Eggless Banana and Cardamom Ice Cream

Photo: Sanjana Modha

Ingredients

600 ml double cream

200 ml whole milk

3 1/2 tablespoons cornflour

250 grams banana, peeled and sliced

1 vanilla pod, scraped of its seeds (keep the pod)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

150 grams caster sugar (plus more for caramelising)

1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

Yellow food colour (optional)

Preparation

Place the milk, cornflour and banana slices in a blender and pulse until pureed.

In a large saucepan heat on a very low flame the double cream, banana puree, sugar, vanilla extract and the vanilla seeds along with the whole pod. Gently whisk this from time to time.

Once the mixture begins to thicken, whisk it more often to ensure it doesn’t settle at the bottom. Simmer gently until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from the heat and add take out the whole vanilla pod (wash it and dry it and add it to a jar of sugar, et voila… Vanilla sugar!) Add the cardamom powder and food colouring if using and mix thoroughly.

Allow the mixture to cool and place it in a freezer-friendly container. Cover this with a lid and place in the freezer.

Every 30 minutes for the first two hours, remove the container from the freezer and whisk to break up any ice crystals that may have formed. After two hours leave the ice cream for around 3-4 hours for it to freeze completely.