Chucula - Plantain Pudding

After a bit of a grocery store fiasco that resulted in me buying plantains instead of bananas, I needed to look up some ideas for utilizing them. Since they were already rather ripe, my initial thoughts about plantain chips were swept away, since my research seemed to suggest that those are best with green plantains. A quick bit of further searching pointed me to this recipe for chucula, a Colombian pudding, from Saveur.

The recipe was pretty simple to follow, although I needed to make a couple of minor changes. The first was using ground cinnamon rather than cinnamon sticks, since I couldn't find any of the later on the spice rack (I could have sworn there were some). The second change was also fairly minor - after I went at the plantains with a potato masher, I still had a chunky result, so I took the easy way out. I simply added the chunky mash into the milk and then used an immersion blender to smooth it out. 

Even as it cooked, the cinnamon-clove aroma made the whole kitchen smell great. The end result did look odd though... Even the orange twist didn't do much to pretty it up. 

Presentation aside, I really enjoyed the pudding. For such a simple recipe, it packed a complex flavor with the cinnamon, clove, and vanilla blending well. It had a subtle sweetness, making it a flavorful snack, more so than a dessert, which is, in my opinion, a plus. 

My variation of the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 plantains
• 2 cups milk
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cloves
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 tbsp sugar

Recipe:

1. Peel the plantains and boil until soft
2. Drain the plantains
3. Mix milk, cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla, begin heating
4. Mash the plantains
5. Add the plantains and sugar to the milk mixture
6. Simmer until it thickens
7. Cool on countertop, before placing in fridge to finish setting
8. Eat and enjoy