Many thanks to Jay Patel, fellow foodie and cook, for sharing this recipe!
For Chai Syrup:
½ cup water
1 chai tea bag
¾ cup honey
5 black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1 whole star anise
2 cardamom pods
2 whole cloves
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger peeled
For the Grilled Bananas:
Cooking spray
4 ripe, firm bananas
1. To make the syrup, in a small saucepan, boil the water. Turn off the heat, add the tea bag, and brew the tea, leading the bag in the water until cool and the tea is very dark. Remove the tea bag, squeezing out the excess tea. Add the honey, spices and ginger. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the liquid has reduced to one cup, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes. Using a fine mesh strainer or tea brewer, strain out the whole spices and ginger. The syrup should be thinner than honey, but still have body.
2. To grill the bananas, coat the grill with cooking spray (make sure grill is clean – don’t want steak flavors seeping into the fruit) and preheat over medium-high heat. Slice bananas lengthwise, then peel. Grill the fruit until slightly softened and light grill marks form, 2-3 minutes per side.
3. Place 2 bananas halves on a dessert plate, drizzle with 2 tablespoons syrup and serve.
Serves 4
Serving size: 2 banana halves and 2 tablespoon syrup
Per Serving: Calories: 300; Total Fat: 0g; Protein: 2g; Fiber:3g; Carb: 79g; Chol: 0mg; Sodium: 20mg
Adopted from Ellie Krieger’s book The Food You Crave
