This recipe for Chicken and Green Banana (Plantain) Curry has been shared by Asian Dub Foundation, a multicultural British group described as having “a wild sound where ragga meets sitar, dub meets bhangra and punk rock meets hip-hop”.

Asian Dub Foundation is performing at WOMADelaide this weekend (March 11 to 14) in Botanic Park. They will also participate in the festival’s Taste the World event, where musicians swap their instruments for cooking utensils and introduce festival-goers to the food of their homelands.

Chicken and Green Banana (Plantain) Curry

Ingredients

1.5kg chicken breast, diced into bite-sized chunks
Vegetable oil
1 ½ cinnamon sticks
8 cloves
5 cardamom pods
Fresh curry leaves
5g black mustard seeds
3 onions, finely chopped
Garlic, finely chopped
A selection of fresh chilies (red, bonnet, green, etc), finely chopped
4 tbsp King or Baba curry powder (available from good Asian grocers)
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
500g pumpkin, peeled and diced finely
2 bunches small green bananas/plantain, peeled and chopped coarsely (available from good Asian grocers)
2 cans coconut milk
Salt
Pepper
Bunch of fresh coriander
Basmati rice

Method

Take a big duchy pot (a Jamaican Caribbean Dutch pot) or a large saucepan or wok and add adequate vegetable or olive oil, then bring to medium heat. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, curry leaves and black mustard seeds; turn down the heat a bit and add the onions, garlic and chilli. Stir over heat until they are cooking but not browning.

Add chicken and brown off a bit. When that’s done, add a cup or two of water – depending on the pot – and cook on medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes.

Add curry powder (don’t be afraid of it), salt and pepper and brown sugar … you’ve now got a curry going on.

Add the potatoes and carrots (diced up not too big, not too small) then add the pumpkin, which will eventually dissolve into the sauce. Add green bananas/plantain (not chopped too small as we want these to stay in chunks). There should be more green banana/plantain than the total amount of potato and carrot.

Add more water to cover, then add the coconut milk. Cook on a low to medium heat. Put a lid on it and cook till all the vegetables are cooked through – slow cooking for maybe an hour.

Serve with rice and a sprinkle of chopped coriander on top. Job done!

Serves 8

Join local chef and food identity Rosa Matto and selected WOMADelaide artists at Taste the World as they celebrate the delicious food and fascinating cultures of their home countries, all entwined with musical interludes and intimate personal anecdotes. More information about Taste the World can be found here.