Coconut Nougat with Banana or Nouga Koko ek Bannann, is a soft coconut candy made with freshly grated mature coconut, flavoured with vanilla and nutmeg. It is delightfully sweet and nutty and a childhood favourite of mine.
- 250 g fresh finely grated coconut
- 250 g brown sugar
- 4 ripe sour banana - bannann mil ( or 2 ripe Cavendish Banana)
- 1 vanilla bean pod ( or 1 tsp vanilla essence)
- ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
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Slit the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds, keep
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Meanwhile peel and mash the bananas in a bowl. Keep
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Place the sugar into a large pot set over medium heat. Leave the sugar alone until you see it begin to melt.
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Using a heavy duty wooden spoon or heat-safe rubber spatula, scrape the sugar from the edge of the pan to the middle. You’re doing this for a couple of reasons — first, you want to keep the melted sugar from browning too fast and burning. Second, you’re moving the unmelted sugar to the hotter spots on the pan to begin melting.
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You may experience some clumping of unmelted and melted sugar. Don’t worry, keep cooking the sugar over low heat and those clumps will melt right out.
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Once the sugar begins to caramelize, add bananas and mix
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Add coconut and mix well. The sugar will solidify after adding the banana and coconut, but don’t worry, the sugar will re-melt.
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Keep cooking the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar re-melts. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
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Add the scraped vanilla seeds and grated nutmeg and stir well
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Remove from heat and transfer the nougat onto a plate. Smoothen the surface. Do not press on the nougat. This is a soft nougat and will not harden upon cooling.
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Allow to cool and serve.
The recipe requires finely grated mature coconut, not young coconut.
I use raw sugar for this recipe , you may choose to use refined sugar.
The vanilla pod can still be used even if the seeds have been scraped from it. Some cooks will cut it into very fine pieces and add it to the nougat.
You may decide to also turn your nougat into small balls. If this is your wish, use a tablespoon and scoop small amounts of the nougat onto a piece of waxed or parchment paper. Let the candy cool for a couple of minutes, then use your impeccably clean hands to roll the candy into balls. Wrap each ball of candy with plastic wrap. The nougat will keep for about 2 weeks at room temperature, but can also be frozen.