Here's the first mystery entrée. Let's just dive right in, shall we?
The randomly-generated list of ingredients is:
couscous
shrimp
banana
miso
It's obvious that one of these ingredients is severely lacking from most people's routine cooking. I can't even remember the last time I've had some for dinner. I don't see why though: there's no great mystery in preparation and the price and availability are quite attractive as well. It's such a shame that people don't show more love for couscous.
In all seriousness, forcing banana into a dinner entrée is no easy matter. But then again, clobbering together unique, possibly disastrous combinations of food, is exactly what this blog is about.
The biggest obstacle was harnessing the banana's unique sweetness and bending it to my will. Since curries typically have a touch of sweetness to them, I figured that I could the awkward fruit for that purpose. Unfortunately, even the most Christmas-green bananas have more than "a touch" of sweetness, therefore I needed more than a touch of counterbalance, in this case, some "non-sweet" spices and some brown. Yes, brown is a tangible ingredient. Mustard seed, dill seed, and dark roux seem to fill those roles. So I that's what I used.
Finding a place for shrimp in a curry is marginally less difficult as you might imagine. And adding miso to a random dish shouldn't render it completely inedible either (unless it's ice cream or something. Let's hope that combination never shows up.)
And now for the important part: the results.
I'm not going to lie to you, if you try this, the first bite of banana is going to be strange, possibly even uncomfortable. Do not be discouraged, however! This is a dish that requires patience. As I continued to eat, I found that something magical was happening. The banana became less and less weird and out-of-place, especially if I got a peanut or two in the bite. But, that's not all. By time I was almost done with the plate, I found that I actually needed its sweetness, because the dish started to taste wrong without the banana. Oh, and the shrimp was good too.
Do make this.
Recipe for 2:
Ingredients
Curry powder mix:
1.5 tsp turmeric
1.5 tsp coriander seed
0.5 tsp cumin seed
0.5 tsp dill seed
0.5 tsp mustard seed
0.25 tsp black pepper
Curry:
1.5 tbsp flour
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green chile, minced
2 green bananas, sliced 1-inch
0.5 lbs shrimp, peeled
miso paste, to taste
vegetable stock, as needed
cilantro, chopped, for garnish
Couscous:
0.5 tsp cumin seed
2 tbsp peanuts
1 branch curry leaves, torn
1 shallot
0.5 cup couscous
Method
Roast and grind the curry powder spices as necessary. Set aside.
To start the curry sauce, make a brown roux out of the flour and olive oil. Add the garlic and chile, and fry until the garlic is golden. Throw in the curry powder and fry everything a bit more. Little by little, stir in some stock until the sauce is smooth. Add the miso until it's satisfying salty. Keep it simmering.
Couscous time! Get some water boiling. Fry the cumin seed and peanuts in some olive oil. When the peanuts begin to brown, add the curry leaves, shallot, and some salt. Take it off the heat when the shallot's cooked and thoroughly mix in the couscous. Pour in 0.5 cup boiling water, mix, cover tightly, and let it sit for 5 minutes.
In the meantime, fry the bananas over high heat. The goal is to put some color on the bananas without making them any softer than they already are. Set aside when done.
When the couscous is done, add the shrimp to the simmering curry sauce. Fluff the couscous for the minute or two it takes the shrimp to cook. Add the bananas to the curry when the shrimp are done.
Plate it up, and throw some cilantro on top.
