sorry for the silence here last week. i had every intention of posting this ice cream recipe, and i naively thought that i would have time to write something up to share with you all. clearly that didn't happen. i won't bore you with any details, but perhaps a little speed-date version of what's been happening over here since so much seemingly happened all at once.

frank got a new job in los angeles just over a month ago. he didn't start until the beginning of this month, but was back and forth a bit for training, etc. and i was back home in brooklyn, alone with amesy for the first time ever, while also packing up some of our last few items! looking back on it, the idea of being partner-less and solo parenting was much more scary than it actually was. it definitely wasn't the easiest, but i felt like amesy and i were a little team getting through the good and rough times together. then frank came back from LA a few days later and amesy and i left (that same day) to go upstate with my parents while frank and quint drove our stuff across the country! finally, amesy, my mom and me flew out the following last week to meet frank at our new apartment :) and we're here. together. and all breathing a bit easier.

this recipe is a quick, dairy-free, banana-based ice cream that's from chitra agrawal's new book, Vibrant India. i love a banana-based ice cream for so many reasons, but mostly because it's easy-breezy. there's some pleasure that comes to mind when i think that a frozen banana can be made into an ice cream-like treat. here, chitra flavors the ice cream with cardamom and cocnonut. two ingredients i might not have thought to pair together, but now i feel belong together. my tastebuds usually go the route of chocolate chip cookie dough, or peanut butter something, so the refined flavors of this ice cream were a welcomed change!

hoping spring has sprung where you are! xo

banana, coconut, and cardamom ice cream | v & gf

reprinted with permission from Vibrant India, by Chitra Agrawal

i doubled this recipe making for 4 servings, but kept the amount of cardamom at 1/4 teaspoon which was plenty for my tastebuds. you can freeze the leftover ice cream in ice cube trays and then blend it up in a Vitamix or blender for a "soft-serve" consistency. a quick note,i replaced the jaggery with coconut sugar and chopped up some vegan chocolate for the "chocolate chips".

| serves 2 |

2 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons dried unsweetened shredded coconut, plus more for garnish
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom powder
1 tablespoon bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
granulated jaggery or brown sugar, for garnish
sliced almonds, for garnish

method

peel the bananas and cut them into 1/2-inch disks. place in a glass bowl or freezer bag. freeze the bananas for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
using a food processor, pulse the frozen banana pieces. they will first get crumbly, then gooey, then look like oatmeal pieces, and then start to bunch on one side of the bowl. scrape down the sides and keep pulsing through these stages. eventually, the banana will become smooth and creamy resembling soft-serve ice cream. pulse the processor until the mixture aerates and becomes somewhat fluffy, then mix in the coconut, cardamom powder, and chocolate chips.
you can the ice cream immediately; it will be like soft-serve ice cream, or transfer it to an airtight container and freeze until solid, like traditional ice cream.
serve with a healthy sprinkling of jaggery, sliced almonds, and more grated coconut on top.