khas khas ka halwa | recipe of poppy seeds halwa

Khas khas or Poppy seeds is also called as Posta dana in UP and Posto in Bengal. Khas khas ka halwa or Posta dana ka halwa used to be a much loved halwa in my growing up years. I had been planning for this recipe of khas khas halwa to be shared on Banaras ka Khana for ever but somehow I could not take pictures whenever I made it.

And then I made it in such huge amounts that I was feeling guilty for not sharing khas khas ka halwa recipe on my blog. Last month I curated a Banaras ka Khana festival at The Oberoi Gurgaon and a 37 course Banarasi meal was served at their all day dining restaurant Three Sixty One for 9 days. We cooked a lot of Banaras recipes from this blog but whenever I had to tell the Chefs at the hotel about the recipe of khas khas ka halwa which is very simple incidentally, I felt guilty I haven't yet shared it on the blog.

We actually cooked poppy seeds halwa several times during the Banaras ka Khana festival at The Oberoi Gurgaon. Each time the quantity would be about 5 kilos as we would start with 2 kilo dry poppy seeds that will be made into a fine paste using a huge stone grinder that the Oberoi kitchen has. I cooked it myself most of the times but Chef Santosh did a fabulous job with it too. I wish I had the recipe on the blog as I used to show the pictures for reference for other recipes like Besan ki Katli, Turai pyaz ki subzi, Matar ka Nimona, Khoya Matar Makhana ki subzi and Hare chane ki burfi, Kamlagatte ka halwa etc.

While cooking the khas khas ka halwa several times in the hotel kitchen I resolved to post the recipe first thing on Banaras ka Khana blog after my return, and here it is. The recipe is simple as most Banaras recipes are.

Khas khas ka halwa recipe uses only 3 ingredients, that is ghee, poppy seeds and sugar. We don't add any milk or nuts or even cardamom because we love the natural flavor of khas khas so much we don't want to mask it with anything.

ingredients 
(for 6-10 servings depending on how much you love poppy seeds halwa)

200 gm poppy seeds
60 gm ghee (or 2 level tbsp)
100 gm sugar

procedure 

Do not soak the poppy seeds for this recipe. Soaking works if you plan to grind the poppy seeds on silbatta (flat stone mortar and pestle) but if you are planning to grind and make a paste in a mixie jar it is better to grind it dry for a few seconds and then add little water to make a fine paste.

Grind the poppy seeds dry till it starts making a loose lump, then add about 100 ml water and make a fine milky paste.

Heat the ghee in a large thick base kadhai and pour the poppy paste in it.

The paste starts coagulating at the bottom, keep scraping and stirring while you bhuno the poppy paste for about 10 minutes on medium low flame. The paste keeps getting thicker and changes colour and finally looks like a scramble.

Note that the poppy paste doesn't need to be browned. It just needs to change colour a little but it should still be moist.

Add the sugar and stir slowly to dissolve the sugar. After about 5 minutes of cooking the sugar dissolves and the halwa becomes homogeneous. It is ready to be served.

Serve this poppy seeds halwa a little warm, sprinkled with chopped pistachio. You actually don't need any garnish for this khas khas ka halwa trust me.

It looks a lot like sooji ka halwa but the similarity ends there. The aroma and the taste is so unique that it arrests your senses with its mild sweetness and robust nutty taste.

Some people add milk or khoya to the khas khas ka halwa but that dilutes the taste of khas khas in it. This is the family recipe of mine and we have made it like this forever.

Some people say poppy seeds halwa makes you sleep better and swear by it but it has never made me sleep. You can find out for yourself if you want to test the sleep inducing quality of poppy seeds.

In fact my maternal grandfather's family was into poppy farming during British times and they used to supply the alkaloid from the plant to the largest Opium factory in the world at Ghazipur which is a part of Banaras Division. Poppy seeds were a by product of the crop and were much prized for the nutty taste and richness they provided to the currys, halwas and even chutneys. Poppy seeds were used extensively in Thandai, Mithais, curries and some deep fried snacks like gulgule, malpua, anarsa etc.

This khas khas ka halwa remains my all time favourite poppy seeds recipe. Of course I like the poppy seeds chutney too and that is another recipe that needs to be shared here on the blog. Some recipes are so simple and commonplace we don't really value them enough. Each summer I make loads of poppy seeds chutney and yet it is not here on the blog. Just like this poppy seeds halwa that was more of a winter staple back home.

kakode stir fry with poppy seeds and almond powder

Kakode or Teal gourd (called kakrol, kheksa or ghee karela in different Indian languages) is a spiny looking miniature gourd that retains it's texture after cooking. It needs minimal cooking actually, a light stir fry is all you need to do and a mild seasoning works really well. I have posted a stuffed kakode with poppy seeds and a kakode pyaz ki subzi earlier.

You get two varieties of kakode in the markets and both of them differ slightly in flavors. One is a large, oval two inch size kakode which is more suitable for stuffed recipes, and another is the small pointed one inch kakode which suits quick stir fries more.

This time I found nice and fresh small variety of kakode and bough a kilo of it immediately. I had some powdered poppy seeds with almonds and a little cinnamon and nutmeg that I use for my hot milk sometimes and that powder got used up fr making this stir fry three times within a span of a week. Normally I would use just a coarse powder of poppy seeds and some garam masala or cinnamon and nutmeg grated over cooking kakode.

ingredients
(2 servings as a side dish)

kakode or teal gourd 300 gm
poppy seeds powder 2 tbsp
( I used a powder of almonds, poppy seeds and cinnamon and nutmeg)
pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg powders
salt to taste
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
2 broken dry red chilies
1 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji seeds)
mustard oil 1-2 tbsp

procedure

Remove the tip and tail of kakode and quarter them neatly. The seeds may be removed if you abhor it absolutely, I would recommend including them as the seeds are rich in omega 3s and are as good as any nuts in all respects. I like the crunch they provide to the stir fry as well.

Heat the oil in a pan or kadhai and tip in the nigella seeds and broken red chilies. Wait till they get aromatic and then add the chopped kakode. Add salt and turmeric powder and stir fry on medium heat till the kakode yield to pressure. They get cooked fats so take care to not to overcook them.

Add the powdered poppy seeds mixture and mix well. Stir fry for a couple of minutes more and remove form the stove. Squeeze lime juice over it to balance flavors of required, fresh kakode is flavorful on it's own so it was not required by me.

This stir fry tastes great with roti or rice and daal. With parathas it makes a nice lunch box subzi as well. The nutty flavors of the poppy seeds and almond is unmistakable, you wont want to waste even a small bit of this stir fry. So good it is.

Stuffed Kakode with poppy seed paste...

Kakode or Kakrol as it is called in North India is a gourd family vegetable that grows wild in whatever urban jungles are left around our cities. Many tribesmen living in the outskirts of the cities collect these little gourds (called Teal Gourd in English) and bring them to the urban markets. I have not seen these gourds in the fancier super markets yet. They can only be sourced from the roadside markets or the weekly vegetables market around my locality. I m not complaining as long as this beautiful vegetable is available to me.

A gentleman fro Bombay wrote a comment on my last Kakode post that he buys this vegetables from the tribal people in some suburban area and that was so heartening to know. We should always buy goods from these small road side vendors and tribals so they keep earning some money through local products and such vegetables never go extinct.

This is called Kheksa in Banaras.

This Poppy seeds stuffed Kakode recipe was reminded by a bong friend of mine and then I asked my mother casually over phone about this. She told me how she used to make it as I had very little memory of it. This vegetable was rarely seen even in those days and we all liked the bhujia ( stirfried kakode) more so that was the preferred preparation with Kakode.

You need to halve the little gourds first and then empty the innards well. Just making a sharp incision along the white periphery and then scooping out the pith works well.Do not discard the pith as it will be used for the stuffing masala.

Then the masala is stuffed inside each of these halves and shallow fried on both sides.

Looks easy? It actually is easy as you just have to make a Poppy seeds paste quickly in your trusted mixie (using the chutney jar) or the coffee grinder to make a fine powder of it.

Recipe of the poppy seeds stuffing...

ingredients...
{For 4-6 large Kakode (teal gourds)}
poppy seeds 3 tbsp
finely chopped Onions 1 tbsp
finely chopped Green chillies 1 tbsp or more if you like
finely chopped ginger 2 tsp
Black pepper powder 1 tsp
all the inner pith of the vegetable chopped up in small bits
salt to taste
Mustard oil 1 tsp
Nigella (kalonji) seeds 1/2 tsp
More mustard oil to shallow fry the stuffed vegetable, in my case about 1 tbsp was used

procedure...

Rub salt over the Kakode halves and let it rest till you prepare the masala paste.

Make a paste of poppy seeds. You would like to powder it dry initially and then adding some water and blend again to make a smooth paste. Adding 2 whole Cashew nuts right before the powdering step helps in making a smooth paste. The paste should be thick like good yogurt

Heat oil in a Kadhai (round bottom pan) and sprinkle the Nigella seeds in it. Wait till they sizzle.

Add in the chopped green chillies, onions and ginger. Fry till everything is softened. Add the chopped up kakode pith, sprinkle salt to taste and stir fry till softened.

Add pepper powder, mix well and then add the poppy paste and mix quickly so it gets homogenised with everything else and a bit thickened.

Take off heat and take out spoonfuls to fill in the Kakode halves. There is no need to cool the masala paste down but there is no problem even if it is cold. Actually this can be made a day in advance and proceeded as and when required. The leftover masala paste can be used to make other dry stir fries interesting too.

Heat a tbsp of mustard oil in  a flat pan. Non stick surface will good so use you Cast iron or whatever pan you use for such purpose.

Lay out the stuffed Kakode masala side up and let it fry till the base gets browned lightly. Keep the lid on for 5 minutes, flame medium.

Turn all the Kakode by flipping them, so the stuffing side gets browned too.

Serve hot as a side dish or a starter.

You would love to pop them in your mouth. The flavors are subtle as there is minimal spicing. The amount of green chillies might look more than you want but poppy seeds paste tastes great with green chillies. So keep them a bit on higher side than you normally do. Black pepper may be avoided if you want a richer Poppy taste. The poppy flavor is preserved well just because of minimal spicing.

Kakode greets Poppy seeds well , as much as it complements the Ridge gourd.

Have you tasted Jhingey Posto?

The leftover Poppy seeds masala paste was added to a simple Okra stir fry.

Just plain stir fried Okra in Ghee and some salt n pepper and then this paste is added to finish and mixed well. Tastes great with chapatis and daal or Rice and daal.


You would like all these kakode, Ridge gourd or even Okra with poppy seeds if you love this miniature nut. It is a tiny seed but is nutty is taste. Fragrant too.

Many other recipes with poppy seeds are waiting in my drafts as I have been quite lazy with posting on this blog of mine. You would get to see some Prawns in poppy seeds gravy very soon. And how a raw paste of Poppy can be had with just plain boiled rice.

Stay tuned.

Peyaz posto : sauteed onion with poppy seed paste, a delectable mash, or call it a scramble...

Pyaz posto or peyaz posto is a Bengali classic and I hope I am not spoiling it. I love bengali food and have seen many families have subtle differences in cooking style of the most simple things too. Even pyaz posto looks different in different home although the taste doesn't change much as there is very little seasoning in there. Notes of nigella seeds and green chilly paired with nuttiness of poppy seed paste, balanced by sweetness of onions, this is what you expect from this dish.

It is a tasty comforting dish you would like to have more and more. Something which is healthy and wouldn't take you to the Guilt-land. Probably to the lala land of sweet dreams as it is supposed to induce sleep. No, it does not cast it's sleep spell on me. May be it does for you as it does to many happy bongs all around the world. Yes they are all very sentimental about their mustard and posto...

I have adopted Posto quite happily. The UP version of Posta (as it is called in UP) chutney and halwa has been a childhood favorite and those are yet to come to this blog. My maternal grandmothers' place was a Poppy hub, being a cultivation center of poppy since the time of British, this small town called Ghazipur is known for it's opium factory.

Our supply of poppy seeds was good and my mom loved making different things with it. But she never cooked any Bengali recipes. I learnt all these from my Bong friends, this one actually from an Oriya friend. Here s a dry version of pyaz posto.

All you need to make pyaz posto is ...
1/2 cup poppy seeds 
1/2 cup to 1 cup diced onions (depends on how much onion you like, I use less)
chopped green chillies to taste (keep it mild)
1/2 tsp kalonji or nigella seeds
1 tbsp mustard oil (do not substitute with any other oil please) 
salt to taste 

The recipe is simple... 

Soak the poppy seeds (white Indian variety) for a few minutes, drain water through a fine sieve and grind in a chutney grinder of your trusted mixie. Adding little water while blending to move the blades well. A generous cup of paste can be made using about 1/2 cup of dry poppy seeds.

You need some Nigella (kalonji) seeds, some chopped onion and some green chillies and salt to taste. Just that. 

And a little mustard oil to fry the chopped onion. The quantity of onion, green chillies etc can be varied according to how much of what you want in the finished dish. I used 1/2 cup of chopped onion for a cup of poppy seeds paste here.

Heat the mustard oil and tip in the Nigella seeds, immediately add the chopped green chillies and then the chopped onions. Fry till softened and pinkish. Take off the flame, add salt and mix with the poppy seeds paste. 

Add boiling water to make the pyaz posto thinner if you are having it with rotis.

Serve hot or cold.

The dry version pairs very well with plain Khichdi or a brown rice, split green mung and Bottle gourd Khichdi is what I made with it. On the side is a begun Bhaja. A true Bong meal.

You would like it with Chapati, Paratha or even sandwiched in slices of bread as well. Some people like it mixed with plain boiled rice too. It is a flavorful scramble of a dish.

If made dry the pyaz posto looks like egg scramble to me. The husband often thinks it is an egg scramble. On that note, it can be a good breakfast dish too, even for Paratha loving Punjabis...

The pyaz posto can be thinned down a bit and cubes of paneer added, it makes a delicious curry with minimal spicing.

You decide whether it is a mash a scramble or a curry. But try it if you haven't already.

Pyaz posto or peyanj posto as a true Bengali will say, is irresistible if you love the subtle nuttiness of poppy seeds...

Zucchini flowers scrambled with poppy seeds paste, not those stuffed fritters...

The Zucchini in my garden was not at all prolific this time. A few wiggly zucchinis came as I had planted it late. In Indian weather it fruits around February to early April but if left on it still keeps flowering till this time. The flowers get smaller and smaller as the summer heat increases.

Making fritters or Tempura with them is the easiest and the most common way to use them. I rarely make fried goodies with them as only 3-4 small ones bloom everyday. I use them for my egg scrambles sometimes. Just torn and tossed up in a egg scramble just at the time of finishing.

Last month some time I took three of these flowers (there were only three of them that day, as the previous day's flowers get shrunk and fall off) to my friend who had told me her mom used to make stuffed fritters with pumpkin flowers. The flowers were small due to summer heat and she decided to make a scramble with poppy seeds paste which originally goes in the stuffing. My friend Sukanya Dutta is a Bengali and loves her food. This recipe is a testimony.

This is her recipe I made a few days later and decided to share as it's a tasty traditional Bengali recipe. I hope I remembered the recipe well as she told me verbally, I normally add the spices that I feel would go with the ingredients if experimenting.

Although the form is changed from a fritter to a scramble, may be you would miss the crisp fried crust of a fritter (called Kumro phooler bora in Bengali) if you enjoy that more. In scrambled form it is more healthy and easy to cook. Yum factor is not compromised.

Off course the poppy seeds paste has to be made and that might be a task for some :-)

Once you make up you mind to soak a little poppy seeds and grind them in your trusted mixer for a few repeated whizzes, you are set to just scramble it like a quick eggs scramble.

Yes, poppy seeds may take a few repeats of the pulsing action to become a fine paste.

ingredients...
(2 servings as a side dish)

zucchini (or pumpkin) flowers cleaned and torn 3-4
(a handful when torn, as the quantity depends on the size of flowers)
poppy seeds 30 gms (2 tbsp)
finely chopped onion 1/3 cup
finely chopped green chillies to taste
finely chopped or grated ginger 2 tsp or more
mustrad oil 2 tsp
kalonji seeds (nigella seeds) 1/3 tsp
salt to taste

procedure...

Soak the poppy seeds for 10 minutes and microwave for a minute before making a paste. Pulse in your trusted grinder with minimal amount of water to move the paste around the blades. The paste should be a thick yogurt consistency. Any thinner (more water added) and the paste won't be smooth enough.

Heat oil in a pan and tip in the Kalonji (nigella) seeds. Let them get aromatic and then add the cumin seeds, chopped green chillies and ginger. Fry for a minute so the oil gets infused with chilly, ginger and kalonji flavor. Cumin would bloom later when wet ingredients are added.

Add the onions to the frying mix and sprinkle salt as well. Fry them all till the onions are translucent. It takes about 2-3 minutes.

Pour in the poppy seeds paste and mix everything well. While cooking the mix and mixing it continuously, there will be a point when the mixture starts resembling a scramble. Add the torn zucchini/pumpkin flowers at this time.

Take the pan off heat and serve warm. This recipes taste good even when cold and I realised that it can be a great stuffing for sandwiches.

In the original recipe, this scrambled poppy seeds mix is stuffed inside the zucchini or pumpkin flowers and then batter fried.

You can try if you want those crisp fried fritters with a yummy nutty stuffing.

You would be in for a treat both ways.

Enjoy...