Curry w/ Bananas, Tomatoes, & Vermicelli

This Bananas Curry consists of bananas, tomatoes, garlic, carrots, onion, coconut milk, fried tofu, and serranos with cumin, coriander, and cayenne pepper.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 4

Total Time 4 20

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian, Thai

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

Food Processor (optional)
Large Pot
Stovetop

Ingredients

6 bananas puréed
4 medium tomatoes puréed
3 cloves garlic puréed
2 carrots diced
1/2 yellow onion minced
2 cans coconut milk
1 can water
dash cumin
dash coriander
dash cayenne pepper
dash salt
dash pepper
16 oz. tofu (1 package), fried
4 serranos minced
3 carrots sliced

Instructions

Simmer Curry

Add the bananas, tomatoes, and garlic to a food processor. Purée until smooth.
This is optional. You can easily dice the produce! I don't like the stringy bits of bananas and the curly ends tomato skins after they cook. A lot of the time people will blanch the tomatoes to resolve this. Although puréing is a lot quicker and easier if you similarly can't be bothered!
I also just tossed in the garlic cloves because... easier than mincing while you're already at it!
Add all of the ingredients, except for the rice vermicelli, to a large pot.
Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer for at least 2-4 hours. You want the liquid to reduce in half. If it’s reducing too quickly, add water and turn down the temperature. If it isn’t reducing fast enough, bring to a boil again and reduce to a slightly higher temperature.
The longer that you cook, the more the flavors will permeate the ingredients, so simmering at a lower temperature for longer is always an option. I’ll sometimes lower the temperature to a very light simmer and pretty much leave it be for 6-8 hours.
You never want to leave a pot on the stove unattended, but this is the kind of dish that you can kind of set up and let do its thing. You may need to turn the temperature down periodically to adjust for too rapid a simmer to keep it from boiling as the liquid evaporates. But, other than that, this is a pretty hands off dish!

Fry Tofu

After the curry has reduced about in half, you're going to want to add the tofu so that it can absorb the flavors. You can either put them in as is to reduce the oil in the curry or crisp the edges to help the tofu keep its shape. For this recipe, I lightly fried the tofu.
While the curry is simmering, drain the water out of the tofu and cut into cubes.
Wrap in paper towels to absorb the moisture.
It's important to absorb as much water out of the tofu as you can. Oil is less dense than water, so the molecules repel one another. With cold ingredients, this causes separation. When you're frying at high temperatures, though, this can cause boiling hot oil to spray back at you.
Meanwhile, preheat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
When the skillet has preheated and the majority of the water has absorbed into the paper towels, carefully add the tofu to the skillet. Fry until golden brown. This should take about 2-4 minutes. Rotate until all sides are evenly fried.
Remove from heat and wrap again in paper towels to absorb the excess oil.Remove from heat and wrap again in paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Add the tofu to the curry and simmer for another hour or two.

Cook Vermicelli

After simmering the curry until it's simmered down to your liking, add the vermicelli.
Add the vermicelli and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Vermicelli cooks very quickly. I tend to add the vermicelli and then immediately remove it from heat. Merely sitting in the once simmering curry is sufficient enough soften it enough to eat without overcooking.

Serve

Serve immediately or refrigerator.
Curry will continue to the absorb the spices the more time passes. It’s one of those dishes that I like to make ahead of time because it often tastes better after the flavors have had time to set overnight.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

To make the curry spicier, put more hot peppers towards the end of the cooking process. Peppers added in the beginning stage will have a slower, more robust flavor that permeates through the dish. Peppers added towards the end of the cooking process will have more of a kick in the teeth, mouth burn.
If the curry absorb too much moisture, you may need to add more water. This is to taste. I tend to like a thicker curry with larger chunks, much like a thick stew. If you’re in the other camp that likes a more liquid curry, don’t hesitate to add more water. If you’re unsure, taste periodically and adjust to what you like. You can always add more water, even after you’re done cooking entirely, to lighten it up. The curry will thicken more as it cools and overnight.
Do you need to sauté the produce? A lot of curry recipes want you to sauté or otherwise cook vegetables beforehand. The first direction is typically, “sauté onions and peppers in oil on the stove.” I tend not to do this because it tends to mean adding oil to the curry. Since you’re simmering down for several hours, the natural oils in the vegetables that you use will separate. This will create a film of oil on top of the curry. Some people like this. It can also be an indicator of how spicy a curry is sometimes because the more peppers that you use, the more oils will naturally leach out of them.
I don’t tend to find oily curry appetizing, though! So, I try to minimize the amount of added oil is in the recipe. If you’ve ever had a soup or sauce that’s separated, you know what I’m talking about. The oil will separate and settle on the top because it’s less dense than water. It will be obvious if it’s a problem.
If you do end up with too much oil, add an ice cube or a frozen metal ladle to draw out the oil. Then, just spoon it out until you have removed enough oil. Alternatively, if you refrigerate the curry, the oil will rise to the surface. This will create a semi-solid chunk on top and you can spoon it out. If there’s a lot of oil and it has solidified enough, you can sometimes just pick up the layer with your fingers and remove it this way.
For a more in-depth article on preparing tofu, check out my article on The Fundamentals of Fried Tofu. High heat oil and a precise cooking temperature are important to keep the tofu from drying out or burning.