Banana Halwa : a Sweet Dish Made From Over Ripe Bananas

What to do when you have bunches of over ripe bananas...? Make Halwa, a super delicious sweet dish which can be stored for more than a week. it is very simple to make, takes about 45 minutes and tastes like heaven.

Step 1: Bananas From Our Garden

We have recently harvested a cluster of Red banana from our garden. The last few bunches left with us have started ripening fast and could be spoiled if we kept it for a day or two longer. So, I have decided to make Halwa with some of the over ripe bananas.

This dish is made with about 750 grams of whole bananas, which gave about 600 grams after peeling the skin.

Step 2: Peel and Mash Bananas

• Peel the over ripe bananas and keep in a bowl
• Mash the bananas using a spoon to a fine pulp.

Step 3: Other Ingredients

• Sugar : Take about 1/4th quantity by weight of bananas. Here I have taken about 150 grams of sugar for 600 grams of peeled bananas.
• 25 grams of Raisin
• 25 grams of Cashew nuts
• 25 grams of Ghee (clarified butter. I got a 50 ml packet here. I will use half of it for making halwa)
• In addition you can also use small amount of powdered cardamom for the aroma.

Step 4: Roast Raisins

• Keep a frying pan over very low flame and add about 1/4th teaspoon of ghee
• Add the raisins to the hot ghee and roast till they enlarge in size.
• remove from pan and keep aside

Step 5: Roast Cashew Nuts

• Break the cashew nuts in to small pieces
• Add the pieces to the pan on the stove. No need to add more ghee as the left over in the pan is sufficient for this.
• Remove from pan when the nuts are roasted to a golden brown and keep aside.

Step 6: Saute the Mashed Bananas

• Keep the pan over a low flame and add about 10 grams of ghee
• Add the mashed bananas when the ghee melts.
• Continuously turn around the mashed bananas in the pan, otherwise it may stick to the pan and get burned.
• When you feel that the pulp is sticking to the pan, add another 10 grams of ghee and mix well

Step 7: Add Sugar

• When the banana pulp gets a little shiny, add 150 grams of sugar which was kept aside
• Mix everything well. Continuously stir and turn around the mix. Do not stop, otherwise the halwa will be spoiled. Please see the video showing halwa in preparation.

Step 8: Add Raisin and Nuts

• After the halwa is properly cooked, it will not stick to the pan. You will also notice that some ghee is oozing out from the halwa.
• At this point, add the cardamom powder and the roasted raisin & nuts.
• Mix everything together and remove from stove. If you over-cook, the halwa will become hard

Step 9: Let the Halwa Cool

• Grease a plate with few drops of ghee
• Transfer the cooked halwa to the plate and spread with a ladle
• Allow the Halwa to cool.

Step 10: Cut Halwa Into Pieces and Serve

• After the halwa cools to room temperature, cut into squares with a knife
• The consistency of the finished halwa after cooling should be like a thick paste and not hard.

Serve the Banana Halwa as desert. Everybody will love it...