I am not sure what is the first image this title will conjure up for anyone who reads it. A quick Google search revealed that people have called a wide variety of things ‘Banana Delight’. I got this title from the mater whose first reaction after tasting this was, its delightful! Why not call it ‘B.. Delight’?
So delighted at this reaction, I decided to go ahead with this title! đ
I had a bunch of very ripe bananas sitting on the counter. I am not a big banana fan, and I lose interest once they start giving out a strong smell, and the skin turns black. I wanted to make use of this in some disguised form, and also needed to make some kind of dessert for my company.
 After looking at some banana recipes on a bunch of websites, a sort of hodge podge formed in my brain and I finally came up with something simple and closer to home.
Banana Delight recipe is my take on creamy rice pudding. It is naturally sweetened with bananas and thickened with almonds. A healthier though indulgent dessert alternative.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lit milk (6 cups)
- 2 Tbsp Rice grains
- 10-12 almonds
- 2-3 ripe bananas
- 3-4 strands saffron
- nutmeg to taste
- 2-3 elaichi or cardamom
- 1 tsp butter or ghee
- pistachios or nuts to garnish
Method
- Take a thick bottomed pan or wok and start heating the milk. I used full fat milk, but 2% milk can also be used. I will not recommend anything lower, since this is predominantly a recipe made from milk/cream and should be indulged in sparingly anyway
- Melt the butter in a small pan and roast the rice grains till they are pinkish in colour. This will release their aroma. You can use basmati rice if you have it, or any other regular rice
- Roughly chop or dice the bananas and fry them in the remaining butter. The bananas will caramelize. Check that they do not burn and keep stirring. Depending on the
- ripeness, some or all the bananas will dissolve or disintegrate. This is OK since we are going to mash and mix it in the milk later anyway. This step will give a subtle caramel like flavour to the whole dish
- Soak the almonds for some time and remove the skins. Roast them lightly.
- Grind the rice grains and the almonds in a grinder to make an almost fine powder, between coarse and fine.
- By this time, the milk should be boiling. Bring it to a simmer and add the rice and almond mixture. Keep stirring. After 10-15 minutes, it will thicken considerably as the rice cooks.
- Soak some saffron strands in 2-3 tbsp of milk and add them to the rice and milk mixture. You can omit the saffron if you do not like it or do not have it on hand.
- Mash any remaining bananas, so that most of it becomes puree like. Add this whole mixture to the milk. Keep stirring to avoid burning.
- Add some grated nutmeg and 1 tsp of freshly ground or ready made elaichi powder or cardamom powder.
- Also add some chopped pistachios, cashews etc. for crunch.
- The dish is done once all the ingredients have mixed well and formed a thick pudding like consistency. This will thicken even more after it cools, so please factor that in.
- Refrigerate and serve chilled garnished with a few chopped nuts
Nice recipe of adding bananas to rice pudding. Good way of using those over ripe bananas.
Thanks for the comments about the Mango ice-cream. Blending 3 times does help minimise the crystals. I have never tried gelatin before, but I am sure that will work đ
If you try, please do post it!
looks yummy
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