Dishoom's Banana & Date Porridge Recipe

24 February 2022

For chilly mornings, this Banana & Date Porridge is guaranteed to warm you up. Slow-energy releasing oats and natural fruity sweetness come together to form a hearty breakfast that will keep you thoroughly sated until lunchtime. You can easily whip up a batch in the comfort of your home or come down to one of our cafés to enjoy bottomless portions.

It can easily be made into a delicious plant-based winter warmer by swapping out the milk for a dairy-free alternative. To ensure that it does not become too sweet, count your dates carefully: three if your soya milk is unsweetened; two if it is already sweetened.

SERVES 1 GENEROUSLY

Ingredients

2–3 Medjool dates, according to preferred sweetness

1 ripe banana

170ml whole milk or your plant-based milk of choice

30g steel-cut oats

Method

  1. Remove the stones from the dates. Peel the banana, slice off the third and set aside with one date half; these will be used to finish the porridge.
  2. Chop the remaining dates and banana very finely. Place in a small pan and pour on 185ml boiling water. Cook over a low heat until you have a thick, mushy, reasonably smooth paste, stirring regularly and using the back of the spoon to crush any lumps; this should take around 10 minutes. You can also use a stick blender to deal with any stubborn lumps.
  3. While the banana-date mixture is cooking, pour the milk into a bowl, tip in the oats and leave to soak for a few minutes.
  4. When the banana-date mixture is ready, add the milk and oats to the pan, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 12–15 minutes, stirring regularly, until the oats are completely tender.
  5. Slice the remaining third of the banana and finely shred the reserved banana date half. Serve the porridge in a warmed bowl, topped with the banana slices and dates.

For other Dishoom recipes, please see Dishoom: from Bombay with love, our cookery book and highly subjective guide to Bombay.

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