Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 chai tea-bag
• 3/4 cup honey
• 5 peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 whole cloves
• Cooking spray
• 4 ripe, firm bananas

Instructions

1. For the syrup: In a small saucepan, boil 1/2 cup water. Turn off heat, add tea-bag and brew tea, leaving bag in the water until cool and tea is very dark. Remove tea-bag, squeezing out excess tea. Add honey and all of the spices. Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5 to 7 minutes, or until liquid has slightly reduced and you are left with 1 cup of liquid. Remove from heat and cool for half an hour. Using a fine-meshed sieve or tea brewer, strain out whole spices. Syrup should be thinner than honey, but still have body.
2. For the bananas: Preheat grill or grill pan sprayed with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Slice bananas in half lengthwise. Grill fruit until slightly softened and light grill marks form, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Place 2 banana halves on a dessert plate and drizzle with 2 tablespoons syrup.