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Go bananas

It seems likely that edible bananas date back several thousand years in India. Banana recipes began showing up in popular American Cookbooks in the 1880s. It is apparent that trendy Americans cooks were eager to include this new fruit in their meals. Most of the banana concoctions were simple adaptations of existing recipes. The banana split was invented in 1904.

Banana nut bread eventually became a mainstream staple item by the 1920s. This coincided somewhat with the mass marketing of baking powder/soda, ingredients used to create "quick breads" (breads that did not require yeast). Food companies flooded the American consumer market with recipes. Eventually these companies manufactured boxed mixes (instant cake mix was introduced in the late 1940s) for banana nut bread. You can still buy these today.

Banana bread is said to have been invented by a Depression-era housewife in search of a way to make some extra money at home. Grocery stores often provide customers with banana bread recipes when bananas have begun to brown, in a last-ditch attempt to sell their produce. Faced with overripe bananas, many cooks turned them into banana muffins or banana pancakes. Homemade banana bread is considered a thoughtful hostess present, good for breakfast, with a cup of coffee or tea, with lunch or dinner.

Baffling waffles

How does one make crisp waffles?

N. Verghese

Hyderabad

Ingredients: Flour: 1 kg, baking powder: 40 gm, salt: 10 gm, sugar 300 gm, eggs:12, butter: 300 gm, milk: 1 ltr.

Method: Preheat a waffle iron. Sift the dry ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. Separate eggs, putting the whites in smaller bowl. Beat the whites until they are stiff. (If you are using an electric mixer, you can beat the whites first, then beat the batter without having to wash the beaters). Add the yolks, oil and milk all at one time to the dry ingredients. Beat until there are no lumps. Fold the whites into the other batter using a spatula. Put half a cup of batter in your waffle iron to make a round waffle.

Heavenly stuff

I would like to know how `Drums of Heaven' and Beetroot Soup are made.

S. Vasundhara

Hyderabad

For `Drums of heaven':

Ingredients: Chicken wings: 200 gm, salt to taste, Ajinomoto (optional), black pepper powder: 10 gm, ginger-garlic paste: 10 gm, maida: 50 gm, cornflour: 30 gm, egg: 1, red chilli paste: 10 gm, chopped onions: 10 gm, chopped chillies: 5 gm: malt vinegar: 10 ml, soya sauce: 5 ml.

Method: Prepare marinade by mixing the rest of the ingredients except the chicken wings thoroughly. Marinate the wings in this mixture for about an hour and deep fry in medium hot oil till the chicken is done and the outer layer is crisp and brown. Serve hot along with hot garlic sauce.

Beetroot soup:

Ingredients: Beetroot: 1 kg, carrots: 450 gm, shallots: 8, garlic, chopped roughly: 2 cloves, celery, chopped roughly: 1, bay leaf: 1, caraway seeds:10 gm, stock: 3 ltr.

Method: Peel and roughly chop the vegetables. Place in a large pan with the bay leaf and caraway seeds. Cover with the stock. Bring to a rapid boil. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for an hour until the vegetables are tender. Remove the bay leaf and liquidise the soup until smooth, adjust seasoning. Pass the soup through a medium sieve. Reheat but do not boil. Serve hot.

PRADEEP KHOSLA

Executive Chef,Taj Krishna

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