Halwa

                                             

Halwa is one of the quickest and easiest mithais that can be whipped up with some very basic kitchen ingredients.  Halwa embodies the simplest, the most universal idea of mithai or sweets:  Flour, butter, milk, sugar, nuts and spices!  It is amazing just how many combinations of these ingredients can be put together in various processing steps to create hundreds of tried and tested sweet recipes around the world.
To be clear, the word Halwa/Halva is an Arabic word and the sweet confection Halva is known by etymologically similar words in multiple countries in North Africa, easter Europe, Middle East and South Asia.  In the middle east and beyond, it can also refer to sweets made by using various nut butters, the most popular being the Sesame Halva made with Tahini (Sesame Butter).
In North India, we commonly make Halva with Flour, not nuts.  In other parts of the country, Halva is referred to as Sheera/Seera etc.  The preparation can differ in the extent of flour roasting or the amount of sugar/butter etc. but the essence is the same.

What's specific to every region therefore is this proportion between flour, butter and sugar etc. The Marwari halwa is traditionally quite heavy on the sugar and butter as can be seen in the couplet below: 
आटे से जल चौगुना और खांड जो दुगुनी होय
घी बराबर डालिए और शीरा सखरा होय
In its defence, the traditional Halwa belongs to an era when young men and women engaged in physically demanding activities in a day's routine.  Unlike today, even the urban men walked miles in the course of a day.  Without buses and cars, they embraced the autonomy of a bicycle proudly rode miles in a day.  Similarly, women did equally demanding work at home.  Such active lifestyles demanded equally rich food, and halwa was a popular addition to a meal especially in the cold winter months.  Now with increasingly sedentary lifestyles within homes and outside, it has become essential to cut calories wherever possible, and thankfully halwa can be subjected to such scrutiny and alteration without any loss of flavor.
In this section we will make three different types of halwaa made with four different ingredients: Sooji, Aata, gajar and Daal.

1.Sooji ka halwa

Ingredients:
1 cup sooji (cream of wheat)

1 cup ghee

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk
10 pods of cardamom (powdered)
A pinch of saffron(soaked in a tablespoon of water)
20 almonds (microwave for 90 seconds and cut into pieces)
In a nonstick pan put ghee and sooji and roast the sooji by stirring continuously for ten minutes till the sooji is golden brown. 
Stir in hot milk.  After this add two cups of hot water and stir and add sugar.  Stir for next two minutes and you will see the halwa leaving the sides of the pan with ghee oozing out of it.
Add cardamom powder and saffron water. Switch off the flame and garnish with almonds pieces. Halwa should be served hot. In Rajasthan, the popular accompaniment to Halwa is papad which helps break the monotony of eating something sweet.

2. Atte ka halwa

This halwa has same recipe as is sooji ka halwa. Sooji is replaced by atta(Wheat flour).  Atta roasts faster than Sooji due to a smaller grain size -within 8 minutes compared to 10 minutes for Sooji.

3. Moong ki dal ka halwa   (A Winter Delicacy)

Being high in calories it is prepared in winter. Preparation requires time and energy both.  But the end result melts in mouth with a buttery taste and is definitely worth every ounce of effort. This is the traditional marwari dish that has finally gained recognition in all parts of the country.
1 cup yellow moong dal

1 cup ghee

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup mawa

10 pods of cardamom

a pinch of saffaron  (soaked in water)

15 almonds

Soak the moong dal inwater for 4 hours.Drain the water and grind in a mixer making a smooth paste.
Roast the mawa in a thick bottom pan till it turns golden brown.
Making syrup
In separate pan put sugar with 1 cup of water put on the flame and stir till the sugar dissolves.When it starts boiling then take away from flame.Add cardamom powder and saffron water to it. Microwave the almonds for 90 seconds and cut into pieces.
In a separate thick bottom non stick pan put ghee and dal paste.Switch on the flame and start stirring continuously. The paste will tend to stick to the bottom of the pan but can be avoided by proper stirring and heavy bottom.It wil take full 5o minutes to roast it completely.At initial stage negligence may lead to lump formation.After 20 minutes of roasting it will become easy to stir as the water will evaporate and mixture will get fried in the ghee.Within next 25 minutes it will turn to golden  colour.At this stage put roasted mawa to it and stir.for next 5 minutes An aroma of fried moong dal paste and the color turning to brown  will tell you that it is ready.Now add sugar syrup to it stir for 2 minutes and turn off the flame .Garnish with roasted and sliced almonds.

Moong dal halwa is ready to serve.
Check out the Gajar Halwa in a separate post.