Nutty halwa
Glossy wheat-starch halwa cooked with ghee, saffron and nuts
Nutty halwa is a jewel-bright, chewy halwa in the Bombay (Karachi) halwa style: starch washed out of a wheat dough is cooked with syrup for well over an hour, with ghee added spoon by spoon until it shines, then studded with almonds, pistachios and cashews. It's glossy, chewy and fragrant with cardamom and saffron. Makes about 42 pieces; serve it warm.
- Total time
- 180 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 21
Ingredients
For the dough
For the sugar syrup
For the halwa
Method
0/15 doneStep 1: Mix 16 oz plain flour with 1 cup water and knead into a soft dough.
5 minStep 2: Put the dough in a bowl, cover with 5 ¼ cups water and leave to soak overnight.
600 minStep 3: Next day, knead the dough in about 3 cups of the 3 ¼ cups water and strain the milky water into a large bowl. This is the starch.
Step 4: Add more of the 15 ½ cups water to the dough a little at a time, kneading and straining each time, until you have about 18 cups of starchy water in total. Discard the gluten left in your hand.
30 minStep 5: Boil 2 ¼ lb sugar and 2 cups water to a two-thread syrup (a drop pressed between finger and thumb forms two threads; see the sugar syrup recipe).
15 minStep 6: Mix the syrup and the starch water in a large kadai (wok).
Step 7: Cook on a high heat, stirring constantly so it doesn't catch.
30 minStep 8: Mix ½ tsp orange and red food colouring with a little water and stir it into the halwa.
Step 9: When the mixture thickens and starts to stick to the kadai, or after about an hour, start adding 2 cups oil mixed with ghee a teaspoon at a time on a medium heat, stirring all the time.
30 minStep 10: Carry on cooking and adding ghee for 45 minutes or more. The halwa is done when it moves around the pan in one big, glossy lump and ghee oozes out of it.
45 minStep 11: Add 5 tbsp cardamom and ½ tsp saffron and cook for 3 minutes.
3 minStep 12: Take off the heat, add 12 ½ oz mixed nuts (almonds, pistachios and cashews) and mix well.
Step 13: Spread the halwa evenly in a greased 28 x 31 cm tray.
Step 14: After an hour, cut into squares and leave overnight in the tray.
60 minStep 15: Before serving, warm the halwa in a low oven, about 250°F (200°F fan), for 10 minutes. Lift out the pieces and serve warm.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 54 g
- Fat
- 23 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does nutty halwa take?
- About 180 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 120 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 21 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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