Sonhos de Banana
Overview
Sonhos de banana means banana dreams in Portuguese, and they are small fried fritters from São Tomé and Príncipe, the island nation off the coast of Central Africa. Mashed banana is worked into a batter with flour, egg, milk and sugar, dropped into hot oil and dusted with cinnamon sugar while still warm. The Portuguese connection runs through everything about them. São Tomé and Príncipe was a Portuguese colony from the late fifteenth century until 1975, and sonhos are a Portuguese sweet in their own right, a fried dough eaten particularly at Christmas. What the islands did was put banana into them, which is what the archipelago grows, and the result is closer to a beignet than to a doughnut. The same sweet, under the same name, is eaten in Brazil, which shares the Portuguese colonial inheritance from the other side of the Atlantic. That triangle of Portugal, São Tomé and Brazil is visible in a great deal of the islands' food, and sonhos de banana is one of the clearest examples. They are eaten as a dessert or simply as something sweet in the afternoon, and they are at their best within minutes of leaving the pan.
AFN Heritage Note
Sonhos de banana are attributed to São Tomé and Príncipe, a Portuguese colony until 1975, and take their form from the Portuguese fried sweet sonhos with banana added. The same preparation under the same name is eaten in Brazil.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Mash the bananas with a fork and mix them with the sugar and flour.
- 2
Whisk the milk and egg together, then stir them into the banana mixture to form a batter. Set aside.
- 3
Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a separate bowl to taste, and set aside.
- 4
Heat oil in a deep fryer or saucepan to 175°C. If using a saucepan, drop it to low heat once it reaches temperature.
- 5
Drop the batter into the hot oil about 1 1/2 tablespoons at a time and fry for about four and a half minutes, turning halfway, until golden brown.
- 6
Drain on paper towels and serve dusted with the cinnamon sugar.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Nympha Nzeribe- Use very ripe bananas, heavily spotted or nearly black. Underripe fruit gives a bland, starchy fritter and the sugar cannot make up for it.
- Keep the oil at 175°C. Hotter and the outside colours before the centre cooks; cooler and the batter drinks oil.
- Drop the batter in small quantities and do not crowd the pan. These need room to turn.
- Dust with the cinnamon sugar while they are still hot, so it sticks.
- Eat them within a few minutes. They soften quickly and are markedly better straight from the pan.
Reviews
3 reviews
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I was missing home so I made these yesterday night in my small Toronto kitchen. Finding proper sweet bananas here can be hard abeg, so I just used overripe ones from No Frills that were almost black. The batter was a bit runny when I mixed the egg and milk so I added one extra spoonful of flour to keep the shape in the hot oil. E sweet sha, especially with the cinnamon dust.
Make sure you drop the heat to low after heating the oil o. The first batch burnt on the outside before the inside cooked because I rushed it. But once I adjusted the flame and let them stay for like 4 minutes turning halfway, the banana texture inside came out so soft and fluffy. My children finished everything before I even finished dusting the cinnamon sugar.
chale if your bananas are very ripe you dont even need the 2 tablespoons of sugar inside the batter oo. Just mash them well and make sure the oil is hot enough before dropping the batter so it doesn't soak oil. rolling them in the cinnamon sugar immediately after taking them out of the fryer is pure magic paa.