain peels fairly easily but if it’s on the greener side, cut each end off with a knife, then carefully slice it lengthwise before peeling the skin off around it.
How to Cook Plantain
There are many different ways you can prepare plantain. They taste like bananas but have a starchier texture, much like a potato. My favourite way to prepare plantains is to caramelize them in a pan with some coconut oil and cinnamon, but that’s for another day. Today we’ll be simmering them with lovely Carribean-inspired spices to create the perfect plantain curry.
You can also baked plantain in the oven or grill them. They’re fantastic in both sweet and savory recipes. If you haven’t cooked with plantains before, you’ll be hooked after making this easy curry. They are so good in this dish.
Made with sweet, tender plantains, tomatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg and spicy red chili, this spicy, savoury curry seriously delivers on flavour. It’s also surprisingly easy to make given how rich and flavourful it is.
This is a great recipe for beginner cooks who what to try a simple but unique and impressive curry. The whole dish comes together in about 20 minutes including prep time.
Here’s the flow:
- First, chop up the veggies and plantains and get the spices ready. If you’re making rice, start cooking that now.
- While you’re chopping, heat the coconut oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- When you’re ready, cook the shallots, garlic and spices for a couple minutes.
- Add the veggies and plantains, give it a good stir and cook for a few more minutes.
- Add the broth and beans, turn the heat down a bit a simmer another 15 minutes.
Done! Time to enjoy! You can also make this in advance as it keeps well in the fridge up to 5 days.
Recipe Substitutions
- To make oil-free, cook the garlic, shallots and spices in a splash of broth instead of coconut oil.
- If you don’t want it spicy, leave out the chili pepper.
- In a pinch, you can use 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes and their juices instead of fresh tomatoes.
- Mix and match any kind of beans up to 2 cups. Chickpeas, white beans, kidney beans, black eyed peas and even lentils all work well.
How to Serve this Curry
You can enjoy this curry on it’s own or serve it over basmati rice, quinoa, brown rice or greens. Top it with extra lime and if desired, chopped fresh cilantro.
Related Recipes
- Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry
- Easy Vegetable Chickpea Curry
- Vegan Sweet Potato Curry
- Vegan Chickpea Curry Stew
Vegan Plantain Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, for frying
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced
- 1 red chilli, de-seeded and diced (substitute 1 jalepeno or omit if sensitive to spice)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 6 large fresh tomatoes, stems removed and roughly chopped
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 3 plantains, sliced
- 1 cup 200 g canned black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup 200 g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup 200 ml vegetable stock
- juice of 1 lime
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add 1 tbsp of coconut oil into a large pot on medium heat (use a splash of water or both to make this recipe oil-free). Add the shallots, garlic, chili, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon and stir together, then allow to simmer for 2 minutes.
- Now, add in the thyme, peppers, chopped tomatoes and plantain and stir to combine. Allow to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in the stock, black eyed peas, chickpeas and the juice of a lime. Simmer oven medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the plantain is tender.
- Serve over basmati rice.
So tasty! Very easy to make and just yum. Will make again, super fast and worth serving to guests.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Do you use unripe (green) plantains?
You can use slightly underripe plantains but I wouldn’t use completely green ones. I used ripe plantains in this recipe. Thanks!
So, in this recipe, you use raw plantains? And do they cook just by simmering it? (As is said in the recipe)
Yep, that’s right!
While this recipe is tasty, the timing is off. Unless the chili’s, plantains and vegetables are pre-chopped, it takes 45 min to clean and chop them. It took me 65 minutes to make this. Worth it but know what you’re getting in to.
Thanks very much for adding your feedback. I guess I was speedy with my veggie chopping!!