Beetroot Halwa : For the sweet-toothed

** Moved from my earlier blog **

Hey sweet-toothed people, here is a recipe for a halwa from my kitchen. If I can do it, so can you all :) Try it & share feedback:

Ingredients: Quantity mentioned below are my measure... But you can choose based on your headcount & taste.

1. Beetroot - 1 cup grated 
2. Milk - 2 cups
3. Dates - 4 soaked & make a watery paste of it.
4. Sugar - 1 cup (per your taste)
5. Ghee - 4-5 tsp (1/4 cup kinds)
6. Cardomom - 2-4 pounded
7. Dry fruits - Raisins, Cashew (as you need to season)

Method:

1. In a pan, heat some ghee. To it add the grated beetroot and saute it for a few minutes (till little bit of raw smell goes off and beetroot softens a bit). 
2. To this, add milk; Keep stirring to avoid sticking to the pan. Cover the pan & allow the beetroot to cook.
3. When the above mix thickens, add sugar. 
4. Cook till the sugar dissolves and starts to leave the sides - would like strings when you stir. The mixture will start to thicken further.
5. In parallel, fry cashew, raisins in ghee (alternatively, you can add them dry).
6. Cook till you get a semi thick consistency. The ghee will be absorbed and the sugar strings will start appearing. As it cools down later, it will thicken further; So, remember to remove it from fire when in a little loosen state - to avoid making 'beetroot bar' instead of 'beetroot halwa' ;)
7. Season the halwa with the fried dry fruits. Add cardamom powder at the end.

         Tasty halwa is ready to be served. I included dates to make it a little bit more healthier & tastier :)

 Note: You can follow the same procedure and make yummy Carrot halwa too... but preferably using the 'red carrots' rather the orange ones.

Posted 14th June 2011 by Sri