Kirukeyo

Kiru keyo I heard when one of my cousin requested me to find it’s recipe. I asked my mum about it and she said my late aunt cooks the best Kiru keyo. She said Kiru keyo is a dessert little thicker then kandhi . It was mostly enjoyed while having dinner or with afternoon hedika (Maldivian shorteats). Even in Ramadan after tharaaveese (Dinner) people use to drink it. My mum said Kiru keyo was a dessert cooked in Male’ (Capital island of Maldives) because she never heard or tasted it from any other island. Kiru keyo taste is very similer to kandi just the difference is banana is cut in a different way and it’s thicker and creamier. Traditional way of thickening Kiru keyo or Kandhi is with rice paste. My mum is a person who cooks these kinds of desserts very often it's kind of comforting food for her, so she showed me an easy and delicious way to thicken these desserts using corn flour. I have never seen my mum or our older generation cook food with measurements, that's why when ever I ask my mum to cook a recipe with measurement she won't like it, She cooks food without measuring and the great thing about it is no matter what she cooks everything tastes yummilicious. I guess our older generation have a magic hand. So here I bring you my mum’s way of cooking Kiru Keyo.

Ingredients:

6 cups water

6 cardamom pods

2 inch 3 piece cinnamon

2 inch 4 piece pandan leaf

3 cups sugar

3 unripe Saba Bananas ( dhon nuvaa maalhas keyo) + enough water to boil bananas

1 cup corn flour

2 cups thin coconut milk

1/2cup jasmine water (maafen)

1 cup thick coconut milk

Method:

1_ Peel skin off bananas and boil until soft but not mushy, cut each banana vertically, cut each half vertically, now cut bananas diagonally keeping thickness of half centimeter. Keep aside.

2_ Mix corn flour and 2 cups of thin coconut milk well, set aside.

3_ In a big pan add water, cardamom, cinnamon and pandan leaf cook until fragrant, now add sugar and mix until all sugar is dissolved.

4_ when all sugar is dissolved in water add boiled bananas and boil for 7 minutes. This will allow sugar syrup to soak the bananas.

5_ Add corn flour mixture into the sugar & banana syrup stirring constantly, cook until “Kirukeyo” thicken enough, that’s when back of a spoon is touched on the surface of Kirukeyo, it will coat a thick layer, than it’s cooked.

6_  Now add thick coconut milk & jasmine water cook two more minutes. Take out from stove cool and serve with hedikaa(short eats) ..... enjoy!

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