Tag Archives: Halwa

Recipes: Apple Halwa

Posted on by
Reply
Source

Happy New Year! Here’s wishing every one of you a year that’s filled with love, hope, happiness and positivity!

And to start the new year, here’s a sweet dish that I made some time ago. I had many apples at home, which would all start to go bad at the same time. So instead of requesting everyone to eat them, I decided to make apple halwa with some of them. It was delicious and is something I will make again when I am craving something sweet.

Apple Halwa

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium-sized red apples
  • 1.5 tbsp ghee
  • ¼ cup + 2 tbsp sugar, brown sugar, or jaggery
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp raisins
  • 10–12 almonds and cashew nuts

Method:

  • Peel and grate the apples and set them aside.
  • Finely chop the almonds and cashew nuts.
  • Heat the ghee in a pan over medium heat.
  • Add the chopped nuts and once they are brown, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and keep them in a kitchen towel until later.
  • Add the grated apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and most of the liquid has evaporated. This should take about 7 to 8 minutes.
  • Add the sugar or jaggery and mix well.
  • Once the sugar or jaggery has melted into the apple, add the cinnamon and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan, which should take about 5–7 minutes more.
  • If the apples are sour, you may need to add more sweetener to taste and adjust the sweetness if needed.
  • Add the raisins, almonds and cashew nuts, keeping some aside to garnish and mix well.
  • Serve warm, garnished with chopped nuts.

Notes:

  • Use any variety of red apples you like, but sweet and crisp apples will work best.
  • For a smoother texture, the apples can be blended after cooking before adding them back to the pan.
  • This halwa can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Recipes: Kada Prasad

Posted on by
Reply

Today’s recipe brings back lots of memories from my childhood. The aunty opposite my house used to make this as a prasad or offering every full moon day. Aunty would share some with us and I would eat the lion’s share. The last few days, I suddenly started craving this sweet. So I made some and thought I would share it with everyone since it was so yummy.

Kada Prasad is the offering served in the Sikh temple or Gurudwara. Seva, or service, lies at the heart of Sikhism. It is no surprise then that the act of serving kada prasad in gurudwaras also takes from this belief. Gurudwara translates to “the door to the guru”, and it is believed that a guru never sends back a devotee empty-handed or hungry. So, a sweet and divine blessing is offered in the form of kada prasad, which you accept by cupping your hands. Since the prasad is considered a sacred sweetmeat, it is rude to turn it down. Both the offering and receiving of this sweet signifies community service and hospitality—two virtues that are very close to the heart of Sikhs. The ones performing seva by serving food usually dole out equal quantities from a large bowl.

It’s a very simple recipe with ghee, wheat flour and sugar used in equal proportions and water double the amount of ghee, wheat flour or sugar. The resulting halwa becomes kada prasad after it is offered to the Lord, otherwise, it is plain wheat halwa. On to the recipe.

Kada Prasad or Atte ka Hakwa or Wheat Flour Halwa

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup wheat flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup ghee
  • 2 cups water

Method:

  • Heat the ghee in a pan and let the ghee melt.
  • Once the ghee has melted and is hot, add the wheat flour and stir constantly, making sure there are no lumps.
  • Cook until the wheat flour is golden and aromatic.
  • Now add in the sugar and mix well. Once the sugar has melted and the paste becomes slightly running, you can start adding the water.
  • Add water bit by bit and mix well.
  • Continue cooking, stirring constantly until everything comes together and the halwa starts to ooze the ghee.
  • Switch off the flame and let it cool a bit before serving warm.

Notes: After making it, here are my thoughts. The amount of sugar was just enough for us who prefer sweets to be less sweet than usual. But if you are someone who likes things to be sweeter, then you can increase the amount of sweet to probably 1.25 cups. When frying the wheat flour with the ghee, do not worry if you do not get the dark brown colour of the halwa. It was the same for me too, only after I added the water, did the sugar and atta caramelise and become darker. Also when adding water, add hot water and add one cup at a time. Let the first cup of water get absorbed into the flour and then add the second cup. I also found the amount of ghee to be slightly too much, so the next time I would make it, I would reduce it to about 0.75 cup.

Recipes: Potato Halwa

Posted on by
Reply
Source

Happy Navratri! Today is the first day of the nine days that are spent in prayer, contemplation, and celebrating women.

Last year during Navratri, I wanted to make a different sweet each day as an offering to the Goddess. One of the days, when I didn’t know what to make and had some boiled potatoes and sweet potatoes in the fridge, I made this recipe which I found online. Usually only made from potatoes, I added sweet potatoes to the mix and the result was a super delicious halwa, which nobody could believe was made from potatoes!

This recipe is slightly heavier during the summer months because of the carb and starch content in the potatoes and so is apt for winters. Also, because it is heavy, you can make it if you are fasting as potatoes are the quintessential fasting vegetable.

Potato Halwa

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium-sized potatoes, boiled, peeled, and mashed
  • 1 medium-sized sweet potato, boiled, peeled, and mashed
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1/3 to ½ cup sugar according to taste
  • ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
  • 4 tbsp ghee
  • A generous pinch of saffron
  • 2 tbsp chopped mixed nuts like cashews, almonds, and pistachios
  • 1 tsp raisins

Method:

  • Take the saffron in a small bowl and add 1 tbsp warm milk to it let the saffron dissolve. You may need to stir it a bit or even cook it in the microwave in 30-second increments.
  • In a small pan, with 1 tsp ghee, fry the mixed nuts and raisins and keep aside. You can also dry roast them as I did to make the recipe slightly healthy. Keep aside.
  • Heat ghee in a pan and when the ghee heats up, add the mashed potatoes.
  • Sauté on low heat for about 5-6 minutes until the potatoes start to change in colour and start becoming golden brown.
  • Add in the milk, sugar, cardamom powder and saffron and mix well to combine. The sugar will start to melt and the mixture becomes watery. Make sure you stir well that there are no lumps in this mixture.
  • Stir continuously until the halwa turns dry again and the ghee starts oozing out.
  • Add half the chopped nuts and raisins and mix well.
  • Cook for another minute and switch off the flame.
  • Serve warm garnished with the remaining nuts and raisins.
  • This dish is best served warm, so if you are planning to make it ahead of time, just warm it in the microwave or the stove and serve.