Banana Halwa

Being a Keralite,Halwa or 'haluva' as it is generally pronounced,was a regular sweet we had.It was available everywhere and each had the same taste,in fact I am yet to try a Kerala Halwa which tastes different.Kozhikode Halwa the most popular among all,can be crowned as the King of Halwas,because it is a step above the rest.My favorite is the Karutha haluva,Black Halwa which simply melts in the mouth and makes you crave for more.There is even a whole street for Halwa,named Mittayi theruvu[sweet street] in Kozhikode which has shops exclusively for halwas,how cool!

There are a few things which I feel are not worth trying at home,simply because the hard work involved is just not worth it when you easily get those items ready made.I would definitely add Halwa to that list.

But we can try out simple halwas which do not require as much hard work and are easily made with just a few ingredients.I made this Banana Halwa when my batch of Nendrapazham had ripened and developed black skin.The recipe is unbelievably easy with just 4 ingredients and gets done in less than an hour.

Banana Halwa

Recipe source – Lakshmi Nair

Ingredients

Banana – 8 ripened,chopped [Nendrapazham]

Sugar – 1 ½ cups

Water – ½ cup

Ghee – 1 cup

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Method

In a thick bottomed Uruli or a non-stick kadai add the sugar and water and heat until the sugar completely melts[you don’t need a sugar syrup,just heat it until no granules are seen].

Add the chopped bananas into it and give a good stir.

Simmer the heat to the lowest and stir once in a while adding 1-2 tbsps of ghee as it starts browning.

Once the halwa becomes golden brown and starts leaving the sides of the pan[approximately after 40 minutes] add the cardamom powder.

If you are using a uruli,at this stage the ghee would start separating from the halwa.

Pour the halwa into a greased stainless steel plate and level it with the back of a spoon or spatula.

Let it cool completely and then cut into shapes of your choice.

Notes –

• I halved the recipe and got around 14 pieces.
• I used a non-stick kadai and used less than the amount of ghee mentioned,hence the ghee did not separate from the halwa.
• I cooked the halwa on the lowest flame in my 3 burner gas stove along with my regular cooking chores,so I didn't find it daunting to stir it every now and then.

Sending this to Kerala Kitchen an event hosted by Magpie and Ria.