For indulgence without opulence: Banana rum swiss rolls

9 pm. Dinner done. Chores done. Baby asleep. Time for some TV. Do you know what comes next? Well, more often than not it is rummaging through the fridge, promising to eat only a small bite of chocolate and eating the whole bar instead, one scoop of ice-cream that turns into 3 etc. Sounds familiar? Well, its because it happens to EVERYONE. Sometimes, its easy to distract yourself and keep away but sometimes you just end up giving in.

There are numerous ways to distract yourself. You can read about some of the more uncommon ones that actually do work here. But, when you ‘give in’ what you have to be careful about is choosing something that does the job without undoing all the effort you’ve put in that day. And this recipe does just that!

I first tasted a bottled version of this jam at a cousin’s place. The husband-wife pair are super cooks and love experimenting with new dishes and new recipes. They had picked up a bottle of this jam at a specialty store.

Obviously, I could have just picked up a bottle of the jam too, but, for those of you who’ve been following my blog, you know that my true enjoyment lies in finding a way to get that same taste in the dish by swapping out the ingredients for more healthy ones. In this case, it was the ‘added sugar’ I wanted to eliminate!

Sugar is a great preservative, which is why it is added to many many packaged foods. However, when you make those foods at home, you really don’t need to add that much sugar (and sometimes you don’t need to add sugar at all!) to get the right taste. While I did try to make the jam without sugar, it wasn’t sticky enough and didn’t come together as well. So I compromised and used less sugar instead.

You can eat this jam with crepes, ice-cream and even a spoonful as is. Or, you could make swiss rolls, like I did (see the picture above). Start by cutting out the corners (as little as possible) of a slice of whole grain bread. Flatten it out with a rolling pin evenly, spread a thin layer of the jam on the bread slice and roll it tightly. You can serve it as is or bake it to brown it a little. For kids or as part of a dessert platter, cut it up into little rounds and serve.

Here’s the recipe for the jam:

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

6-7 over-ripe bananas

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

a pinch of salt

dark rum (amount varies depending on your preference, maximum 1 cup)

Boil the sugar and water in a thick bottomed pan over low flame, stirring all the while until all the sugar dissolves.

Mash the bananas in another bowl and add the lime juice, vanilla and salt. Mix well and add it to the syrup in the pan. Simmer on low flame for about 20 minutes.

At then end of 20 minutes, add the rum. Start with 1/4 cup of rum, mix well and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Taste the jam and add more rum in 1/4 cup increments if you would like a stronger rum taste. Cool, transfer to a clean, dry jar and refrigerate.