Recipe: Bananas with Coconut and Cardamom (serves 2)

BANANAS WITH COCONUT AND CARDAMOM

4 to 8 cardamom pods
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 clove
4 small slightly underripe bananas
1 to 3 tbsp. brown sugar

Bruise the cardamom pods gently between your hands, making small cracks in the hard pods, but stopping short of breaking them open. The more you crush them, the stronger the cardamom flavor.

Combine the coconut milk, cardamom and clove in a pot large enough to hold the bananas. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes to release the flavor of the cardamom. Sample the coconut milk and adjust the flavor if necessary by crushing or bruising one or more of the cardamom pods with a wooden spoon.

Peel the bananas and add to the coconut milk. Boil gently for 5 minutes, turning once.

Add sugar to taste and allow it to dissolve before gently transferring the bananas to serving plates. Spoon the coconut milk over them and serve.

VARIATION:
When the bananas are cooked, take them out of the coconut milk and transfer to a baking pan, sprinkle with the brown sugar and a small dusting of ground cardamom, and place under the broiler until the sugar is caramelized.

Makes 2 servings
Source: Where Flavor was Born: Recipes and Culinary Travels Along the Indian Ocean Spice Route by Andreas Viestad