Wondering where I have been…..Well it’s the most awaited time of the year – summer break geee 🙂 …..Yes a long break at the best place in the world…..right, mom’s. Doing nothing much other than gorging on mom’s delicious food.
Though I missed my baking…did little bit for the kids, tried my hands on mango chutney and pickle, which turned out fairly well.
In last one month I tried three different variety of Sooji (Semolina) halwa. Each tasted different from the other and was absolutely scrumptious.
Caramel Halwa – my mom’s specialty, and my all time favorite
Ingredients:
1 cup semolina
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup ghee
½ cup mixed dry fruits (almonds, raisins, and cashew)
Method:
- In a heavy bottomed pan, heat ghee and sugar together on medium to high flame, till the sugar caramelizes.
- Quickly (before the caramel burns) add semolina and dry fruits and give it a stir,
- Add water, cover it with the lid and remove it from the fire.
- After a minute remove the lid and stir to insure no lumps are formed then put it back on fire and cook till the water evaporates and it starts leaving the sides.
- The caramel halwa is ready. Transfer it to a serving bowl, carefully cover it with silver foil and sprinkle almond sliver on top.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sooji Halwa – my mom-in-law’s specialty, simple and delicious
Ingredients:
1 cup semolina (sooji, rawa) + 1 tbsp wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup ghee (I used ½ cup for this recipe – getting health conscious :))
½ cup raisins and almonds
3 cups water
1 Black cardamom, finely powdered
Method:
- Soak raisins in water
- Blanch almonds, remove the skin, and sliver
- In a heavy bottomed pan, fry semolina and wheat flour in ghee on slow fire, stirring continuously so that it does not get burnt
- As sooji starts to change color to dark golden brown (will lighten once water is added) and one gets the aroma, add sugar and stir continuously
- Immediately add water, raisins, and almonds
- Cook till it starts leaving the sides of the pan, sprinkle cardamom powder
- Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish it with almond slivers
- Serve it hot
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Angoori Halwa – my aunt’s specialty
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 cups semolina
3 cups milk
3 tblspn ghee
½ cup chopped dry fruits (almonds, raisins, cashew, and melon seeds)
Method:
- Mix sugar, semolina and milk in a bowl, and keep aside for two hours.
- In heavy bottomed pan, fry semolina, sugar, and milk mixture with ghee on slow fire
- Stir constantly to avoid burning
- As the milk starts to evaporate and mixture tightens, the ghee appears on the edge of the pan
- Stir for a few more minutes, the mixture will form into small balls, resembling bunch of grapes (that’s where the name angoori comes from)
- This indicates angoori halwa is ready. Remove from the fire
- Add dry fruits and serve it hot
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.