Banana wine!

If you are blessed with 32 sweet teeth - like me - you may not care much for drinks that are not sweet enough, except perhaps sugar-free coffee.

So when SA, our neighbour in Annanad, (Trissur district, Kerala) offered some wine during one of the neighbourhood rounds (that are such a pleasant and customary part of hometown visits), i gave a tentative nod. i even managed to sip it, and savour it as slowly as i could, resisting the urge to assume an air of being a connoisseur. Ha ha

SA then generously shared the recipe in detail, complete with cautions and warnings. Here's the recipe, courtesy SA and her sources.

Ingredients:
Ripe (or overripe) Palayankodan bananas
Jaggery, powdered (the unsalted variety)
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Cloves
Air tight jar
Recommended sitting time: 41 days.

Wash or wipe clean the bananas.
Chop / slice the bananas, along with the peels.
Crush the spice mix.

In a dry jar, place a layer of jaggery, followed by a layer of chopped banana pieces. Repeat the layering, as much as the quantity of banana requires (but do not exceed 3/4ths of the jar's volume).
Sprinkle just a little of the crushed spice mix. Close the jar tight.
After 10 days, open the jar, and stir the contents gently, taking care to use a dry ladle. Taste a sample and add some more jaggery if needed.
Cover the jar again. At the end of 41 days, pour out the liquid from the jar in to a suitable bottle, and let sediments settle.
Next, use a clean washed muslin to squeeze out additional liquid from the rest of the contents. The left out solid residue can be used with additional jaggery to continue fermentation in the jar.
Filter the liquid for storage, and viola! Homemade banana wine is ready for the friendly neighbourhood to enjoy!

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