Banana Halwas: Coconut Banana Halwa

Coconut Banana Halwa

A bunch of baby bananas going into the over-ripe stage prompted this recipe! Banana's were not childhood favourites, neither was the preserve/jam/ varatti but the honey sweet baby varieties, which could be eaten in two bites,  with creamy yellow skin  intact, never failed to tempt.

This is an easy recipe, tweaked even more easily with different flavours.  This time it was coconut! This uses only 5 ingredients: bananas, coconut milk, sugar, cardamom and clarified butter. this goes to Ayeesha's  Anyone Can Cook event.

Ingredients

3 Cups Honey sweet small bananas, finely chopped

3 tsps clarified butter/ghee

2 pods of cardamom, powdered

3 tbps of thick coconut milk

or

2 tbsps of very fine coconut powder [ dried coconut powder, not the dessicated one]

2 tbsps of sugar

Optional: 4-5 slivers of almonds for garnish/ fresh fried coconut slivers

Method

Heat a heavy bottom pan,

Add the ghee

Add chopped bananas

Let it cook  on medium high for 4 minutes,

Stir, mash and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes

Add sugar and continue cooking on medium high heat.

Add the cardamom powder and mix well

Do not leave the halwa at this stage, since it will burn.

Keep an eye on the heat and reduce a little from medium high.

Add the coconut milk/ powder and mix well

Contiue cooking in the same method for another 10-12 minutes

or

Cook until the Halwa achieves the desired  caramelized color.

If you continue cooking without adding more ghee/ coconut milk/ cream, the halwa will tend to harden and take a more 'toffee-like' texture.