Indian carrot halva. Halva from flour

How to make halva the Indian way

We're used to that halva is made from ground sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, sugar or honey. Other in India. Halva is made quite differently here - most often from fried semolina with the addition of milk syrup, sugar, nuts and dried fruits.

Indian halva more like crumbly sweet pudding. It is best eaten hot. It is sold in shops with sweets, it costs from 10-20 rupees (about 6-12 rubles) per 100 grams. The Indians pronounce its name as "halava".

Halva is loved both in the north and in the south. In the north, vegetable halva is often offered for dessert or even as a snack - it is made from carrots, pumpkins or sweet potatoes. Grated vegetables are boiled in cream or milk until thickened. And fruit halva is very sweet, it is eaten with pastries. And in Kozhikode in Kerala in southern India they make halva according to a special recipe, it is called Kozhikkodan Halwa. It is made from maida (a type of wheat flour), ghee, coconut, cashews, pineapple, etc. Karutha aluva, made from rice, is also popular in the south. This halva is almost black.

Sooji Halwa- halva from semolina,
Sooji gajar Halwa- from semolina with carrots,
Sooji besan Halwa- from semolina and chickpea flour,
Gajar Halwa- carrot,
Aateka Halwa - wheat halva,
Kaju Halwa - made from cashew nuts
Badam ka Halwa- almond.

Make halva simply, all the ingredients for many types of halva are familiar to us. You need to choose good quality butter. It is better to use light brown unrefined sugar, which is available in many supermarkets, both in Russian packaging and imported (Denmark, Great Britain). In India, they put more sugar than in the above recipe. It takes about half an hour to cook.

Halva from semolina with raisins

2 3/4 cups (650 ml) milk
1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg,
1/4 cup (35 g) raisins
1 cup (200g) butter (preferably melted ghee)
1 1/2 cups (225 g) semolina
2 teaspoons orange zest or
1/4 cup hazelnuts or walnuts, or other toppings (see below)
juice of one lemon

1) Slowly melt the sugar in a cast-iron, cauldron or thick-walled saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly so as not to burn. If there is no cast iron, see another option below.
2) It will turn light brown - reduce the heat and slowly pour in hot (!) Milk. The sugar will crystallize.
3) Leave to dissolve over low heat.
4) Melt the butter in a frying pan (pot), fry the semolina in it for 15 minutes, stirring regularly until it becomes slightly brown.
5) Add raisins, zest and juice (or nuts) to caramelized milk.
6) Pour this mixture into semolina.
7) Stir once or twice: break up the lumps, then cook for a few minutes on low heat under the lid to absorb the liquid.
8) Stir several times for looseness.
9) It is best to eat halva hot. It can be warmed up by holding the pan in a large bowl of hot water. At the same time, it must be kneaded, it will become more airy.

Another variant- if there is no cast iron or thick-walled pan. Immediately pour hot milk with sugar or water with sugar and spices into semolina.

Tried Supplements: vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, various toasted nuts, fresh fruits, especially plums, apricots and peaches. All this should be added not at the last moment, but to cook a little together.

Carrot halva

900 g fresh carrots
3/4 cup (150g) butter
2 cups (500 ml) milk
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
3 art. raisin spoons,
3 art. tablespoons almonds (or cashews), sliced ​​and lightly toasted
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom.

1) Grate the carrots on a fine grater and fry for 10 minutes in melted butter over medium heat, stirring often.
2) Add milk, sugar, raisins, almonds. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, until it turns into a homogeneous mass.
3) Cool, make a layer 2.5 cm thick, sprinkle with cardamom. Cut into pieces and serve as a dessert.

- a popular dessert in India - will delight lovers of natural homemade sweets. Cardamom gives the dessert an original flavor and aroma.

Of course, carrot halva is not at all like the usual halva for us, neither in taste, nor in appearance, nor in texture, they are related only by the fact that both are sweet, and even the presence of nuts. But an Indian delicacy may well appeal to both adults and children or surprise your guests.

Necessary:

  • Fresh carrots - 900 grams (in other words, 1 kilogram minus cleaning!)
  • Butter - 150 grams
  • Milk - 0.5 liters (preferably boiled)
  • Sugar - 150-180 grams (approximately 0.75 cups), if you like it to be VERY sweet, you can put a whole glass
  • Raisins - about 2/3 cup, up to a whole glass
  • Cashew nuts (peeled and lightly roasted, but by no means salted) - 70-80 grams (this is the most expensive ingredient). You can replace with lightly roasted almond slices (about 3 tablespoons), you can also try with peanuts (unsalted !!!)
  • Ground cardamom - from 0.5 to 1 teaspoon, depending on your love of spices (you can try to replace ground cinnamon and add ground cloves on the tip of the spoon - but it will be a completely different taste)

Cooking:

Wash the carrots, peel and grate on a fine grater.

Pour raisins with boiling water, let stand for 8-10 minutes, then drain the water and cool the raisins.

Fry the nuts (if you bought unroasted ones) lightly (3-4 minutes) in a frying pan without oil. Chop the nuts with a knife into pieces, but not very finely. Some of the nuts can be left whole and set aside for decoration.

Next, melt the butter in a deep frying pan.

We spread the carrots in a pan with oil, mix and fry on a high heat level for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then add milk and sugar, mix everything, bring to a boil, reduce the heat under the pan to medium and cook and simmer for another 30 minutes. During this time, the liquid in the pan will evaporate by more than half.

Add nuts, mix.

Add raisins, mix.

Add cardamom, mix everything again.

We continue to fry, periodically (quite often) stirring until the liquid has completely evaporated from the pan. It takes us 15-20 minutes, but the time may vary depending on the diameter of the pan and the features of your stove. When all the liquid has evaporated and the color of the carrots has darkened, turn off the stove and let the carrot mass cool.

In principle, it is already ready and you can eat it, but simply spreading the mass with a spoon on plates is not so interesting, and it looks like porridge, and not a tasty dessert. Therefore, we spread the cooled carrot mass on a tray or flat dish and form a layer with a thickness of 2-2.5 centimeters with a spatula. This layer is slightly compressed with the same spatula.

Gili kichri, a dish of rice, peas and spinach -

This popular dish of rice, vegetables and peas takes about an hour to cook. It's hearty and perfect for lunch. He is loved both in Calcutta and in southern India. Prepare, like almost all Indian dishes, immediately before a meal or 1-2 hours before it. Gili khichri can be served with a vegetable salad, such as cucumber tomato raita.

How to make gili khichri
1.5 cups medium or long grain rice
1 ¼ cups mung dal or regular peas
¼ cup melted butter or butter
3 bay leaves,
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger,
2 cloves
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
225 g fresh finely chopped spinach,
3 finely chopped tomatoes.

Dal - this is the name in India of any legumes: peas, beans, lentils. Mung-dal - known in Russia under the name "mash". They are small green beans with a small white stripe down the middle. The simultaneous use of rice and legumes helps to better absorb the beneficial substances from both products.

For soups, sauces and other dishes, it is best to take peeled mung dal, it is pale yellow in color. You can buy it in Indian goods stores. In St. Petersburg, for example, it is in the Himalaya store on 1st Sovetskaya Street. It costs from 70 rubles per pack (400-500 gr).

Spinach can be used frozen, preferably whole.

1) Rinse dal and rice, leave in water for one hour, drain.
2) Fry bay leaf, ginger and cloves in heated ghee or butter in a cauldron or thick-walled pan, add rice and dal.
3) Fry, stirring, 8-10 minutes until oil is absorbed.
4) Pour water 5 cm above the rice with dal, add salt, turmeric, nutmeg, stir and bring to a boil. If you use other types of legumes - their cooking time may increase, then it is better to cook them almost until cooked separately, and then cook them together with rice.
5) Close the lid tightly and cook over medium or low heat for about 30 minutes, gradually reducing the heat. Add some water if necessary.
6) Then add the chopped spinach and tomatoes, stir gently and close the lid. Cook for about 15 more minutes. Kichri must remain moist. Stir at the end of cooking, ready-made khichri sticks to the bottom of the pan.

Paneer shak - steamed spinach with cheese -

In southern India, steamed spinach with cheese is very popular. It is usually served with wheat cakes and rice, and sometimes as an independent dish.

Cooking it is quite simple, almost all the ingredients can be bought in Russia. The dish is prepared immediately before eating, served hot. It takes 20-30 minutes to prepare.


Classic paneer shaka recipe

450 g fresh spinach without stalks (can be replaced with frozen),
1 tablespoon melted butter,
2 teaspoons ground coriander,
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground hot red pepper
½ teaspoon garam masala (mixture of spices)
2 pinches asafoetida (optional)
3 tablespoons of water
2/3 cup sour cream (optional)
225 gr paneer (Adyghe cheese is suitable),
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar

Usually, asafoetida and garam masala, a special mixture of spices, will be used for this dish. If they are not available, then you can add curry, but then reduce the amount of red pepper and turmeric.

There are two types of frozen spinach on sale: whole, rolled into balls, and chopped - portioned or solid frozen sheet. Take whole.

Wash spinach, drain and chop. Heat the melted butter in a saucepan over medium heat, fry the ground spices for a few seconds. Add spinach and simmer over low heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Put sour cream or cream, with them the taste is softer, and Adyghe cheese, diced, salt, sugar, stir and cook for about five more minutes on low heat.

You can fry the cheese with spices first. It is advisable to choose Adyghe cheese, which does not crumble, and the right cheese should not stick to the pan. Then add frozen spinach and, a little later, cream. In the picture, Adyghe cheese is slightly fried.

Raita - Indian salad with yogurt -

Raita, a salad with yogurt, is a very common dish in India. In the summer it is served for lunch almost every day. Eaten with spicy food - it contrasts well with hot and spicy dishes, helps to extinguish the "fire in the mouth." Making this dish is pretty easy.

The name "raita" comes from the word "paradise" - black mustard seeds (In Russia, this spice can be bought in Indian goods stores and markets). In Gujarat, each such salad is necessarily made with black mustard seeds, but in northern India it is customary to add Indian cumin, fried without oil and crushed, to raita.

Yogurt must be taken either homemade (see the recipe "How yogurt is made in India"), or store-bought, which is sold under the names "katyk" and "matsoni" (produced by "Clean Line"). An obligatory component of raita is fresh herbs. In India, cilantro is most commonly used in this dish, but other herbs can be used as well.

Khira Raita
Grated cucumbers in mint yogurt

½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
2 medium cucumbers
1 ¼ cups yogurt
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

2 tbsp. tablespoons sesame or other vegetable oil
fresh mint

1. Grate cucumbers, salt, leave for 10-20 minutes, then squeeze out excess juice.
2. Grate or finely chop the radish (can be done without radishes).
3. Finely chop the greens (cilantro, parsley, dill, etc.). You can also add fresh mint.
4. Pour yogurt or yogurt-sour cream mixture into a bowl, add red pepper, beat with a fork until smooth. Add cucumbers and radishes, stir.
5. In a small skillet or ladle, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Fry black mustard seeds in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Fry until they stop crackling and turn gray.
6. Pour the oil, along with the roasted seeds, into the yogurt and cucumber mixture and stir.
7. Put in the refrigerator for 1.5 -2 hours. During this time, it will be well saturated with spices. Eat chilled.

kakri raita
Cucumber salad with yogurt

½ tsp cumin seeds
2 medium cucumbers
1 ¼ cups yogurt
½ tsp garamasala,
½ tsp salt,
¼ tsp ground black pepper

1. Coarsely grate cucumbers, salt, leave for 10 minutes, then squeeze out excess juice.
2. Grate or finely chop the radish. Cut greens (cilantro, parsley, dill and Chinese salad).
3. Fry cumin in a dry frying pan.
4. Mix yogurt with herbs and seasonings, stir well.
5. Add cucumbers and radishes, mix.
6. Put in the refrigerator for 1.5 -2 hours.

tamatar raita
Tomatoes with yogurt

Another popular Raita in India is with tomatoes. It is better to use strong tomatoes or remove the seeds. You can take small tomatoes, cut them into quarters. From the greens, it is better to take the leaves of fresh cilantro, basil or dill.

2 cups yogurt or a mixture of 1 ½ cups yogurt and 1/3 cup sour cream.
¾ teaspoon salt
1 pinch white or black pepper
3-4 firm medium sized tomatoes
1 st. a spoonful of vegetable oil (sesame or other)
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/3 green chili pepper (or to taste), de-seeded and finely chopped
cilantro, basil, or dill for garnish

1. Pour yogurt (or a mixture of yogurt and sour cream), put salt and pepper. Beat with a fork until smooth.
2. Peel the tomatoes and cut into 1.5 cm cubes. Dip in yogurt without stirring.
3. Refrigerate for several hours (or continue without refrigeration).
4. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan or bowl. In hot, but not smoking oil, toss mustard seeds and green hot peppers. When the mustard seeds begin to crackle and turn bluish, pour the seasoning into the salad and mix gently. After pouring in the oil, it should be served immediately. Decorate with a sprig of greenery.

Lassi - a drink made from dairy products -

Yogurt can be used to make namkin lassi and mithi lassi - salty and sweet lassi, the most popular soft milk drinks in India. In fact, this is yogurt diluted with water with additives.

The consistency of lassi resembles a milkshake, but it is much lower in calories. The simplest lassi is made with yogurt, sugar and crushed ice.

Pictured is a banana lassi. You can do it at any time of the year, but it is especially good in warm weather. It is better to beat the bananas first to grind them as much as possible, and then add water, yogurt and honey, and beat again. Can be made with ripe mango, strawberries, raspberries. Delicious! It is recommended to first dissolve sugar or honey in a small amount of warm water.

Mithi lassi
(sweet yogurt drink)

4 cups of yogurt
3 cups cold water
6 art. spoons of sugar or 5 tbsp. l. honey,
2 teaspoons rose water
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
Crushed ice (optional)
You can add a pinch of nutmeg.

Beat everything until foamy, serve chilled. Instead of rose water, you can add 3 tbsp. lemon juice 3 tbsp flavored syrup 1/2 cup mashed cherries, ripe bananas or ripe mangoes.

Namkin lassi
(salty yogurt drink)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground.
4 cups of yogurt
3 cups of water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons of salt (it is worth reducing, in our opinion, this is a lot)
Crushed ice (optional)
You can add mint.

Mix all ingredients, except cumin, in a mixer. Pour the mixture into glasses, sprinkle with a pinch of crushed cumin on top. Serve chilled or at room temperature. If making with mint, mix in a mixer until the mint leaves turn into a paste (about 30 seconds). A glass of mint yogurt can be garnished with a mint leaf.

Lassi is good for breakfast or in the morning, not recommended in the evening. Yogurt can be made at home (see How to make yogurt in India for a detailed recipe). You can also use store-bought products that are sold under the names of matsoni or katyk (they are produced by Pure Line) or Bulgarian yogurt. You can also buy matsoni in some cities in the markets, for example, in St. Petersburg - on Kuznechny.

By the way: yogurt, about half diluted with water, is ayran or tan in the Caucasian tradition. It is possible that lassi will also turn out from store-bought ayran or tan, but we have not tried it.

How yogurt is made in India

In India, homemade yogurt - dahi - is eaten as often as cereals, vegetables and legumes. It is made from whole milk, sometimes even cream and sourdough. If yogurt is diluted with water, lassi is obtained - a light sour-milk drink that quenches thirst well.

Yogurt is also used to prepare nutritious salads - Wright. Yogurt or lassi, not water, is served in India with spicy dishes - it is able to put out a fire in the mouth.

Sometimes you can hear that in India they eat kefir, but this is not so. Yogurt and kefir are fundamentally different drinks. They eat fermented milk products either in the morning or at lunch, but not in the evening, and even more so at night. Yogurt and salads with it are best consumed in the warm season, while in winter, when the fire of digestion intensifies, the number of dishes from milk is increased in the diet.


Classic yogurt recipe:

Milk. It is best to make from home or state farm milk. Store-bought milk is fine too, but use pasteurized rather than sterilized milk.

Leaven. You can buy ready-made matsoni (katyk) from the Chistaya Liniya company, there are matsoni on the market, for example, in St. Petersburg - on Kuznechny. You can use Bulgarian yogurt, it is sold in Finland. It is believed that the culture improves over the years where it has been fermented continuously for many years. Yogurt for starter culture should be fresh and sweet, if milk is fermented with sour yogurt, then the resulting yogurt will also be sour.

1) Boil milk, you can even sweat for density.
2) Pour into a glass jar or dish in which you will prepare yogurt. Cool to a temperature when the finger endures for some time (count to 15).
3) Put the starter - 2 tablespoons on the floor of a liter jar, stir.
4) Wrap up. The temperature should be 30-43 degrees. If the house is cool, you can put it near the battery (but not on it) or in the oven. Try not to move the pan!
5) After 5-6 hours, check whether the milk has curdled, that is, whether it has become dense and thick. If it doesn't curl, keep checking. The maximum time is 12 hours.
6) As soon as the milk curdles, put it in the refrigerator, otherwise the bacteria will continue to work. Ready yogurt try not to shake.
7) It is better to eat yogurt within 3 days, the maximum is stored for 4-5 days.

If fermented early, when the milk is still hot, or if you forget to get it on time, it may curdle. Then instead of yogurt you will have to make pies. If fermented milk is too cold, it can be liquid. Now there are yogurt makers on sale that control the temperature themselves. In fermented yogurt, when it begins to thicken, you can add berries and pieces of fruit. Sometimes it is tinted with a piece of beetroot.

By the way, this is how yogurt is made not only in India, but also in other countries, for example, in Greece, Bulgaria and the Middle East. Matsoni (Georgian), matsun (Armenian), katyk (Central Asian), yourt (Turkish), lyaban zabaadin (Arabic), sour milk (Bulgian), yaurti (Greek), etc. - all these are the names of yogurt, that is, a product fermented by the culture of Bulgarian sticks. For example, in the Stavropol Territory it is called "sourdough", but the recipe is the same as yogurt.

The difference from curdled milk: it is obtained from unboiled sour milk, while yogurt is made from boiled, but the sourdough is still the same - Bulgarian stick.
But yogurt differs sharply from kefir both in taste and in its own culture and effect on the body. Yogurt has a huge distribution area in the world, unlike kefir, which is eaten in the Caucasus, and now in Russia.

Since yogurt is fermented milk, it has the same nutritional value. It is rich in calcium, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, phosphorus, vitamins A, D and a complex of B vitamins. Yogurt promotes the growth of E. coli, which improves digestion and destroys harmful bacteria that cause many intestinal diseases. The lactose contained in yogurt helps the body digest the calcium and phosphorus that enters it, and yogurt itself is absorbed faster than milk. In one hour, the body digests yogurt by 91 percent, while milk by 32 percent.

Halva in Indian -

We are used to the fact that halva is made from ground sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, sugar or honey. Other in India. Halva is made quite differently here - most often from fried semolina with the addition of milk syrup, sugar, nuts and dried fruits.

Indian halva is more like a crumbly sweet pudding. It is best eaten hot. It is sold in shops with sweets, it costs from 10-20 rupees (about 6-12 rubles) per 100 grams. The Indians pronounce its name as "halava".

Halva is loved both in the north and in the south. In the north, vegetable halva is often offered for dessert or even as a snack - it is made from carrots, pumpkins or sweet potatoes. Grated vegetables are boiled in cream or milk until thickened. And fruit halva is very sweet, it is eaten with pastries. And in Kozhikode in Kerala in southern India they make halva according to a special recipe, it is called Kozhikkodan Halwa. It is made from maida (a type of wheat flour), ghee, coconut, cashews, pineapple, etc. Karutha aluva, made from rice, is also popular in the south. This halva is almost black.

Sooji Halwa - semolina halva,
Sooji gajar Halwa - semolina with carrots,
Sooji besan Halwa - made from semolina and chickpea flour,
Gajar Halwa - carrot,
Aate ka Halwa - wheat halva,
Kaju Halwa - made from cashew nuts
Badam ka Halwa - almond.

Making halva is simple, all the ingredients for many types of halva are familiar to us. You need to choose good quality butter. It is better to use light brown unrefined sugar, which is available in many supermarkets, both in Russian packaging and imported (Denmark, Great Britain). In India, they put more sugar than in the above recipe. It takes about half an hour to prepare.

Halva from semolina with raisins

2 3/4 cups (650 ml) milk
1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg,
1/4 cup (35 g) raisins
1 cup (200g) butter (preferably melted ghee)
1 1/2 cups (225 g) semolina
2 teaspoons orange zest or
1/4 cup hazelnuts or walnuts, or other toppings (see below)
juice of one lemon

1) Slowly melt the sugar in a cast-iron, cauldron or thick-walled saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly so as not to burn. If there is no cast iron, see another option below.
2) It will turn light brown - reduce the heat and slowly pour in hot (!) Milk. The sugar will crystallize.
3) Leave to dissolve over low heat.
4) Melt the butter in a frying pan (pot), fry the semolina in it for 15 minutes, stirring regularly until it becomes slightly brown.
5) Add raisins, zest and juice (or nuts) to caramelized milk.
6) Pour this mixture into semolina.
7) Stir once or twice: break up the lumps, then cook for a few minutes on low heat under the lid to absorb the liquid.
8) Stir several times for looseness.
9) It is best to eat halva hot. It can be warmed up by holding the pan in a large bowl of hot water. At the same time, it must be kneaded, it will become more airy.

Another option is if there is no cast iron or thick-walled pan. Immediately pour hot milk with sugar or water with sugar and spices into semolina.

Ingredients Tried: Vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, various toasted nuts, fresh fruit, especially plums, apricots, and peaches. All this should be added not at the last moment, but to cook a little together.

Carrot halva

900 g fresh carrots
3/4 cup (150g) butter
2 cups (500 ml) milk
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
3 art. raisin spoons,
3 art. tablespoons almonds (or cashews), sliced ​​and lightly toasted
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom.

1) Grate the carrots on a fine grater and fry for 10 minutes in melted butter over medium heat, stirring often.
2) Add milk, sugar, raisins, almonds. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, until it turns into a homogeneous mass.
3) Cool, make a layer 2.5 cm thick, sprinkle with cardamom. Cut into pieces and serve as a dessert.

Also see How to find halvah in Egypt

Carrot halva made from Russian products looks like a real Indian one.

Semolina halva is best eaten hot. But you can make balls out of it and decorate with half a cashew nut or almond.

Compiled by: Elena Kogutovskaya, Elvi Usmanova, photo by Elena Kogutovskaya
A source -

Description

Indian carrot halva- This is a delicious vegetarian dessert, which comes from North India. And although this version of halva is completely unusual for us, it still turns out to be no less tasty. Nuts in its preparation, by the way, are still used. In this case, it's cashews. If we consider Indian cooking in general, it will become obvious that many traditional Indian desserts are prepared from fruits and vegetables. Therefore, it is not surprising that their halva is made on the basis of carrots.

The preparation of this dessert consists in the fact that carrots, with the addition of nuts and raisins, are boiled in sugared milk until thick. Such halva is served either simply by putting it on a plate, or by forming it into sweets using special molds and decorating with a whole nut on top. Believe me, the aesthetic side of this dessert and the taste are just on top. As for the cooking time, it will take about an hour, no more. Not much for a tasty and healthy dessert!

It is very simple to prepare such an Indian-style carrot sweetness at home, which we will tell you about in this recipe with step-by-step photos.

Ingredients


  • (large, 5 pieces)

  • (2/3 st.)

  • (1 st.)

  • (1 tablespoon)

  • (2 handfuls)

  • (50-60 g)

Cooking steps

    First you need to prepare the main ingredient of our recipe - carrots. We will clean it, wash it, and then rub it using a coarse grater.

    Place a frying pan on the fire and add ghee to the frying pan. When it melts, we will send carrots to it. We will fry it on low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly. Then pour milk into the pan.

    Stir the carrots and milk, and then add sugar to these products ( you can use not white refined, but brown cane - it will turn out much more useful). We simmer the carrots in a pan until all the liquid has evaporated from it, and the sweetness itself has thickened. If you simmer halva over low heat, then this process will take about half an hour.

    Now we need toasted cashew nuts and raisins pre-washed with water.

    We send the two previously mentioned ingredients to the pan with carrot halva.

    Mix the contents of the pan and simmer it for about five more minutes ( still on low heat).

    Let the Indian carrot halva cool slightly and serve it on the table. If desired, sweets can be formed from such halva. This version of the dessert will be appropriate for the festive table, when its aesthetic component is also important.

    Bon Appetit!


Indian halva more like crumbly sweet pudding. It is best eaten hot. It is sold in shops with sweets, it costs from 10-20 rupees (about 6-12 rubles) per 100 grams. The Indians pronounce its name as "halava".

Halva is loved both in the north and in the south. In the north, vegetable halva is often offered for dessert or even as a snack - it is made from carrots, pumpkins or sweet potatoes. Grated vegetables are boiled in cream or milk until thickened. And fruit halva is very sweet, it is eaten with pastries. And in Kozhikode in Kerala in southern India they make halva according to a special recipe, it is called Kozhikkodan Halwa. It is made from maida (a type of wheat flour), ghee, coconut, cashews, pineapple, etc. Karutha aluva, made from rice, is also popular in the south. This halva is almost black.

Sooji Halwa- halva from semolina,
Sooji gajar Halwa- from semolina with carrots,
Sooji besan Halwa- from semolina and chickpea flour,
Gajar Halwa- carrot,
Aate ka Halwa- wheat halva,
Kaju Halwa- from cashew nuts
Badam ka Halwa- almond.

Easy to make halva, all the ingredients for many types of halva are familiar to us. You need to choose good quality butter. It is better to use light brown unrefined sugar, which is available in many supermarkets, both in Russian packaging and imported (Denmark, Great Britain). In India, they put more sugar than in the above recipe. It takes about half an hour to prepare.

Halva from semolina with raisins

2 3/4 cups (650 ml) milk
1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg,
1/4 cup (35 g) raisins
1 cup (200g) butter (preferably melted ghee)
1 1/2 cups (225 g) semolina
2 teaspoons orange zest or
1/4 cup hazelnuts or walnuts, or other toppings (see below)

juice of one lemon

1) Slowly melt the sugar in a cast-iron, cauldron or thick-walled saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly so as not to burn. If there is no cast iron, see another option below.
2) It will turn light brown - reduce the heat and slowly pour in hot (!) Milk. The sugar will crystallize.
3) Leave to dissolve over low heat.
4) Melt the butter in a frying pan (pot), fry the semolina in it for 15 minutes, stirring regularly until it becomes slightly brown.
5) Add raisins, zest and juice (or nuts) to caramelized milk.
6) Pour this mixture into semolina.
7) Stir once or twice: break up the lumps, then cook for a few minutes on low heat under the lid to absorb the liquid.
8) Stir several times for looseness.
9) It is best to eat halva hot. It can be warmed up by holding the pan in a large bowl of hot water. At the same time, it must be kneaded, it will become more airy.

Another variant- if there is no cast iron or thick-walled pan. Immediately pour hot milk with sugar or water with sugar and spices into semolina.

Tried Supplements: vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, various toasted nuts, fresh fruits, especially plums, apricots and peaches. All this should be added not at the last moment, but to cook a little together.

Carrot halva

900 g fresh carrots
3/4 cup (150g) butter
2 cups (500 ml) milk
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
3 art. raisin spoons,
3 art. tablespoons almonds (or cashews), sliced ​​and lightly toasted
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom.

1) Grate the carrots on a fine grater and fry for 10 minutes in melted butter over medium heat, stirring often.
2) Add milk, sugar, raisins, almonds. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, until it turns into a homogeneous mass.
3) Cool, make a layer 2.5 cm thick, sprinkle with cardamom. Cut into pieces and serve as a dessert.

Elena Kogutovskaya, Elvi Usmanova