Banana Halwa
- Soomaali
- Xalwo Muus
- Français
- Halwa à la Banane
- العربية
- حلوى الموز
By Leila & Abdullahi · ·
I remember a time in my childhood when I would not eat my lunch if a banana was not served with it. My mother told me the same thing, how she used to boycott lunch if there were no bananas available. I outgrew that, but I still prefer to eat bananas with my lunch. Others have not and I have a brother, who to this day, brings his banana along when tackling rice for lunch.
Bananas were one of the main exports of Somalia and during the harvesting season, they were in abundance in the southern parts of Somalia. The markets overflowed with bananas and there were piles upon piles everywhere. Prices were low and they were much lower at the end of the day when the stalls at the markets had to be emptied and vacated. There were also warehouses that sold only bananas and since none of them were air-conditioned or had refrigerators, the bananas quickly deteriorated in the tropical heat.
We remember one such warehouse in Brava, Somalia that had so many bananas in various stages of deterioration. The bananas never went to waste and the Bravanese used to buy the very cheap bananas and dry the peeled bananas in the sun. Sun-dried bananas, known in Brava as mazalfoorno, were a favourite of ours and we used to snack on them whenever we could lay our hands on some. They were a healthy and nutritious snack.
The Bravanese also used those very ripe bananas to make banana halwa. It is a delicious dessert that goes well with traditional unsweetened Somali coffee. The Bravanese know banana halwa as halwa ya mazu. The halwa was not shaped into balls but was made into a big chunk and everyone would rip a piece off of it.
A chunk of banana halwa is not visually appealing which is why we decided to shape them into balls and coat them. The coating adds another flavour dimension which makes this delicious dessert taste even better.
Watch
Ingredients
1 cup = 237 mL · 1 Tbsp = 15 mL · 1 tsp = 5 mL. All are level measurements.
Banana Halwa
Coating & Stuffing
Method
Tap a step to mark it done.
Steps for preparing the halwa Peel the bananas then place them in a non-stick pot and mash them.
Cook on medium heat for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes.
Add the sugar and melted butter.
Cook for 10 minutes and stir continuously.
Add the cardamom and cook for another 2 minutes.
Serve with a spoon, or shape into balls and if you wish, stuff with nuts. Roll them in ground nuts, sesame, shredded coconut or sweetened cocoa powder.
Comments
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Thank you for your effort in presenting the Bravanese Somali recipe to the world. I just wanted to comment on one information in this post.
You said:
“The halwa was not shaped into balls but was made into a big chunk and everyone would rip a piece off of it.”
This was not the case in our bravanese house, they were actually shaped into balls but not coated.
Thank you again,
Thank you very much for your comment. We wrote the information based on our personal experiences; we understand others might have different experiences. Thank you very much for sharing that information and we hope you will give us your input on other aspects of Bravanese culture.
as bahda xawaash waa mahadsan tihiin,
moos markuu biseelka ka bato waa tuuri jiray hada wax baan ka faaiday.. tuuris ma jirto
qeer ilaahay ha idin siiyo. maalmahan wax csub masoo gelisaan maxaa dhacay holidY MAA AADEEN?
wa bilaahi towfiiq
Adigaa mahadda mudan walaal. Waan ku faraxnay inaad ka faa’iidaysatay soo’daan. Mashruuc ayaan ku mashquulnay, hadduu Eebbe idmo waan soo gelin doonnaa. Mahadsanid.
Asw aad ayaan idin salaamay bahda xawash.com.
Sxb yaal waxa jira waxooga kala duwanaan yar oo xagga lahjadda afsoomaaliga ah. Matalan BUR=daqiiq
DOOLSHE=keeg
marka idinko mahadsn noo tix geliya kala duwanaanta yar ee erayda
Hadduu Eebbe idmo waxaan samayn doonnaa bog ku saabsan ereyada cunto kariska ee lahjadaha kala duwan ee af-Soomaaliga. Mahadsanid.
Assalamo alaykum. That looks so yum and easy to make ! But if I want to make it more healthy, can I use coconut oil instead of butter, and raw organic sugar instead of white sugar ?
Thank you. Ramadan kareem.
Celmah
Yes, you can use any type of oil and sugar you like.
Waa nooc cusub iyadana laga war doona waaye insha Allah
Waxaan rajaynaynaa inaad jeclaatid. Mahadsanid.