halwa – Chef at Large

No-Ghee Sweet Potato & Carrot Halwa

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:

Mash the sweet potatoes. Incorporate the shredded carrots and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
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.
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.

Pineapple Custard Halwa/Sheera

by Pallavi Ahuja

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Semolina (Sooji/rawa)
2 teaspoon custard powder (any flavored, I have used vanilla flavored)
1 cup Desi Ghee
1 cup Sugar/Jaggery (For healthy option, you can use brown sugar, jaggery, coconut sugar, etc.)
2 tablespoon almonds, cashew, pista nuts finely chopped
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1&1/2 cups Pineapple roughly cut into small pieces (You can also use canned pineapple which is already cooked and slightly sugared, so you can adjust the sugar in the halwa accordingly)
2 cups Water
1/2 cup warm Milk
8-10 strands of Saffron (optional)

Method:

1. If you are using the fresh pineapple, then pressure cook it till 1 whistle with some water. After it is cooled down to room temperature, blend it to make a thick puree. Meanwhile soak the saffron strands in warm milk.

2. Now, take a kadai or pan. Heat ghee in it. Then add semolina and keep stirring it, so that there are no lumps. Let it roast till it gets slightly brown. Add custard powder and nuts in between to roast them as well.

3. Now add pineapple puree and sugar. Stir again and mix the ingredients well. Add water and mix well. Cover the lid of the pan and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Now add saffron milk or milk without saffron (if saffron is not available) and cardamom powder. Again mix well and let it cook for 2-3 minutes more.

5. Garnish the halwa with chopped pista nuts and serve it hot.