Sweet Coconut Plantain has few ingredients and easy to make, try this simple dessert today!
Sweet coconut plantains is a simple and quick dessert to make with very few ingredients. This is actually a popular dish in the East Coast of Africa especially during Ramadan time. Especially around the coastal cities where you can get fresh coconut. It is made with yellow ripe plantains (not regular bananas), cooked in coconut milk and flavored with aromatic crushed cardamom. In the local language Swahili this dish is called Ndizi za naazi (plantains in coconut) or Ndizi Tamu (sweet plantains).
Growing up this was one of my favorites, the smell when this was cooking would take over the kitchen! Soft yummy plantains, covered in a sweet coconut sauce; its simply yummy. I did not realize how easy it is to make till I was much older. This is a nice simple recipe, with only 4 ingredients, cooks quickly in just 15 mins making it a perfect beginners dessert option.
Lets get started!
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
- 3 large ripe yellow plantains NOT BANANAS (the more black spots the more ripe it is)
- 3 cups of coconut milk
- 1 tsp elaichi powder (cardamom)
- 4 tbps sugar
- Optional: 2-3 drops of Vanilla or Banana extract
- Optional : nuts for garnish
- First lets prep the plantains – cut the ends off, cut in half and then half again lengthwise. So you Have 4 pieces. Peel them.
- In a wide non stick pan, lay the bananas in a single layer, do not stack them on top of each other. You can also layer the peels and then the plantains on top to ensure it does not stick, see pic below.
- Add coconut milk, sugar, half of the cardamom powder. Cover and cook on Medium heat for 10 mins. Do not stir.
- Add the extract and the rest of the cardamom powder and cook for 2-5 more mins till the sauce thickens. Poke a fork in the plantain to be sure its cooked and soft; if it easily mashes, its done. Depending on how ripe your plantains are, the cook time will vary.
- Serve hot or warm and enjoy.
Tips:
- This is the basic recipe, if you want to take it up a notch, you can add some saffron and garnish with chopped nuts to give it a nice crunch.
- You can also add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top
- This recipe is perfect for warm spices, you can add Cinnamon and nutmeg powder as well if you like.
- If you are not using a non stick pan, then first lay the plantain peels at the bottom of the pan and lay the plantains on top. At the end remove the peels before serving. The peels will protect the plantains from burning and sticking to the pan.
- For other simple dessert ideas, check out more recipes in the Sweets Section.