Sharjah Shake or Banana milkshake

I can still remember the first time I had Sharjah shake. We were in college... And it was a Saturday.(Yes, I remember that as well :) My best friend S and me were returning from  some class. The class had got over at 1pm... and we were walking to the bus stop. It was a hot and humid day... We were pretty tired and hungry... While we were walking, S asked me whether we can have some shake or juice as it was very hot... 

Friends... This is going to be a long story... If you are in a hurry, you can just skip ahead and read the recipe down at the bottom... Otherwise continue reading :)  

Now before going forward, I must say provide some info for the story...  My family hardly ate outside at any restaurants... nor did my parents encourage eating at outside stalls... So that meant that, I wasnt aware of any food items other than the ones made at home or brought home.... (That also meant I knew only few Kerala items).  This habit of not eating outside proved to be an embarassing problem when I used to go out with my cousins... Every one will be ordering different varieties of Nan, Kulcha or  Paneer Butter masala, gobi Manchurian or something of their favorites... and then they will ask me what would you like to eat... And I will be wondering.... Never heard of Nan , whats a Kulcha... is Paneer veg or non veg? And then I will ask them to order for myself as well. I must say this, even now this habit continues, when ever we go out for lunch or dinner, I mostly let other people order... unless its with my husband or very close friends.... 

Sorry for deviating and reminiscing... Just providing a bit of background information before continuing the sharjah story... 

When my best friend S asked me whether we can have some juice, I readily agreed and we went to an ice cream and juice shop which was on the way to the bus stop. After reaching the shop, S said we will have Sharjah shake as its very good.. I told her that I have never heard of sharjah shake before. She said it was an awesome shake, Just try it out. So both of us ordered the shake. Now Sharjah shake to people who havent heard of it, it is made from Bananas.. and I hate Bananas... But you know, you trust your friends so much that you dont care whether you like banana or not, If they say its awesome that means its awesome ... And I watched the shop keeper take some crushed milk, bananas and mix something and all, make the shake and then he gave it to us in a very big Glass... 

I tasted it tentatively... It was the best!!! It was thick, rich, heavy, creamy... And everthing you just cant help liking it... By the time, we finished the glass, we were so full... Dragged ourselves to the bus stop, took a bus, went home and then my mom had prepared lunch and kept for me... Plus she had got porottas for me from outside... I was in dilemma..cant let mom know that I drank juice from outside stall... I will end up getting a big scolding which I wasnt in the mood to ask for, with a heavy stomach :) Somehow I managed to eat my lunch... and convinced mom that will eat porottas for evening snack.. Whew... Heavy work... But... but still the taste of Sharjah had not left me.. It was still lingering in my mouth and I couldnt just forget it ever... 

Now having sharjah shake, became a habit with me and S. When ever we used to go out or returning from college or some other class early.. we started stopping by to have sharjah shake... How ever I must say, none of the sharjah shakes that I had, matched the taste of very first one.... Tried in Tamil Nadu, Tried in other shops in Kerala.. Tried in the same shop where I had my first shake.. Some were very thin not thick as the first one.. some were not rich or creamy... some were just banana shakes... And none of them match the taste of the first one I had....

Years later, I started to cook and now started a cooking blog as well... I still dont eat Bananas by the way.. But consume them in the form of juice or shakes.. 

My hubby got some bananas to have and one was left in the fridge top for many days and I didnt want to let it rot.. So was trying to think of something easy to prepare and thought of Sharjah shake... 

I took 1 mug full of milk, put it in the freezer for 2hrs. I also put the Banana in the fridge for the same time. Then blended banana, frozen milk, horlicks, cashews, almonds and honey and voila a delicious Sharjah shake is ready... And I must say that I felt like the one I prepared just now, matched the taste of the very first one I had :) I dont know why... may be because it turned out to be thick and creamy and all .. not sure.. But anyway it tasted delicious and I loved it and I guess you will too :)

Sharjah Shake 

Prep TIme: 2hrs

Cook Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

1 Banana (Ideally Nenthrapazham or Plaintain which gives the best taste)

1 cup Frozen Milk

2 to 3 Cashews

2 to 3 Almonds

Sugar or Honey

1 Teaspoon Horlicks Elaichi 

Prepping:

Step 1: Take 1 cup milk and put it in the freezer for 2hrs. Put Banana also in the freezer for 2hrs. 

Note: The prepping time will vary depending on the freezer temperature I guess. When I took the milk out from the freezer, it was frozen in most parts and I had to srape it out with little amount of milk oozing out. Ideally, the milk should be frozen completely. Also note that it will be difficult to peel and cut Banana if stored in the freezer for a long time. Keep it for max 2hrs. 

Step 2: Cut Banana into round slices. Cut cashews and almonds to small pieces.  

Method of Preparing:

Add Frozen milk, bananas, cashews, almonds, horlicks and honey or sugar as per your taste to blender or mixie and blend well. Once everything is blended well and the shake is thick enough, pour into glass and serve. 

Note: Dont Blend it too thin. If you have hard time blending, may be you can add 1 or 2 teaspoon of milk. 

You can add Boost, Bournvita or Complan instead of Horlicks as well.
  

Sending the recipe to the event "Dish name starts with S" at Akilaskitchen.