Escape from traditional flavours with an exquisite chai pudding. Roasted bananas mixed with almond milk form the base of this healthy vegan treat. All natural and without added sugar.

My quest for healthy puddings continues. I’d previously come up with the soy banana pudding and a cashew-chocolate variant — recipe coming! I wanted to break away from the classic flavours and try something new.

Staring at my spice rack, I spotted the allspice and thought it could work. That blends well with cardamom, perhaps some clove. Add in the cinnamon… hey wait, this is sounding like an ingredient list for chai tea. I would have put ginger in, but getting fresh ginger into the pudding without bits can be challenging.

Being able to throw everything into a pot and blend it keeps the recipe simple. If your bananas are already ripe or you need a quicker recipe, you could even skip the roasting phase. The markets near me have been hiding their brown bananas lately, thus I needed a solution. Roasting brings out the bananas’ sweetness and caramelizes them a bit.

Though the bananas make it somewhat thick already, it’s the locust bean gum that’ll hold it together. It’s essentially the magic pudding ingredient. Throw it any milky liquid, apply heat, and cool for pudding.

Savour the almond chai pudding!

Pictured: Topped with chopped almonds, whipped cream, and raspberries.

Roasted Banana Almond Chai Pudding

Ingredients

  1. 6 whole
    Banana
  2. 1000 g 1 liter
    UnsweetenedAlmond Drink
  3. ¹⁄₂ teaspoon
    Allspiceground
  4. 3 pod
    Cardamomground
  5. 6 whole
    Cloveground
  6. ¹⁄₂ teaspoon
    groundCinnamon
  7. 4 teaspoon
    Locust Bean Gum

Equipment

  • oven
  • stove
  • medium pot
  • baking tray
  • baking paper
  • immersion blender

Directions

Roast

  1. Slice the bananas in half and place them on a baking sheet lined baking tray.
  2. Place the tray in the top rack of the oven and roast at 250°C for 10 minutes. The bananas will grow a bubbly, slightly browned layer.

Mix

  1. Put all ingredients, including the bananas, into a pot.
  2. Blend the mixture until it is smooth.
  3. Warm the mixture until it starts to thicken. This happens at about 80°C — when a bit of steam starts to rise from the thickened mixture. Don’t worry about overheating, but avoid boiling it.
  4. Remove the pot from the heat and immediately pour the pudding into individual serving cups.
  5. Place in fridge to cool for a few hours. It can also be enjoyed warm, if you can’t wait.