Monday, December 10, 2007

Recipe: Wheat halwa


When I posted the recipe for Kashi Halwa one of the readers had asked for the recipe for Wheat Halwa and I had promised to post it when I got a chance. Unfortunately, it took me longer than I expected! Wheat Halwa is prepared using a special type of long bodied wheat called Chamba wheat in Tamil. It is not available in all shops. I checked many shops in Hyderabad and was not successful. Though hubby dear located a shop in Bangalore and brought the wheat for me, it took me another 3 months to actually prepare the halwa. I finally used the excuse of my handsome and charming son’s visit to Hyderabad to make some wheat halwa for him. Therefore, recipe time!

Preparation of wheat halwa is a laborious and time consuming process, but the final result is worth the effort. You also need an additional pair of strong hands to stir the halwa non-stop, so don’t start preparing the halwa all alone.

Ingredients:
Chamba wheat : 1 cup
Sugar : 3 cups
Ghee: 2 cups
Cashew nuts : 1 tbsp.
Raisins : 1 tbsp.
Cardomom powder : 1 tsp.
Red food color : a pinch
Saffron: few strands
Boiling water: 4 cups (keep this boiling hot in a stove near by)

Method:
Wash and soak the wheat for 4 hours. Grind the soaked wheat with just enough water initially and when the wheat is well ground, add more water and grind to a smooth batter. Strain the batter through a muslin cloth or a fine strainer to another container. When all the milk is drained, grind the residue with some more water to extract any left over milk from the wheat. Strain again. Allow the wheat milk to stand for 2 hours and decant the water on the top. The wheat milk will have settled down at the bottom. This is the base for wheat halwa.

Fry the cashew nuts and raisins in ghee to a golden brown and keep aside.

Boil the sugar with 2 cups of water in a thick bottomed kadai (a non-stick would be the best choice). When the sugar dissolves and starts to boil, add a tbsp. of milk or lemon juice to remove the impurities of the sugar, which will float as scum. Boil the sugar syrup to one string consistency and add the wheat milk and keep stirring (non-stop).

Dissolve the saffron and food color in a little milk and add to the boiling halwa. When the contents start leaving the sides of the kadai add 1 cup of boiling water, stirring all the while. As and when this water gets absorbed add one ladle full of ghee and stir some more. Add 1 more cup of boiling water and ghee and repeat this process until all the water has been added and absorbed. Add the remaining ghee and keep stirring until the halwa leaves the sides of the kadai. Add cardomom powder ,stir and pour onto a greased tray. Allow to cool for some time. Cut into desired shape.


Enjoy!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very simply explained recipe, maami. I have one doubt... what will happen if I make with normal wheat? I don't know the variety but I bought a stout type where we live. And approximately how many cups of water did you use for grinding the wheat? Thank you.

EC said...

colour of the halwa looks great...i too have to find out if we get that variety of wheat at my place...is there any other alternative to that ??

Ammupatti said...

Hi Latha and easycrafts(is that your name?)

I am actually not sure if you would get the same result. I have always been making with this wheat. May be the other varieties have more fibre and less milk. Why dont you try with a little quantity and let me know also.

Best wishes

Ammupatti said...

Hi Latha

I forgot to add. I used about 4 cups pf water to grind the wheat

Swaroopa said...

looks gr8!! very healthy treat too...

Anonymous said...

Mami,

Thank you so much! I was the one that requested this recipe. I can't believe you even remembered! I will attempt this with my sister; I definitely need another strong pair of hands. I'm hoping to find this wheat here, in the USA. Thanks a ton once again!

Ammupatti said...

Hi anonymous


(really funny to think someone will have name as anonymous)

Best wishes. Let me know how it turned out.

Anonymous said...

Thanks very much for the reply, maami. As soon as I try I shall let you know. The last picture you've added (halwa set on thattu) is really tempting.

Sagari said...

halwa looks so yummyy beautiful color too

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I remember my grandmother making this, but never ventured to do it myself. I think I will as chambe wheat is available here.

Anonymous said...

hi ammupaati

i hav been going thru ur blog for long but never till date was able to post my comments its a fantastic blog i must say i enjoy reading ur articles regarding the rituals and traditions and the lunch tht follows..hmmmm...slurp...the halwa is very tempting...havnt had a chance to try this till date but now will certainly try...:) Happy and a prosperous new year to u and ur family.

DD said...

Hi Maami,
I tried this recipe and it had come out very well.Thanks for your recipe.

sandhya said...

I have a soymilk maker that can grind any grain and get me very hot milk out of it. Has anyone tried to get wheat milk that way? If it works, that might make the process much easier.

Ammupatti said...

Hi Sandhya

Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Frankly speaking I have never used a soymilk maker. Why dont you try extracting wheat milk and let us know.

Happy Navarathri

sandhya said...

Hi Ammupatti,
Happy Navarathri to you too.
I did try this with soymilk maker today. Well, the milk wasn't white, but colorless, as it got heated in the maker. The total time I cooked the halwa, starting from heating the sugar syrup, is about 1 hour 15 minutes. It never looked like the halwa was separating from the sides of the pan, so I finally decided to turn off the stove. It would be of great help if you could give the time estimation for 1 cup of wheat, for novices like me. The halwa tastes great, although I am now waiting for it to cool down, to see the final consistency. It is a little soggy right now.

Ammupatti said...

Hi Sandhya

I am glad you could try and get the wheat milk. Let me know what was the final result.

I actually have not timed for 1 cup of wheat. It takes little long as you have to cook the wheat milk.

Happy Navarathri

meena said...

hi aunty

i read in blog that wheat milk should be cooked then the sugar shld be added , any idea whether it is correct or make we take sugar syrup then mix the wheat milk .please guide , i want to do it tommorrow.

regards
meena

Ammupatti said...

Hi Meena


Just follow my procedure. You will get good result.


Best wishes and happy Diwali ce

Meena said...

thanks aunty