Vegan Caribbean Plantain Curry (2024)

Last Updated July 8, 2023. Published August 21, 2019 By Charla 97 Comments

This Caribbean vegan plantain curry is filling, delicious and made in one pot. It's packed with sweet potatoes, spinach, kidney beans and fragrant spices. An overall award winning dinner that is great for bulk cooking or weeknights for the family.

**FOR THE SAKE OF GOOGLE SEARCH AND SEO TERMS THE TITLE IS "PLANTAIN CURRY" NOT "CURRY PLANTAIN" as the Jamaican linguistics would call it. I just wanted to clarify the reasons for that specific wording. It's not because I don't know what my own cultural cuisines are called**

Here in the UK I think it's safe to say that British people love their curry dishes. Whenever people think of a curry, they immediately think of Asian cuisines.

Little do people know that the Caribbean has a monopoly on their own rendition of a good old curry - whether it's curried shrimp, beef or Pumpkin Curry

We have a unique vibrant spin on things and this vegan plantain curry (aka curry plantain) is everything you could need on your dinner table - it's plant based, packed with flavour and filling too.

What's the difference between bananas and plantains?

Now that plantains has become a trendy health food, so many people still don't know the difference between a plantain and a banana so let's cover this topic briefly.

In short, plantain derives from the same family as a banana, however, it behaves like a vegetable despite it growing on a tree like a fruit.

Plantains can be boiled, fried, mashed or even roasted just like potatoes.

It is relatively larger in size with robust skin and has a low sugar content (when not fully ripe) and starchier than its banana counterpart.

For that reason, it is considering a cooking banana that cannot be eaten raw.

On the contrary, bananas are small in size, sweeter with less starch and can be eaten on the go, just like a snack!

How to cut a plantain

The good news is that it's fairly simple to cut and remove the skin from a ripe to over ripe plantain

All you need to do is......

• Lay your plantain preferably horizontally.
• Then cut off each of the ends from the plantain and discard,
• Next you then use a knife to score along the skin of the plantain (you will see where the skin separates from the flesh, just like a banana.
• Use your hands to remove the rest of the skin.

Ingredients you will need

• Ripe plantain
• Sweet potato
• Cooked kidney beans (or peas as English Caribbean islands refer to them as)
• Onion
• Scallion
• Bell peppers
• Coconut milk
• Spinach (or use callaloo if you can source it)
• Tomato
• Curry powder
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Black pepper
• Pimento berries (all spice)
• Thyme
• Ground coriander
• Himalayan pink salt
• Water
• Coconut oil
• Scotch bonnet

How to make plantain curry

• Grab a sturdy non stick casserole pot/dutch pot/large skillet and melt the coconut oil on low-medium heat.
• Saute the scallion, onion and garlic until soft and translucent (picture 1)
• Once the onions and so fourth are sauteed, add the bell peppers and ginger and cook for roughly 5 minutes until the peppers have become soft. (picture 2)
• Add the thyme, chopped tomatoes, coriander, pimento berries, black pepper and curry powder. (picture 3)
• Stir all of the spices into the vegetables for about 2 minutes until they become fragrant.

• • Add the kidney beans, sweet potato and plantain (only add the plantain now if it is firm, not over ripe) along with the scotch bonnet, coconut milk and water. (picture 4-7)
  • Bring the pot to a rolling boil, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer for about 25 minutes.
  • Carefully fold in the spinach 5 minutes before the given cooking time and sprinkle in the pink salt. (picture 8)
  • If your plantain is soft and over ripe it's best to add them 5-10 minutes before the curry is ready or else they will turn to mush.

Notes and tips

• For convenience use a can of cooked red kidney beans make sure it is in water, not salt water and drain off the liquid first.
• If using dried beans make sure to cook them ahead of time. If you have an instant pot/stove top pressure cooker that will hasten the cooking process.
• If you don't like kidney beans, feel free to use any other legume.
• If you want overly sweet plantain, use extra ripe (skin is almost black) but add them towards the end of cooking. I used moderately ripe (with high yellow skin) plantains that are subtly sweet.
• Use white or orange sweet potatoes depending on where you live/availability
• Pimento berries are a whole version of allspice. Use ¼ teaspoon of ground allspice if you cannot obtain the whole berries.
• Callaloo makes this recipe more Caribbean, it's a type of spinach. If you can't get hold of it, use spinach or even kale works too.
• Scotch bonnet is optional, use a habanero or chilli or ¼ teaspoon chilli powder if you can't obtain it.
• Use light coconut milk if you want to decrease calorie intake.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I buy plantains?

The best place is from a market that stock African/Latino/Caribbean groceries. Also if you frequent a neighbourhood with this demographic, you will find supermarkets that stock it too.

Can I use a banana instead?

No, the two are NOT interchangeable

Can I freeze the plantain curry?

Yes, this is a freezer friendly meal

Can I make this recipe in my slow cooker?

No, the plantain will breakdown over a course of several hours. It's best to make this recipe on a stove top.

More plantain recipes you may like

• Spicy Shrimp and Plantain
• Pastelon
• Vegan Caribbean Breakfast
• Baked Hake Fillets with Mashed Plantain
• Baked Plantain Chips
• Mashed Sweet Plantains
• Plantain Pie
• Dominican Mangu
• Boiled Plantains with Kale

Don't forget to checkout my Caribbean Veganuary recipe roundup.

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