Skip to main content

Rotting Bananas? Time for Banana Sabudana Kheer





There are some things in a kitchen you just have to accept are going to happen. The milk will always boil in the split second you turn your eyes away. Honey will always take its own sweet time to exit the bottle no matter how hard you smack its bottom. And the bananas eventually will ripen too much. If left unattended and uneaten, they will turn soft and start to develop blotchy black discolorations. When that happens, you make Banana Sabudana Kheer.

Two childhood happy memories influenced this dish. As a child, mom would feed me mashed up overripe bananas in a bowl, mixed with a spoonful of sugar and a little milk for my after school treat. The other comfort food memory for me was Sabudana Kheer; the sweetened milk dessert made from Tapioca pearls, also known as Sago. Mom used to call it “Shortcut Kheer” because it was so quick and easy to execute. There was something delightfully playful about chomping on the gelatinous round pearl-like granules while slurping down thick sweetened milk laced with cardamom. After I would polish off my portion of kheer, I would then tell my little sister that the round pearls were fish eyes. She would run away screaming in disgust, leaving me an unsanctioned second helping, right there for the taking. There would be hell to pay when mom found out what I did, but it was totally worth it.

These two childhood memories coupled with an absolute dislike for food wastage led to this dish. The milk and bananas had started to outlive their usefulness. The milk was getting dangerously close to the expiry date.The bananas had probably were starting to develop the big black blotchy bruises. That's the "Use-it-or-Lose-it" moment that leads to magical kitchen discoveries.  Combining the banana memory with the Sabudana kheer memory yielded the most satisfying dessert. Surprisingly easy to execute, on top of that.

When making this dish, it’s very important to allocate at least an hour for washing and soaking the tapioca pearls. This ensures the tapioca pearls get nicely plump and properly hydrated. Skipping this step could result in the pearls being still raw in the center. The unwashed starch could turn the kheer into a sad version of sludge. Trust me, it is not good eating when that happens. Kheer needs to be a spoonable silky liquid that flows off the spoon into your mouth. Scooping soggy goopy pudding = EPIC fail. 

While the pearls are doing their thing submerged in water, the milk is brought to a boil, and stirred frequently to allow it to reduce. This causes the milk sugars to caramelize a little, adding to the overall flavor. I always maintain a separate saucepan when making milk based dishes. Nothing ruins a kheer experience worse than the flavors of yesterday’s fish curry. 

The mashy gooey overripe bananas go in next and with a hand mixer, the contents of the saucepan are blitzed into a luxuriously thick liquid. Next go in the soaked tapioca pearls and this all is simmered till the liquid turns thick and velvety. When it comes to choice of sweeteners, I like honey for this. Brown sugar also works well. I love the mild flavor of molasses, and the caramel color it imparts to the kheer. The final touch is a sprinkle of freshly pounded cardamom seeds, followed by a light splash of rose water. The lid is set, and the flavors are left alone to marry and come together in a happy blend. Astonishingly simple yet playful.

I like having my Banana Tapioca Pearls kheer warm right out of the pan. It’s also delightful when consumed chilled, which you can do, if there are any leftovers. A big emphasis on ‘If”.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Sindhi Kadhi Experience

  Being the cultural melting pot of a city that it is, Mumbai is known for its opulent and extravagant food scene. However no restaurant can capture the warmth, authenticity and love of a home cooked meal. One of my most cherished memories of my Mumbai trip was a true Sindhi dining experience, thanks to the gracious invitation to dinner by my Sindhi school friend, Deepak Choithramani.  The Sindhi people originally hail from the province of Sindh, an area of great historical significance dating back to the Indus Valley civilization of 2500 BCE which is now in modern day Pakistan. This was a thriving community the country’s Independence in 1947. The partition caused the displacement of hordes of Hindu Sindhis, who were forced to flee to India to avoid persecution, forced conversion and genocide. They settled in many parts of northwestern India, primarily Gujarat and Maharashtra, and started their lives from scratch. In just a few decades of that happening, the Sindhis  esta...
Post a Comment
Read more

Eid and the Dum Biryani experience

This year, Eid in Mumbai was a scorcher. A heat advisory was issued, reminding the people of Mumbai to stay hydrated and avoid strenuous activity. You'd think that would be enough to dissuade this chef from his culinary intention of Dum Biryani. Think again. In the urban dictionary, against the term “Sucker for punishment”, there must be a picture of Chef Dama, labeled as exhibit A. Why would anyone want to subject themselves through this torture? To walk to the market when it's over 40 C/100 F outside to procure fresh goat meat, yogurt, long grain basmati rice and spices. A person in his right frame of mind would be snuggled in front of the air conditioner, doing Netflix and chill. Instead there I am sweat drenched in the kitchen, stoves on full blast as I fry a kilogram of sliced onions to make Birishta; the key ingredient in Biryani. Next, into the scorching hot fat go the potatoes. Sure the potato frying process could be skipped. But to miss out on that magic golden orange ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Bombay Duck (It's actually a Fish)

In Mumbai, everyone waits for June. It’s the start of the monsoon, giving Mumbaikars a much needed break from the sweltering summer. But for me, growing up in the coastal suburb of Bandra, June was a different experience. That’s when I would intentionally stay away from the sea facing areas, because of the stench. June is the start of Bombay Duck season, and the process of salting and drying this fish would fill the air with an aroma that could cause a fainting spell right on the spot in the middle of the street. You wouldn’t be the only one mistaken if the name Bombay Duck made you think of poultry. This name is given to a peculiar species of fish found primarily in the coastal waters of Mumbai and Gujarat. It’s quite an ugly fish with an uncharacteristically large and gaping mouth. The high water content makes the flesh rather gelatinous, almost slimy, causing it to spoil rather easily. The primary method of preserving this fish is salting and drying. Rudimentary bamboo structures ...
Post a Comment
Read more