Gluten-Free and Vegan adaptable.

Ndizi na nyama is Swahili for “bananas/plantains and meat,”. We often have this delicious banana/Matoke cooked without meat and topped with a spicy coconut chutney. 

The traditional Swahili green banana stew that I learnt from my MaaIl is made with either beef or lamb. 

This rib-sticking green plantain stew is perfect of a cold day like today! Many Latin American and Asian markets carry them the green banana’s here in the East Coast. 

I make it Vegan, however sometimes, I will pull some aside and add some cooked meat to it for the rest of the family.

The green bananas in East Africa are called East African Highland Bananas. From Kegera to Kilimanjaro’s (Ndizi mshale) there are different varieties of bananas used in cooking Indian or local Tanzanian meals. 

Most commonly known as green bananas or cooking bananas, they are much smaller than plantains. There are more than 20 varieties of bananas that grow in Tanzania and used for eating, beer making etc. 

As there is no specific growing season, that means they are available all year round, and are cooked in a variety of ways, from Matoke with peanut sauce, to steamed and mashed with greens, cooked with beans, fried into crisps/chips. 

Nothing of the banana plant goes to waste; the leaves are used for roofing or fencing “Mto wa Mbu” , the pseudo stem is used as feed for livestock or as a source of wood for fuel, construction, furniture and handicrafts, jewelry and home decorations.

Ingredients:

• 4 green bananas  peeled and diced into 1” cubes ( oil your hand or wear gloves, before cutting the green bananas to avoid staining your hands)
• ¾ cups or 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 cup tomatoes chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger & garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon Thai hot chili paste
• 1 tablespoon coriander and cumin powder/ dhana jeera (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
• 1 1/2 tins coconut milk /2-3 cups- remove the top layer and set aside
• ¼ cup water or as needed
• Juice of half a lime
• 1 cup finely chopped cilantro to garnish
• 1 pound beef stew/fillet, cubed or lamb(optional)- cook meat with ginger garlic, salt ¼ finely diced onion, ½ tomato cooked until tender

Instructions:

1. Apply some oil on your hands/finger to avoid the raw banana juice staining.
   
   
2. Peel each banana and place diced pieces in a bowl of room-temperature water with lemon juice. Rinse thoroughly.
   
   
3. In a large saucepan over low heat, or in an Instant Pot on sauté mode, combine the bananas, coconut milk (saving the cream for later), turmeric, salt, ginger garlic pastes, chopped tomatoes, onions, coriander & cumin powders, and ¼ cup water and cover.
   
   
4. Cook until bananas are fork tender and easy to break with a back of a spoon or until they have absorbed half of the coconut milk and are very tender. It takes a while for them to get soft; give them about the same time you would need for cooking potatoes.
   
   
5. Set Instant Pot to 10 minutes on manual pressure, then flipping the valve once the 10-minute cook time is complete to quick release.
   
   
6. Mash some of the bananas with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon for a more thick stew-like consistency.
   
   
7. Add the cream of coconut milk and mix well. Let it t simmering on a low heat, then add lime juice and cilantro.  Serve with additional lime wedges.
   
   
8. If using meat- cook it separately with additional ginger & garlic pastes, salt, onion and tomato.  
   
   
9. Once the meat is tender, add it to the mashed banana/matoke.
   
   
10.  Add the cream of coconut milk and mix well. 
    
    
11.  Let it simmer on a low heat, then add lime juice and cilantro.  
    

 Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with additional lime wedges.