Wheat Halwa

 

Ever since I was young, I distinctly remember my grandmother making different Halwas every time we came to India on vacation from Saudi Arabia. This is a basic wheat Halwa I tried out using the recipe from my mom's cookbook.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole long wheat (oosi kothumbu)
2 cups sugar
1 cups ghee
1 tbsp broken nuts (cashews/almonds/peanuts) (can add more if needed)
Food coloring

Method:

Soak the wheat in water overnight.

Once well-soaked, blitz the wheat in a Mixie or blender with About 1/4 cup water till it is fine and creamy. Add a little water (just enough to help sieve it in the next step).

Run through a sieve to remove the bran residue.

Run through a double-sieve or muslin cloth to remove more bran residue. The bran residue looks like this:

Discard the bran residue, keep the sieved liquid aside to allow sediments to settle.

Once the sediments have settled, carefully pour out the liquid on top. The picture below shows how it looks:

Transfer the sediment to a non-stick pan on medium heat and add the sugar.

Add the food coloring and stir until all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture begins to thicken.

Add about 2 tbsp of the ghee, and continue stirring until all the ghee has been absorbed. The mixture will continue thickening.

Add another 2 tbsp of the ghee and continue the procedure till all the ghee has been incorporated.

The halwa is ready when it can be easily cut and separated with the ladle, and stops sticking to the ladle. If it sticks to your teeth when you chew on it, it’s not ready yet.