One of the most popular and favorite tropical fruits in our country is a banana. This product has not only a sweet and pleasant taste, but also brings great benefits. It is believed that such a fruit can be eaten only separately. However, in some original recipes, the banana is very often fried in the dough, add it to sweet cakes, charlotte and other dishes. In addition, fruit salads, by adding this product to them, always acquire a special taste.
Varieties of such tropical fruits can have different skin colors - from green and yellow to dark red. And in order to preserve the taste and benefits of this aromatic product for longer, bananas very often undergo a drying process.
Dried banana, unlike its fresh counterpart, has a richer flavor. And this is not surprising. During the drying process, almost all of its moisture leaves this fruit, while only elastic flesh is saturated with microelements and vitamins. For the same reason, dried banana has a more pronounced aroma.
It is worth noting that for this process, manufacturers select only ripe fruits without any damage, spots, etc. Then the fruits are peeled and cut across or along into small pieces. Some entrepreneurs also dry whole fruits, but in this case, the cooking process becomes much longer.
Dried Bananas: Recipe
After the fruits are processed and chopped into small pieces, they are laid out on a wire rack in one layer, and then sent to the oven. In this case, be sure to ensure that the fruits do not come into contact with each other.
If you decide not to purchase dried banana in the store, but to make it yourself, then cut the fruit into pieces should be placed in the oven, which is recommended to be preheated to 80 degrees. By the way, it is advisable to slightly open the cabinet door for air access. In this condition, the fruit must be aged for several hours.
In the event that you decide to make a dried banana in its entirety, you need to take a large ripe fruit without damage and stains, peel it and also put it on the oven grate, which should only be heated to 50 degrees. Such drying should last from 3 to 5 hours (depending on the amount of moisture in the fruit).
During the drying process, the processed banana loses about twenty percent of its moisture and decreases quite a lot in volume. At the same time, the fruits retain all their beneficial elements and vitamins, but they greatly increase calories. Dried bananas have an energy value of up to 230 kcal, while their fresh counterparts contain only 95 kcal.
After the fruit is completely dried, it must be laid out on the dishes and cool in the air. Next, slices of bananas or the whole fruit must be decomposed into plastic bags in small portions. In this state, the finished dried product can be stored in a refrigerator for up to one year.