Holi Ayee Re.. (meaning holi is here). Holi is the festival of colors, just like how we have a festival of lights. In South India, we do not celebrate Holi, but that does not really matter in the Quick'n'Healthy kitchen. We take it as one more opportunity to cook something special. As it is a busy weekday we decided to go with a quicknhealthy treat - Carrot Banana kheer.
In Indian cuisine, a kheer or payasam is a broad term that is used to represent a wide range of sweet dishes. There are 2 basic versions of payasam or kheer, one made with cow's milk and the other made with coconut milk. There are different subsets within these two, depending on the ingredients, consistency and occasion. Today's recipe is made with carrots, banana, coconut milk, cashews and is only sweetened with a little bit of raw honey and the natural sweetness from the banana.
Ingredients:
- Carrot - 2
- Banana - 1
- Homemade thick coconut milk - 1 1/2 cups (see notes)
- Cashew nuts - a big handful (soaked for a few hours)
- Raw honey - 4 Tbs (or more as per your sweetness level)
- Cardamom - 6 pods (skin removed and powdered)
- Saffron - a pinch
- Few cashew nuts
- Few raisins
- Ghee or coconut oil - 1 Tbs
Directions:
- Grate the carrots, you need about a cup of packed grated carrots.
- Soak saffron in a tablespoon of warm coconut milk.
- Start cooking carrots in a pan stirring frequently. In about 10-15 minutes, it will nice and soft.
- Meanwhile, grind the cashew along with coconut milk into a thick cream consistency.
- Add cashew coconut cream to the softened carrots. Simmer on low heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add cardamom powder, soaked saffron and honey. Switch off, add thinly sliced bananas and mix well.
For garnish:
- Heat ghee (or coconut oil) on medium heat and saute raisins and cashews till slightly golden. Garnish over the kheer.
- As always enjoy desserts in small servings :)
Notes:
- To make thick coconut milk, make coconut milk (recipe here) and keep it refrigerated for a few hours. Remove the thick coconut milk that will separate on top.
- I made about 4 cups of coconut milk to get the 1 1/2 cups of coconut milk that I needed for this recipe. Remaining light coconut milk can be refrigerated and used in other recipes.
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