Yeah, two glorious words I heard yesterday evening for the very first time. Where did I hear it? On TV. Which show, My Kitchen Rules. The contestants were given a task to make Breakfast. Each team was given classic breakfast ingredients, ranging from tomatoes, to bacon, to eggs and fruit. So, this team of two girls, who ended up with the fruit option, decided to make Pancakes. Good enough, because Lord knows the first thing that came to my mind when i saw fruit was, Pancakes. Anyways, they wanted to incorporate fruit as much as they could into their dish, so they decided to make Banana butter. I remember leaning forward when I heard those words. OMG!!!!! AWESOME!!! They made banana butter with dates. Ugh!!!! I can’t stand dates, but my head had started buzzing at that point. I had to rush out of the house to take Ikokore to a friend, but I knew I was going to try it next day. Heck, days off are for experimenting, and lounging about the flat.
Nigerian Banana Butter – in all its flavours
The first thing was a quick google search to see what was already available. Not that many recipes, but I got the basic idea and ran with it. First trial, i used a chopper bowl, looooool, it created a gloopy mess, the butter refused to bind with the banana. You could see the separation, then i remembered that the girls on My Kitchen Rules used a hand mixer. Stat, I brought it out from the cupboard and it was perrrrrrrrfect. Seriously, you want to try it out this weekend. You can anything you like to flavour the banana butter. From peanut butter, to ground kuli kuli, to dry pepper, to uziza, go to town. Serve with hot boiled yam, toast, even boiled plantain. It will blow your mind. Plain good ol’ butter, is not just butter anymore.
I made 4 types.
- Plain banana butter, which i jazzed up with dry pepper
- The vegan version, banana and peanut butter – MY FAVOURITE. It will remind you of eating boli and ekpa (roasted plantain and groundnut)
- Banana butter flavoured with ground kuli kuli – yummmmms
- banana butter with chopped uziza leaves – for the herby version. The aroma is insane.
Let’s Cook
- Bananas
- 25 - 50g Butter
- Peanut butter - vegan option
- Lemon juice - 1tsp or 1tbsp
- extra flavour options - dry pepper, uziza, kuli kuli, peanut butter
- Depending on the quantity you want to make, i suggest you start with one banana. with lemon juice. use 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon depending on how zingy you want it. Mash it up with a spoon and add softened butter
. For the vegan, healthier option, mash the banana and add peanut butter - Stir with a spoon as much as you can, but i must warn that the stirring action of a spoon is not strong enough to combine into a smooth spread
- Get our your whisk or hand mixer and combine. You are likely to get a smoother spread, but some separation. this just means that the banana mash is of a higher ratio than the butter
- Add a teeny bit more extra butter, and continue whisking with the hand mixer. In about a minute or less, the spread becomes smooth
- For extra banana flavour and to increase the volume, now the spread is smooth, add another banana. Whisk until smooth. You would looooooove this, I promise.
- Add your flavour options. I portioned and added peanut butter to the banana butter. This was my favourite by miles
- To another portion, I also added ground kuli kuli (using a mill), to the banana butter
- For extra spice and heat, to another portion, I added dry pepper
- For the final portion, I added chopped uziza leaves - second favourite
. For the vegan, healthier option, mash the banana and add peanut butter
. Whisk until smooth. You would looooooove this, I promise.
. This was my favourite by miles
Dooneyrooney! Your creativity overwhelms me , you are one in a million . You are destined to go far, you have indeed changed the face of Nigerian cuisine . God bless you , keep up the good work and you still owe me that meet-up you promised when you come to nigeria .
http://www.gofundme.com/pj7qhc… Pls share, She’s a fellow foodie. God bless.
I can’t wait to try this. Thanks for sharing.
Hello Dooney,
I am not new to your blog but this is my first comment. You are inspiration to people like me. I now enjoy cooking so much from reading your blog. It gives me ideas on how to wow my hubby. He loves it , trust me , sometimes he ask what is Dooney serving us today? hahhha of course I roll my eyes out of jealousy, you must know he is a clown though. Quick question, I am in the process of updating my cookware, In my research I learnt that one should have different cookware, like stainless steel, non stick, aluminium and the rest… whats your opinion on the best cookware to cook different African foods. Thanks again. You is da bomb 🙂
Hi, thank you for taking the time to comment. I use a combination of both, but i have found that i prefer the aluminium pots any day