Kali gajar ka halwa | black carrot halwa

There are very few places in Uttar Pradesh where you still get kali gajar ka halwa. One of those places is the Moti Mahal (restaurant and chaat place) in Hazrat Ganj Lucknow where you get kali gajar ka halwa during winters along with decent malaiyyo, kesar pista doodh and an assortment of other halwas. You can get about a dozen variants of halwa at Moti Mahal, made of lentils, nuts, seeds and carrots of different types. Unfortunately I haven't come across kali gajar ka halwa in Banaras yet.

But I will tell you about Ghazipur, a small town some 75 Km from Banaras which is my maternal grandparents home town. It has been about 2 decades since I went there but we used to go to Ghazipur every summer vacation for at least 2 weeks (back in late 70s and 80s) and I have some great food memories from those days. We visited Ghazipur a few times in winters too when my maternal grandfather was terminally ill and that is the time my memory of kali gajar ka halwa dates back to.

There was this halwai family who used to make all types of murabbas and halwas apart from the regular dry mithais which used to be sent to other parts of the state as much I remember. This was a wealthy halwai family who was in this trade for a few generations, we knew in detail because one of the daughters was my mother's classmate.

So someone was sent to buy kali gajar ka halwa to their workshop and the person came back empty handed saying they haven't made kali gajar ka halwa this season. Everyone in the family was crestfallen and unanimously blamed the family for this act of 'cheating' their customers. The disappointment was grave.

The imminent expectation of the kali gajar ka halwa treat and then the disappointment somehow got imprinted in my mind and every time I would taste a well made kali gajar ka halwa later this incident will replay in my head.

Note that black carrots are quite distinct in their flavour and the halwa recipe needs a little fine tuning if you have been making red carrot halwa all your life.

I tried making it myself a few times, failed a few times and finally learnt how to keep this halwa sweet and pleasant, not causing the milk to get the flavour of the black carrots that makes the halwa weird tasting in my opinion.

While I like the milk to be cooked slowly along with grated red carrots to make my kind of great gajar ka halwa, where the milk gets all the colour and flavours of the red carrots making it sweeter and pleasant. Red carrots are sweet in taste while black carrots, owing to the rich flavonoids and dark coloured pigments, are a little astringent in taste.

So when grated black carrot is cooked with milk slowly for long duration it (the pigments) masks the sweetness of reduced milk and also make it a wee bit astringent which is not a pleasant attribute of a halwa.

So what to do when making kali gajar ka halwa?

Not to worry much, the recipe is still simple you just change the timings of the addition of different ingredients. Also, note that keeping the kali gajar ka halwa a bit rich on ghee helps in absorption of all the pigment goodness (read fat soluble vitamins) so go make this halwa rich and delicious.

ingredients

1 kilo cleaned peeled and grated black carrots
1 Liter whole milk reduced to make about 200 gm thick evaporated milk (almost like thick rabdi)
300 gm sugar (I use 200 gm)
50-60 gm (2 tbsp) ghee or a little more
chopped nuts for garnish as per choice

almond meal about 100 gm per kilo carrots if you want to make it a tonic breakfast dish

procedure 

Take a thick base kadhai or pan wide enough to accommodate all the grated carrots and still be convenient enough to stir easily. Heat it over gas stove and smear it generously with the ghee.

Now add all the grated black carrots, keeping the heat high and stir vigorousely for 5 minutes or till the grated carrots wilt a little. Now switch the heat to be medium low and start stirring it every couple of minutes. This will enable the carrots to get a little seared and that somehow locks the flavours in.

You can reduce the milk on the other side simultaneously.

Once the grated black carrot reduces in volume and becomes soft enough to get mashed easily it is time to add the sugar. You can mash the carrots if you want a smooth halwa before adding the sugar or keep the shreds undisturbed like I do. The mixture gets a little watery after adding sugar so cook some more while stirring almost continuously till it becomes glazed and shiny.

Now add the reduced milk, mix well and cook some more to let everything mix together. The reduced milk will get the colour of the cooked black carrots but wont become astringent.

If you intend to add almond meal you can add it along with the reduced milk and cook for 5 more minutes.

All well cooked gajar ka halwa variants stay well for 3-4 days at room temperature (in winter months, north India) and the halwa was always spread in a parat or large thali in my home, nuts were sprinkled over it and the thali was covered and kept either on the dining table or on kitchen platform or in the milk cupboard. Well, it was hidden from our sight most of the times.  No one can resist stealing some halwa if it is kept in a visible place.

Now I refrigerate. Now we have lost that habit of stealing such foods and I miss that.

Kali gajar ka halwa is definitely tastier than red carrot halwa if made well. And now you know how to make the kali gajar ka halwa in the right way. It is indeed a tonic food and can be supplemented with a little warming spices if one wants some warmth in harsh winter months.

Kali gajar ka halwa was considered an aphrodisiac too but I am sure the recipe would include some cardamom and nutmeg too for that effect.

Now I know the reason my family felt cheated when kali gajar ka halwa was denied to them one season about 4 decades ago. Food memories are best preserved in our minds I feel, the reason being that food is perceived by our senses so well. More reasons to make the food better for all of us, enjoy food with loved ones and create memories of togetherness.

Recipe of Kamal gatte ka halwa : Lotus seeds Indian pudding

Kamal gatta is the lotus seed or lotus nut that comes out of the conical fruit of lotus species (Nelumbo nucifera). Many people call Makhana as lotus seeds but that is wrong. Makhana or Foxnut belongs to a different species of water lilies called Euryale ferox. Since both are related species growing in aquatic habitat, people confuse with the identity.

Both Fox nuts (or Gorgon nuts) and Lotus nuts are edible but the usage is different. Foxnuts are popped at high heat to make makhanas and the nuts that don't pop are powdered and made into makhane ka sattu which is available in Banaras during Navratri season as it is a fasting food. Kamal gatta or Lotus nut is never popped as much as I know, please let me know if you have seen popped lotus seeds. Not makhana please.

Lotus seeds are eaten in tender fresh form when the fruit is still green and the seeds are tender like green peas. Once the seeds start maturing the inner green coloured germ starts getting bitter and one needs to remove that green germ to eat the seeds.

Alternately, Lotus seeds are also dried when mature, the seed coat turns black (dark purple) and hard and the seeds need to be cracked open to release the hard cotyledons which are edible. The green germ is still there and tastes bitter, so one needs to remove that to prepare lotus seeds for eating.

Kamal gatte ka halwa is one of those forgotten recipes that I always wanted to cook. The only problem was that the Kamal gatta was not easily available. Last time when I went to Banaras we did a walk through the spice market and I found a few spice shops had kamal gatta on the display. I bought some promptly and stuffed it into my handbag.

Kamal gatta was placed over a sack of makhanas interestingly, as if to prove the relationship they share.

The spice market of Banaras is called Gola Deenanath. It is a lane that starts diagonally opposite to the main gate of Kabirchaura hospital. Apart from spices and nuts, dry fruits etc you would find a lot of herbs and Ayurvedic medicines being sold in the shops and on the pavements. The shopkeepers are quite helpful and help you identify things.

My best find obviously was Kamal gatta from this market. Luckily I was there in the season. I realised it later as when I soaked the kamal gattas in water overnight I noticed the green germ (embryo) inside was nice and plump and was ready to sprout. That will happen when the kamal gatta is from the fresh crop, or so I guess.

No prizes for guessing that I actually set them apart for making some lotus seedlings. Dreaming of having lotus in my garden now. I have to arrange a deep pot for growing lotus of course.

Lotus seeds or kamal gatta was always a rare food because only a very few people cooked it. Separating the seeds from the fruit is quite difficult so even the tender kamal gatta is eaten as a fun snack rather than a staple like lotus stem. Once dry the seed coat is quite hard so breaking it, separating the edible part from the green embryo was so much work that only a few people actually cooked it.

But once the seeds are processed they make really good daal with minimal spices or even a nimona that uses very little lotus seeds to make a curry. Halwa was quite common in my childhood as my grandmother used to make it whenever she would get some kamal gatta. I never saw it being made once I grew up enough to understand recipes but I kept hearing about the kamal gatte ka halwa so much that it became a much desirable food in my mind.

The lotus seeds are known as nerve and cardiac tonic and is also supposed to be anti ageing in it's effect. The medicinal properties are recorded well in Thai texts as well as Indian Ayurveda texts. The book The Yoga of Herbs claims that the lotus seeds are aphrodisiac, rejuvenative and homostatic apart from being calming and sedative in nature. In my family kamal gatte ka halwa was known as the supplement that was fed to anyone recovering from a prolonged illness.

Luckily kamal gatta is available in split form else one would need to break every seed that actually slips many times when you hit it with a hammer. At least in the markets of Uttar Pradesh kamal gatta is available in split form I am sure.

Cooking the dry kamal gatta is quite a task even when you get them split. Once it is soaked overnight the seed coat needs to be removed from every individual seed, it is tougher than peeling water chestnuts because the seeds are small and the green embryo needs to be removed from each seed. .

Once cleaned, you just rinse the peeled seeds and grind them all in a blender. Some people like the mixture coarse and some like it smooth. Earlier this grinding was done on a stone mortar and pestle called silbatta.

I made a smooth paste because I wanted a set halwa that can be cut into neat squares. Kamlagatta has a tendency to set once cooked and cooled. Once the paste is made it is a matter of 15 minutes to make halwa for about 4-6 servings.

Note that some people make this halwa with kamal gatta along with other nuts as even my mother used to make it. But I think my mother was smitten with her normal mewe ka halwa so much that she would add loads of soaked and blended nuts to all the halwas she made. I wanted to make halwa with 100% kamal gatta so I can get the unadulterated taste of the lotus seeds.

ingredients 

150 gm kamal gatta soaked overnight
50 gm ghee (3 tbsp)
50-70 gm sugar ( I used jaggery granules)
chopped nuts to garnish

preparation

Peel the seeds and rinse them once. Make a paste, preferably without adding any water.

Heat the ghee in a kadhai ( I used iron kadhai) and pour the kamal gatta paste in it. The paste starts getting sticky once it heats up.

Keep scraping the bottom and stir for about 10 minutes to get a smooth and thick consistency. If using an iron kadhai you would see the paste become dark but that is worth it. Use a steel kadhai if you want a lighter colour.

Add the sugar or jaggery once the mixture comes together in a smooth lump. Stir and mix, cook for a couple of minutes.

Now empty the contents of the kadhai into a greased tray of suitable size and smoothen the surface using a butter knife or spatula. Sprinkle chopped nuts and press them to stick on the surface.

Let the halwa get cold before you cut squares or serve hot like a sticky pudding.

The texture is quite similar to the fresh water chestnut halwa that I make but the taste is very distinctly different. Nutty, earthy and smooth, the flavour of the lotus nut is so mild and yet potent that the jaggery gets camouflaged.

Once the halwa is cold and cut into squares, you can refrigerate it for 3-4 days.

Kamal gatte ka halwa was one of the best things I cooked in the last month. It tasted great and it was one of those things I had been wanting to get my hands for so many years. I ahve some more kamala gatta with me, will be using it to make some daal next.

Of course the seeds are germinating well and will grow into healthy plants I am sure.

Wish me luck.

harey chane ka halwa | an unusual dessert with tender green garbanzo beans

We have been on a hara chana high for sometime. It was the easy and yet exotic option for quick snacks and ghugnis all through this winter.  I was developing a lot of non vegetarian recipes for a brand and was fed up with not having my own choice of food for a while. I always love cooking my food on my own whims, my own 'flavours for the day' and when I have to work on something which is fixed, I feel a bit suffocated in terms of food choices. I don't know if you relate to it or not, but give me the fanciest of foods on a day when I want a simple khichdi, I will not be happy eating them. But that is another story.

There is harey chane ka halwa to cheer up. This harey chane ka halwa is mostly set and cut like barfi or fudge. One of the most surprising flavours trust me, and so brightly coloured.

Some of the seasons fresh produce gave me hope and I enjoyed some quick foods of my choice as well.
Harey chane ka halwa looks and sounds tricky but it incredibly simple and quick.

Hara chana, fresh green peas and some thukpa and thenthuk type soups were a great relief as they take minimal effort to be cooked. I made hara chana jhal mudi many a times for a tea time snack and loved it. But then a friend from Banaras reminded me of this hare chane ka halwa and I got transported to the older days when we never counted our desserts.

Not that we ate too much desserts as a family but we usually had everything we wanted. I think we never knew so much abundance of all things super sweet vying for attention all the time. Home made real food desserts were the norm and we grew up to become fit healthy individuals. Cakes were very occasional even if we had started baking at younger age, all of us siblings used to have so much fun in the kitchen. This harey chane ka halwa brought back all those memories.

This halwa would remind you of the halwas of Kerala and Tamilnadu (probably other states of south India as well) where they make pineapple and ripe jackfruit halwa and dehydrate it so much that it make a nice dense cake that can be sliced like karachi halwa. But this harey chane ka halwa is not that dehydrated and doesn't keep well at room temperature. This is something to be had the same day or to refrigerate and consume the next day.

ingredients
(makes 9 large squares, or 6-8 servings)
hara chana (tender green garbanzo beans) 200 gm
pistachios 25 gm (you can use cashew too)
sugar 25-50 gm as per taste
ghee 30 gm or 2 tbsp
chopped pistachio for garnish

Some people add khoya to this halwa but I like it without khoya. If you want to add khoya, you can make instant khoya in microwave by following this recipe.

procedure

Make a powder of pistachios first, add the hara chana in the blender and make a smooth paste of the two.

Heat ghee in a kadhai and pour the paste in it. Stir continuously for about 5 minutes and you would see how the green paste starts getting smooth and a bit gummy.

Add the sugar and stir more to cook further. The halwa will start looking shiny and sticky. This is the time you pour it into a deep plate or a square dish of suitable size. Spread it in even layer, thickness can be of your choice. Mine was 1 cm thick layer. Sprinkle chopped pistachios over it and press with your fingers so they embed well.

Let it cool in refrigerator for an hour or so, cut squares and serve as required.

Alternately, you can serve the halwa hot or warm like gajar ka halwa.

The taste is rich and nutty and very very delectable. This halwa will be one of those good looking desserts you can serve for formal meals as well.

Let me know if you try this harey chane ka halwa or call it harey chane ki barfi. You can make such a halwa with green peas too, but the taste will be a bit different as peas don't have that nuttiness that hara chana lends to this halwa. I hope you get hara chana in your part of the world.

atte ka halwa | the UP counterpart of teacakes...

Halwa is a traditional UP dish that is sweet but not necessarily a dessert. It can be a breakfast for some, yes in the older days it was a quick dish to make on stove tops and was almost equivalent to the cakes we bake today in fancy ovens. I say cakes because of the ghee that goes into  traditionally made Halwa that is only comparable to a cake and not a cereal breakfast. If the content of ghee is lesser, a halwa can be a cereal breakfast in it's composition.

Halwa is definitely not a breakfast dish anymore in our adult lives, with our butts stuck to the chairs all day, but in the childhood days halwa and jalebi was a happy note to start the day on most weekends. Going by what my mother in law tells me, she used to pack halwa and poori in Arvind's lunch box often. I know where his love for halwa and all things sweet comes from. I have to make some halwa every now and then, making just one serving is my solution as I don't like it much and can eat only 2-3 tea spoonfuls at a time.

ingredients...
(1-2 servings)
atta (whole wheat flour) 1/4 cup
ghee 1/4 cup
sugar 2 tbsp or more if you like it sweeter
water 1/4 cup
chopped nuts as per taste
powdered green cardamom or nutmeg if you wish
procedure..

Heat the ghee in a deep pan and tip in the flour into it. Keep stirring on low heat till the flour starts getting aromatic and changes color to pinkish brown. This takes about 5-8 minutes for this quantity.

If making a larger quantity, halwa can be a work for 40 odd minutes, I have made halwa for family get togethers and the aroma of roasting flour makes everyone hungry while the halwa takes it's own sweet time to get made. Once ready it pleases everyone.

Ad the sugar once the flour becomes nicely browned, and let the sugar crystals become caramalised a bit. It will start getting sticky after a couple of minutes. If making large quantity, it may take another 10 minutes. So as soon as the sugar crystals start getting sticky, add the water in a gentle stream. and mixing the halwa mixture steadily, using a spatula with the other hand. The halwa comes together and becomes like a shining dough, keep stirring it till it starts getting a bit crumbly by further dehydrating.

Add chopped nuts, roasted or fried if you wish, mix well and serve hot.

Halwa is never served cold unless it is a carrot or pumpkin halwa. It can be a nice quick snack if you have a sweet tooth.

This kind of dryish crumbly halwa is great with hot milk for breakfast as well. Some people like it a little wet, you would have to not dehydrate it while cooking after adding water in that case.

Making a small amount of halwa is not very tricky and you can always make some for your kids instead of those store bought muffins or biscuits. It is a high calorie and high carb dish but healthier than many of the ready packed food that we hand out to our kids mindlessly.

I have posted an instant besan ka halwa made in microwave and a kadhai made besan ka halwa too. Go have a look if you want besan ka halwa. A step by step mung ka halwa recipe is also posted if you have some time to indulge. Now you know how much loved is halwa at my place.

You know what, I started getting that aroma of halwa being made while typing this. I don't like halwa much but that aroma is one of the favorite food aromas for me. Tell me when are you going to make some halwa for your loved ones?

Cheers...

Singhade ka halwa or singhade ki katli | vrat ka khana..

Singhada is the Hindi name for Water Chestnuts.

A halwa made with the flour of this dried nut is a delicacy in the central parts of India. These nuts are a good source of potassium and fiber, overall rich in carbohydrates. The Chinese use this nut (a false nut) in various ways, I have seen them making a slurry of it's flour and some sweet fudge like dish in a TV show but didn't remember the name of the dish. There should be a Chinese recipe similar to this halwa somewhere. Let me know if you have come across any. I would keep looking for and let you all know whenever I succeed.

The dried Water Chestnuts are sold in the market during Navratri in my part of the world. The fresh ones are available in season only.

I used to buy them whole and get the flour made in my trusted mixie. Milled at home, the flour is a lovely white color, a fresh aroma and the best taste possible. The flour available in the market is not always good quality and dull in color and almost no aroma of water chestnuts. It has a specific nutty aroma which enhances when you fry or roast the flour with ghee. So get the whole water chest nut if possible, break them into smaller pieces using a mortar and pestle and then mill them in whatever machine you have. Once broken in smaller bits, the dried water chestnuts become very easy to powder.

When buying Water Chestnut flour, take care to watch the color, it should be light and slightly aromatic. Discard the flour if it smells rancid.

ingredients...
(for about a dozen squares)
Singhade ka atta (Water Chestnut flour) 150 gm
ghee 2 tbsp or more if you wish
sugar 2 tbsp (or more if you like it sweeter, my version is mildly sweet)
water 1 cup approximately

procedure...

Heat the ghee in a kadai and tip in the Singhada flour in it.

Start on a low flame and keep stirring the flour and ghee mixture till the flour becomes pinkish brown and there is a pleasant nutty aroma wafting from the kadai.

Some lumps of flour may be difficult to break if you are using less ghee like I did, just use your spatula to break them and keep stirring continually for about 5-8 minutes for this quantity.

 Lower the flame better the results, though it might take some more time. Using a thick base kadai helps.

Now add water and sugar and start mixing the resulting slurry in circular motion.

It would feel like a batter first and then would start getting thicker, resisting the circular motion of your spatula. Go on mixing and breaking any lumps that might have been left.

The above picture shows the halwa still needs to be mixed and cooked for a couple of more minutes. It takes about 3-4 minutes after adding water for this quantity.

Once the halwa gets thicker, still not looking set, and has a sheen to the surface, pour the contents in a steal plate or thaali.

Pat the lump of halwa with the spatula to flatten it. Wait for a couple of minutes till it gets set.

The water chestnut flour has a tendency to set like jelly when cooked with water. So this halwa would set itself in the shape of the plate used. Cut in desired shape and serve warm or at room temperature.

This halwa squares keep well in the fridge but do not taste very good when chilled. So warm them in your microwave when required.

These are great snacks for kids too and can be good for their tiffin boxes as there is no fear of leaking liquids and there is much ease in handling this kind of food.

Have you ever tasted this halwa?

This is a regular feature of UP kitchens during Navratri. People have it with a glass of milk for breakfast or for any meal of the day as there are many restrictions and some people don't even eat any kind of salt. So this halwa made with minimal sweetening becomes a staple food for some.

The halwa can be made even without a trace of ghee. Just roast the flour without any ghee almost the same way demonstrated here, on low flame and then proceed with the next steps. The Water chestnut flour gels well when poured in a plate and you get perfect squares or diamonds.

Ghee makes is richer and a little complex in taste. This halwa is anyways a simple recipe to put together. With minimal ingredients.

Do not use Cardamom or any flavoring spice in this halwa, as the nutty flavor of the roasted Water Chestnut flour will be overpowered. 

And you wouldn't want that if you have ever tasted a good Singhade ka halwa.

Another Water Chestnut halwa made using the fresh green nuts is a much flavorful recipe. I make that one often whenever we get fresh Singhada. You can see the recipe posted here on this blog.

Some folks I know observe the fasting days just for these goodies.

Would you do that too ?

instant besan ka halwa ... microwave recipe...

Someone has got a big sweet tooth here and after a root canal treatment , has come to a conclusion that halwa is therapeutic for teeth ..... The one tooth who suffered was because of halwa deprivation he claims...

Many halwas are made as an evening snack which leads to a 'glass of milk for dinner' or no dinner at all . Halwa is rich as it has quite a lot of ghee and if someone want a whole bowlful of it , i make a whole bowl full of it in the microwave....just one serving at a time.

Starting with 3/4 cup of besan  1/2 cup of fresh malai and chopped almonds...

Sugar to taste . Mix them all ... Reserve the almonds......shove into the microwave for 1 minute on high...

Mix to make a goo.....

 Mix again and shove into the oven for a minute , after two turns in the MW for a minute it looks like this...slightly dehydrated and lumpy....not gooyi any more...

Now add the chopped almonds , microwave again for a minute...repeat till the mixture is crumbly and a nice aroma fills the kitchen...

I made it for a late evening snack cum dinner and hence the pictures are a bit dark . But
the procedure is clear i hope...

The halwa has to be served hot , as soon as the desired consistency is achieved , the halwa is ready . It takes about 5 minutes to make it , taking intervals after every minute to stir the halwa.... If you count 2-3 minutes to chop the almonds and arrange the things for preparation , still the halwa is quick enough for a hungry halwa deprived soul....

Same way the halwa of sooji can also be made , or even with atta or daliya . the taste of the microwave halwa will different from the slow roasted in ghee halwa , but it is quite good and you will be hooked to it once you make it .. the convenience of it being quick , as well as being able to make a single serving at a time will be a great excuse to make the halwa this way...

The traditional kadai made halwa of besan is posted here on this blog....do try it that way if time permits ...that post attracts a lot of hits on this blog....picture quality is not a deterrent here...

kaccha singhara ... two recipes for fasting food

 Trapa bispinosa is the botanical name and singhara is hindi name for this Indian water chestnut . It is an aquatic plant and bears a fruit which has a tough skin protecting a soft white flesh . The white flesh becomes harder when the fruit is mature. The tender and mature fruits both are tasty in their own right and if cooked differently. Tender fruits can be eaten raw and are very good for snacking , peeling the hard skins and eating the white fleshy nut is a yummy time pass.

 Apologies for a shady picture :) will try and upload a clear picture soon.  These are small singharas , some of them are tender and some mature.

The mature singharas are boiled along with their skins and then peeled and the hardened white flesh has a very nice nutty flavor . This can be used for dressed salads or just as a standalone snack . In some parts of India this boiled singhara is a common street food served with a dry green chutny .

What i did here is just microwave the peeled fruit with salt and pepper . 2 minutes covered for 250 gms of singhara . That's it . It's ready for a snack attack or a meal , whatever way you like them .

Alternatively , they can be stir fried in very little ghee with salt n pepper till lightly pink . They cook very fast if they are tender and may take about 5 minutes if mature. You would like them both ways if you like the flavor and aroma of singhara . They have a nice aroma when cooked .

That lovely aroma is more pronounced if they are cooked into a halwa. Usually the powdered flour of dried singhara nuts is used to make halwa ( recipe some other time ) but i like it made with fresh raw singhara . This was an experiment i did when i was a teenager and everybody in the family loved it . I never made a halwa from singhare ka atta ( singhara flour ) after that . 

I have a few pictures of the halwa cooked last year . Pictures were taken by my cell phone camera , so they are a bit blurry but the recipe is simple.

 Grind the raw peeled singhara in a mixie to make a smooth paste . Tender singhara is more suited for this halwa , though it is good with mature fruits as well.

Heat a tbsp of ghee for each cup of singhara paste , pour in the singhara paste and fry till the paste becomes translucent . 

It may take 2 minutes for a cup of singhara paste. Add 1 tbsp or a bit more sugar ( according to taste ) per cup of paste and stir for a minute . It's done and serve hot with chopped nuts as a garnish . We do not like any cardamom in this halwa as the aroma of raw singhara is so very tempting .

Be it the savory recipe of boiled or microwaved whole singhara .........

Or this aromatic halwa with an amazing nutty flavor ....

You would fall in love with this fruit with two horns ..... hence bispinosa is the second name in latin following the binomial nomenclature .

There is soft nutty flesh inside the hard spiny shell , and it tastes amazing .... all the good things are meant for navaratri it seems....

mung ka halwa step by step | easy recipe of mung daal halwa...

Mung ka halwa is one dessert which is seen brushing shoulders with brownies, tarts, tiramisu, truffles and the likes on the modern party menus. A traditional recipe which has survived the test of time well. It is definitely higher on calories but if you eat sensibly it makes an enjoyable dessert, and if you cook it sensibly, it doesn't make your arms ache and your tummy grumble. Believe me.

Many of us dread making this halwa simply because of two reasons. One, it is too heavy and two, it takes a lot of stirring and mixing and whipping while cooking it. So much so that your arms are sore the next day. Right!!

This has been my signature dessert for many large get-togethers and as I have made it many times and in large quantities. I can say I have worked on ways to make it a bit easier and healthier, I mean a bit low on ghee and that too when you make it in smaller quantity.

When you make it in large quantity you need to have enough ghee otherwise it is tough to keep up with stirring to prevent sticking n burning in the base of kadhai......

The best way to make it in less quantity of ghee is to make it in the largest thick base kadai you have and always use a flat spatula to stir the halwa while frying (bhunoeing). Another trick for preventing your arms from getting sore, I shall describe with the procedure. read on....

ingredients....

mung dal (split and husked mung beans) 1 cup
ghee 3/4 cup
sugar 1/2 cup
a handful of almonds, slivered
procedure

Soak the mung dal in water for 2 hrs or overnight  and grind it in mixie to make a smooth paste, you'll get about 2.5 cups of mung paste.

Now heat ghee in a large thick base kadai and coat the kadai well with ghee all over, keeping the flame very low, pour the mung paste in it and stir well.

The first thing you notice is, that the mung paste becomes lumpy and sticks to the base of kadai. This is enough to scare a first timer, but do not worry and keep stirring after every few minutes.

Normally it needs to be stirred and whipped continuously. To make it easy, spread the paste in a layer in the kadai and let it brown for a while.

Then turn it scraping the paste from the base of kadhai and spread again to get it browned again......

 Repeat the process until the mung mixture becomes nicely browned and aromatic.

Add sugar and put off the flame. Mix well and cover with a lid and let the sugar melt and get absorbed into the halwa.

Some people add cardamom powder for flavor but I feel that the aroma of fried mung daal is so delicate and mildly aromatic, that any other flavoring agent is not needed.

Mung daal halwa should taste like mung daal and not elaichi. Though you may go by your own choice. Add cardamom, rose water or whatever spice you like.

You may need to sprinkle a little milk if the mixture has become too dry. Mix well and throw in the slivered almonds (any type of nuts and any amount  and serve hot.

The halwa keeps well on room temperature (in winters here) for about a week and in the fridge you can keep it for months. Just heat it in the microwave and serve when needed.

I made it for Arvind's birthday as halwa (Kadah prasad) is made for such occasions traditionally and this time I choose mung ka halwa as he said it had been ages since I made this. These are some of the foods he loves.

I hope you noticed how I turned and stirred the cooking halwa only when it gets browned on one side. That is the trick to not keep stirring it all the time. Try doing it and let me know if you liked this slightly dry mung ka halwa. 

You can add a little milk every time you reheat it before serving, it gets moist that way.

besan ka halwa

The husband grew up eating halwa for breakfast, snacks and even for his lunch box many times. His mother never had enough time but preferred to cook nourishing meals with minimal efforts for the two brothers and they grew up eating a limited variety but delicious food nonetheless.

Even now the husband demands either atte ka halwa or besan ka halwa sometimes when he comes back from office. Being quite easy to make I just cook halwa while the chai boils on the stove. Both of us are a contrast when it comes to taste. While I always have something savory  with my tea but the halwa is just right for him after the day's work. It gets repeated often and I even have started appreciating halwa more now..

This besan ka halwa I made in a new cast iron kadhai as the tradition is to make a sweet halwa when cooking in a kadhai for the first time.

As I said the recipe is easy and though I go by instinctive measurements, I am writing down the quantity by cup measures.

Heat 1/2 a cup of desi ghee into the kadhai and tip in 1 tbsp of rawa or suji into it and then quickly tip in 1/2 cup of besan. 

Now if the besan is coarse, no need to add suji, but fine besan needs some suji to make the texture more enjoyable, the suji besan ratio may be variable though.

Keep stirring the flours on low to medium flame till deep pink in color and aromatic with a well roasted smell. I normally don't use cardamom powder, but it can be used, 1/2 tsp if desired. I like the besan aroma to dominate so don't add any other flavor.

When the besan is nice and brown, add some chopped nuts of your choice and keep stirring till the nuts are roasted too, taking care not to burn them.

Add 1/3 cup of sugar (a little more if you like it more sugary) mix, and pour 1/4 cup of water.

Take care to pour the water in a thin stream and keep stirring the mixture with the other hand, till a crumbly soft ball is formed. Keep stirring for a few more minutes if you like thin pieces of crust into it. Yes if you keep bhunoeing it more and don't urn that often, small crusty bits of halwa get caramelized and some people really love them.

Cooking it more after adding water allows crust formation which is liked by some people as I mentioned, and that's it. Serve hot, no garnish needed.

the besan ka halwa can be made a little softer too by adding a little more water if you like. I like the softer version more so sometimes make besan ka halwa like this.

 

I suggest to keep the portions small as it is heavy on the digestion as well as calories, keeps well in the fridge for a week...just microwave and serve hot again.

Nuts can be added if required, but besan ka halwa is great as it is.

gajar ka halwa

Gajar ka halwa or Gajrela was made several times at home and I think this was one of the most frequent dessert during winters. Though my mother was very fond of khuskhus ka halwa and mewe ka halwa so those were also made but gajrela was always made in large batches and we used to eat it at room temperature mostly. Probably because that was not the age of microwave ovens to reheat food within seconds.

 Hot gajar ka halwa was served in parties or at sweet shops. 

There are so many sweets available in Banaras that one gets disillusioned after entering a sweet shop. Honestly speaking I had never seen so many varieties of sweets when we were in Chandigarh, the only time we used to see and eat sweets used to be the family weddings.

In the earlier days sweets were made in huge quantities during weddings and since the celebrations and rituals used to last 4-5 days there was a constant making of sweets in one portion of our grandparents' house. Everyday there would be a new set of sweets for guests, it was an integral part of khatirdari (welcome).

During these family weddings pani pilana or offering water to someone always accompanied a plate of 4-5 different sweets served on a terracotta platter or a leaf dona. Such was the tradition of sweets or mithai that you never offered water to someone without some mithai. I remember sitting by the halwais as a little girl and watching how they made those sweets. Even in those days I couldn't eat mithais but watching them make trays and trays full of mithais used to entertain me or may be I used to entertain those mithai makers too.

Every season has it's own special sweet, winters bring the gond and dry fruit laddus, kaju katli, badam katli, patisa etc, while the summer sweets are lighter chhena sweets like cold rasmalai, rasgulla and sandesh etc. Of course there were loads of all season mithais too.

In winters gajar ka halwa is a common sight on the display of sweet shops in Banaras, and in many other old cities, usually laden with dry fruits, khoya and a layer of ghee making it look glazed. Gajar ka halwa is mostly served hot so some of the chaat bhandars of Banaras do a brisk sale of gajar ka halwa during winters.

I make it lighter at home, with a little little lesser khoya so that the taste and color of red carrots is more prominent. I don't want to drown the flavour of carrots in khoya.

ingredients

carrots- peeled and grated 1 kg
sugar 200 gm or according to taste
full cream milk 2 kg (or 1 kg milk and 100 gm khoya)
chopped nuts as required

preparation

In a large thick bottomed pan boil the milk and keep stirring till it reduces to half, add the grated carrots and keep cooking on low flame, stirring in between till it becomes dry and collects in the middle of pan.

Add sugar, green cardamom powder can be added too, I don't add it because I like carrot's own flavor more. It will become a bit watery after adding sugar but keep cooking till carrot shreds appear shining and glazed. It is cooked now. Add a tbsp ghee and bhuno for a few minutes to make the halwa sondha.

If using khoya, add the khoya along with sugar and bhuno till the halwa looks glazed and danedaar (granular) khoya looks interspersed with carrot shreds.

Garnish with chopped nuts and serve hot or at room temperature. It can be stored in the fridge for a fortnight.