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No-Ghee Sweet Potato & Carrot Halwa

This halwa uses no ghee and is great by itself, or with a dollop of ghee, or stuffed into kachoris or even parathas.

I’ve been trying to use sweet potatoes in ways other than my usual and this dish came together quite well. Not only was it quite nice as a regular halwa, but it also worked wonderfully as a stuffing for gujiyas and kachoris. We tried a few at home and they turned out quite well. In fact, we even did one in a mooncake mould and that turned out nice too.

This recipe was created for The Right Side of Life, a Safal community on Facebook. If you’re interested in eating healthier and involving food in different aspects of wellness, this is a group for you. We’re planning lots of activities and content for this group that I’m sure you’ll love!

This halwa works great as a stuffing too, if deep fried carbs are your thing.

Ingredients:

  • Sweet potatoes, 2 medium, sliced in half length-ways, steamed
  • Carrots, 3 medium, peeled and grated
  • Sugar per your preferences
  • Cinnamon powder, 1/2 tsp
  • Elaichi / Cardamom, 2 whole, peeled and powdered

Method:

  1. Mash the sweet potatoes. Incorporate the shredded carrots and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
  2. Using a non-stick pan pour the mixture, including any shed water, cook the mixture on low heat, until the carrots lose their raw taste – about 15 minutes. Add more water if you think it’s needed, but make sure the mixture is quite dry by the time you’re done.
  3. Adjust sweetness with powdered sugar or honey, as granulated sugar will not blend in easily at this stage.

The halwa is done at this point and can be served. If you find it a little dreary, a little ghee will go a long way in making it more appetising for some of us.

If you want to put it into kachoris or gujiyas, the dough we used was all purpose flour, 25% ghee (25gm in 100gm of flour), a large pinch of powdered sugar and just enough water to make it into a tight dough that was rested in the fridge for about 20 minutes prior to use.

Notes:

  • Some sweet potatoes turn out quite fibrous. If so, blend the steamed sweet potato before mixing with the carrots.
  • We steam the sweet potatoes so it takes less time to dry out later. If you want you can boil them instead.
  • The halwa can be easily used to stuff parathas that’ll hold quite well.
  • When in the pan, you’ll find a silicone spatula quite useful instead of a wooden implement.

By Sid Khullar

Sid Khullar is a wellness coach who works with different aspects of lifestyle change towards the accomplishment of goals such as weight loss and blood sugar management among other health situations that require the presence of specialised, precise diets and lifestyle change. His methods address aspects of food, nutrition and the mind.