Coconut Kissed Banana Bread (No butter, no eggs!) to kick start a week long sweet celebration!

I was busy  baking and packing some goodies to take to the bake sale on friday night and meanwhile getting a feel of what was going on during the match through the husband's reactions. "Noooo!!!"and @#$%! whenever we lost a wicket and claps and cheers and much thumping of our poor table when something good happened. Comments were flying through FB too and it was fun to read everyone's reactions! 

Definitely a sweet victory for cricket crazy India, after 28 long years since the last World cup win. Most definitely something worth celebrating! 

I though this deserves an extra special celebration- like a week long sweet celebration! Yes I will post one sweet or dessert posts every day of the week till Saturday! This will also motivate me to post the recipes of the goodies that I already baked for the bake sale, and also some new ones I am dying to try! You are welcome to join me on this sweet ride! Leave a link to your sweet dish in the comments and I will link it in my next day's post :) It would be nice if you can link back to this mini event post in your's too.

This sweet coconutty banana bread, would be a perfect treat to start with especially for fellow banana bread/cake lovers like me. It is also one of the easiest things ever to bake. All you need is a bowl and a fork to mix the batter. No need for electric mixers, and also no need for butter or eggs! 

Wait! There's more. Click here for the recipe »

Banana- Breakfast & Dessert

South Indians especially the Malayalis can do amazing things with bananas. Almost every part of the tree, including the flower and the spongy bark is used in cooking.The leaves are used to serve food in. The fruit of course is enjoyed on it's own or cooked in various ways, some of which I've featured here. The following are popular desserts as well as eaten for breakfast or as a snack.





Caramelized Banana 





Ingredients

• 1 Ripe Plantain (Nendrapazham)


• 1 Tablespoon sugar


• 1 Cup water

Method:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon sugar in a saucepan until it melts and turns brown.


2. Add the peeled and sliced banana and 1 cup water per banana.


3. Boil till soft.

Serve hot/cold with custard. Good over pancakes. 





Buttered & Sugared Banana Ingredients

• 2-3 bananas


• 4-6 tablespoons sugar (or more)


• 2 tablespoons butter

Method

1. Slice bananas into thick coins or lengthwise strips, depending on your preference.


2. Pour sugar onto a plate. Roll bananas in sugar, until completely coated.


3. Heat butter in a non stick pan over medium high heat. Add bananas and sugar.


4. Cook bananas until light to golden brown underneath, about 4-5 minutes (you can lift with a spatula to peak). Be careful not to overcook or burn them (if you smell them browning, or see color in the pan, flip them right away).


5. Gently flip bananas over to brown other side, turning heat down to medium. The second side will brown in about one minute.


6. Transfer to a plate that has been coated with cooking spray (otherwise they may stick) and serve. Alternately, slide them right onto your ice cream or breakfast food.


7. Soak pan in hot water to facilitate cleaning.

Pazham Puzangithu 





Boil an unpeeled and sliced banana with 1 cup water, 1/4 th cup sugar and a clove, until the banana is cooked and the water combines with the sugar to form a syrup. Good with breakfast items like puttu, upma etc. 





Pazham Chuttathu ( Roasted banana)

1. Take a ripe nendrapazham and place it on a pan ( preferably a hardy non stick one since this gets a little messy)


2. Cover the pan with a lid and turn on the flame to allow the banana to roast until the skin turns black.


3. Turn over until all sides are evenly cooked and the skin is flaky black.


4. Serve plain, or with a little sprinkled sugar and a pat of butter or warm with chilled custard.