
Did you know that banana peels are not only made for slipping on? Or throwing them away? They have a lot of positive characteristics and there is a lot of things you can do with them. But I was most surprised when I found a Facebook group adoring them and using them in a lot of recipes. Of course, I had to try this and so I made this really surprising banana peel curry.
Bananas, from green to brown
Of course, bananas taste the best when they are ripe. But the green bananas contain a lot of fibers. this makes them actually healthier than ripe bananas. Although some people might get a bit windy from eating them.
Green bananas consist for almost 80% of starch. Now you may think, doesn´t that make you fat? No it does not! It is so called resistant starch that cannot be digested. So it has the same healthy qualities like for example whole wheat and vegetables.
During the riping process, the resistant starch is gradually transformed into sugars. A ripe banana only contains 1% of starch, which is nothing in comparison to green bananas.
But of course, the stars of the article are the banana peels. so let us talk a bit about them!
About banana peels
Banana peels are very healthy as they contain a lot of vitamin B6, B12, magnesium and potassium. But of course you wouldn't and shouldn't eat them raw. I would advise anyway to use bio bananas. But raw they also taste very bitter. In Asia banana peels are often cooked or fried before eating, but they also work perfectly in a smoothie. Just as jack fruit they are even used as a replacement for meat.
Are you not convinced yet? Or are you getting so interested that you want more inspiration? Here are some more ressources to use banana peels in your kitchen:
- Yuka Yoneda from Inhabitat shows various recipes with banana peels in a YouTube film, such as an apple pie smoothie with banana peels, banana peels in pickle juice and candied banana peels. She also processes the skins in stews, soups, curries, chutneys and jams.
- In the Facebook group "banana peel appreciation society" I found this banana skin and coconut curry. I used this idea to develop my own curry with walnuts, using ingredients I had available at home.
More creative with banana peel
Are you still not convinced about eating banana peels? No problem, but maybe you don't want to throw them away anymore like you did before? There is a lot of other things where you can make usage of banana peels.
- polishing your shoes with the inside of the peel.
- make your silver cutlery shine like new.
- compost them in your garden.
- use them as a fertilizer for your plants.
- Mix small stripes of banana peel with the earth around your plants to repel aphids.
- You like butterflies? Distribute some small stripes of banana peel in your garden. The butterflies will be attracted by the sweet smell. The same applies for birds.
- You may even add them to your pan while baking meat. It adds extra moisture and will keep your meet juicy.
Banana peels also have great characteristics to sustain and improve your personal health. Some applications:
- use them to whiten your teeth.
- use them as a mask for your face.
- Are you bitten by an ant or mosquito? Use a banana peel to reduce the itching and the irritation.
- It is a natural way to remove warts.
- They help against acne and psoriasis.
Other surprising vegetarian curries
We have a few more vegetarian curries on surprising.recipes. Just in case you are still not completely in favor of this banana peel version. No problem with that by the way, it is not everybody's cup of tea.






If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
strawberryandcream
I had no idea banana peels were edible!
toondebacker
Neither did I. But then I saw some recipes and even a FB group. So I decided I had to try it 🙂
Shaheen Reviews
Awesome information, I knew about the usage of banana peels for fertilizers but never ever imagined that it could be used in a curry. The bananas are ripe or semi ripe here?
toondebacker
Thanks a lot for your feedback! I took nice yellow bananas. If they are not ripe enough it risks to be bitter. Too ripe they might disintegrate. Be sure to let me know how it was when you tried it. My reaction when I saw it the first time was quite similar 🙂
Shaheen Reviews
I got some nice ripe ones, i will try this soon. Thanks for sharing!
Monica
Made the recipe exactly as described. It needs some acid, squeeze a lime in at the end and it’s waaaaay better. Also, like any curry, it needs enough salt or tastes muddy.
Overall i’m officially on the banana peel curry bandwagon!
toondebacker
Hi Monica, Thanks for your feedback! Highly appreciated! You are right, adding some acid makes it even much better. Last I added a yellow bell pepper, and it also made a huge difference. I my next update round I will change this accordingly in the recipe. And welcome on the banana peel curry bandwagon!