For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, Srivalli chose a special halwa from Kerala. Jayashree shared her mom's authentic recipe with us. Usually this halwa is made with nendrampazham but as I didn't get it, I used the variety easily available here. The halwa turned out soft and delicious but after 2-3 hours the sugar started crystalising. I think I need to add lemon juice to prevent sugar from crystalising. Even though it crossed my mind while preparing, I just ignored it as Jayasri didn't mention about it. So next time while preparing I will be adding 2 tsp of lime juice to the halwa mixture. PK liked it very much but told that the ghee is very less compared to halwas available in stores. Atleast I was able to reduce the amount of ghee without altering the taste. It is better to make this halwa in a non stick pan as the banana sticks to the bottom of the pan a lot. If using nendrampazham you need to steam cook the banana before pureeing it. If any other variety is used, you can directly puree it and use it for halwa.
Recipe Source: Jayashree's Mom
Ingredients:
Banana Puree-2 cups
Sugar-3 cups
Ghee-1 cup
Cardamom Powder-1 tsp
Broken Cashew Nuts-1/2 cup
Procedure:
1. Peel skin of 6 bananas and puree the fruit in a mixer.
2. In a non stick pan or a heavy bottomed pan add the puree along with sugar and cardamom powder.
3. Switch on stove and keep on stirring the mixture until sugar dissolves.
4. When it starts to boil add ghee in table spoons at regular interval.
5. Keep on stirring until the halwa leaves the sides and lets out ghee.
6. Add the cashew nuts and stir well. The halwa will get a glossy look and that is when you need to remove the halwa from flame.
7. Pour into a cake tin and allow it to set.
8. You can either serve it in a bowl or slice it into cubes and serve as slices.
This is the banana I used for the halwa. This is called as nattu pazham in Tamil Nadu.
Grind it to a fine puree.
Add sugar and cardamom powder.
Keep on stirring while the sugar melts.
Add ghee and stir continuously.
Add cashew nuts.
Pour into a cake tin .
Serve in cups or slice it and serve.
Labels: BANANA, GHEE, ICC, KERALA SPECIAL, SWEETS
