Nadiya Hussain wants to normalise eating banana peel

Who says you can’t eat banana peel?

Nadiya Hussain (Chris Terry)

If you went into Nadiya Hussain’s kitchen you would probably find orange peels drying out on the window sill.

The 39-year-old British television chef, whose life changed considerably after winning the sixth series of BBC’s Great British Bake Off in 2015, was born on Christmas Day to a Bangladeshi family living in Luton, where there were strict rules about the wastage and repurposing of food: you weren’t allowed to throw anything away, even if it had mould on it.

Even though Hussain and her husband Abdal Hussain have now moved down south from Leeds with their three children, it’s this same philosophy that is applied in her home and hopes viewers will benefit from after watching her BBC Two six-part cooking series Nadiya’s Cook Once, Eat Twice.

The author showed the nation how to make the most of the ingredients in your kitchen, create recipes that consider the cost-of-living crisis, and made the idea of eating something for the second time more appealing.

“You’re supposed to follow whatever the use-by date says,” explains Hussain, who has also hosted the documentary The Chronicles of Nadiya and TV cookery series Nadiya’s British Food Adventure.

“But I think people get really confused by the best before [date] because often people look at it and think they better get rid of it. All that’s suggesting to you is that it’s not going to be at its best, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t use it. And so that is where I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding.

“I mean, I come from an immigrant household. We don’t throw anything away, even if it’s got mould on it. You pinch the mould off and you eat it. That’s what we would do at home because that’s just the way we were raised. But if people spoke about it more and demystified it, then I think people would throw away less [food].”

Hussain vividly remembers her parents recreating meals for her and her three sisters and two brothers, using a combination of leftovers and staple ingredients you would usually find in your cupboard, including fish curry.

Banana peel curry recipe

“We have eaten banana peel our whole life, so we are in no way shocked or bamboozled by something like this,” says Nadiya Hussain.

“I know that is not normal for everyone, but if you are making banana bread or have kids like mine and go through bananas like they are going out of fashion, give this a try. It’s so easy and such a great way to use up something that pretty much everyone chucks way.”

Nadiya Hussain wants to normalise eating banana peel (Chris Terry)

Serves: 4

Prep time: 8 minutes | Cook time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Peels of 6 bananas

1 lemon, juice only

5 tbsp oil

2 onions, diced

1½ tsp salt

2 tbsp ginger paste

2 tbsp garlic paste

1 tomato, diced

2 tbsp tomato purée

3 tbsp garam masala

2 tsp chilli powder (optional)

300ml water

Thinly sliced coriander, to serve

Method:

1. Start by thinly slicing your banana peels and squeezing the lemon juice all over to stop the browning process a little. They will brown as soon as they are peeled – they are notorious for it – but that is OK.

(Penguin Michael Joseph)

2. Pour the oil into a medium non-stick pan and as soon as the oil is hot, add the onions and salt and cook until browned.

3. As soon as the onions are soft and brown, add the ginger paste, garlic paste, tomato and tomato purée, cook for a few minutes and then add the garam masala and chilli powder and mix through.

4. Add the sliced banana peels and cook in the spices over a high heat for a few minutes. Pour in the water and cook over a medium heat, with the lid on, for 30 minutes.

5. Take off the lid and cook now until the mixture is drier and not watery. Sprinkle over the coriander and serve.

Tip: Don’t throw away the lemon halves after squeezing. Fill the cavity with bicarbonate of soda, pop into a bowl and place in the back of your fridge to capture any nasty fridge smells.

Recipe from ‘Cook Once Eat Twice’ by Nadiya Hussain (Penguin Michael Joseph, £28).