Yet another popular Indian sweet…

This was one of the sweets that I used to make way before I was hit by the passion for cooking. Of course, the simplicity of making this sweet and the very few ingredients the recipe called for attracted me. Only thing that is stopping me from making this these days is the fact that it has wheat and my husband cannot have it. So, I make with wheat free ingredients like ground almond and squash.

Yesterday, I made this to share the recipe with one of my dear readers. I had all the ingredients to make it and it only called for a very less preparation time. This sweet is famous through out India, it is known as Sooji (semolina) halwa in North India and as Rava(semolina) Kesari in South India.

I tried to make this as healthy as possible by cutting down the amount of ghee, sugar and by adding skim milk. You could be generous when it comes to adding ghee and you could even add whole milk. It’s solely your choice, either way it’s going to taste terrific. A sweet that can be made in less than 15 minutes and which tastes absolutely delicious.

Semolina Halwa

Ingredients:

  • Ghee or butter- 3 tbsp + 1 tsp
  • Semolina or Sooji or Rava, un roasted- 1 cup
  • Raisins- 1/4 cup
  • Cashew nuts- 2 tbsp
  • Sugar- 3/4 cup ( if you want to to be very sweet add 1 cup sugar)
  • Saffron, strands- 2 pinches
  • Milk, skim or whole- 1 1/2 cups
  • Color (yellow, orange or pink)- 3 drops (optional)

Preparation:

  1. In a bowl, combine milk, saffron and color together.
  2. Heat a large non-stick pan, add 2 tbsp ghee.
  3. Add raisins and cashew nuts fry it till it turns light golden in color.
  4. Add semolina to it and roast it in medium low heat till it turns light golden in color.
  5. Make sure not to brown the semolina.
  6. Add the sugar to it and combine well.
  7. Now, add the milk stirring constantly.
  8. Stir till the milk dries off and the mixture starts to stick together.
  9. Taste and add more sugar if needed.
  10. Add 1 tbsp more ghee and combine well.
  11. Make sure the mixture has absorbed all the milk.
  12. Grease a small pan with 1 tsp ghee, pour the halwa into it.
  13. Using a spatula even out the top of the halwa.
  14. Let it cool down for 15 minutes, you could even chill it.
  15. While serving, using a sharp knife cut into desired shapes and serve.

Tips:

  • I only added 3/4 cup sugar as I don’t like it to be too sweet. If you like this to be really sweet you could add total 1 cup sugar.
  • Add sugar before adding milk, this prevents the formation of lumps.
  • Add your favorite nuts roasted in ghee.
  • If you want you could add more ghee, more ghee=more taste.
  • Usually this has yellow or orange color, I only had pink color so went with pink.