Sooji ka Halwa | Indian Semolina Pudding

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Sooji ka Halwa or the Indian Semolina Pudding is one of the most popular desserts made across India, especially on auspicious occasions and festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi and Diwali. Having said that, every household follows its own way of preparing this soul satisfying halwa, yielding in different tastes, colors and textures. The recipe that I am going to share today is my Mum's, which is a keeper and has never ever failed me so far. It calls for a patient roasting of sooji on low heat along with some besan till it attains a nice deep golden hue. Yes, you read that right! my Mum always added a little besan (gramflour) to the halwa for a beautiful taste and texture. And I guess, the patient roasting is another key that imparted it a great color.

I still remember my childhood days when this halwa was prepared on the day of Durga Ashtami for Kanya Pujan; me and my sister would sit back impatiently and wait for the pooja to get over so that we could just dig in that yummilicious bowl of halwa. Oh My!! what do I say....the lovely combination of halwa along with some crisp pooris and mildly spiced kale chaney simply tasted divine. Well! its that time of the year once more and we are observing the Navratri fasts, also eagerly waiting for the day of Kanya Pujan to arrive soon so that we can again treat ourselves with this heavenly and blessed prashad.     

Few tips for a perfect sooji halwa...
  1. Roast the sooji on low heat till it attains a nice deep golden color. Make sure it doesn't burn. If it gets too dark, add about 1/4 cup of milk along with sugar syrup.
  2. Use a coarse variety of semolina if possible to get a grainy texture.
  3. While pouring in the sugar syrup, continuously stir the halwa. It would prevent any lump formation.
  4. For a soft halwa, cook it till it is of dropping consistency but gooey in texture. Immediately remove from the flame. It will get grainy as it cools.

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Sooji ka Halwa | Indian Semolina Pudding


Ingredients
  • Sooji/Semolina/Rawa - 1 cup
  • Besan - 2 tbsp
  • Pure desi ghee, melted - 1 cup
  • Water - 3 cups
  • Sugar - 1 cup
  • Saffron - few strands
  • Slivered nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews) - 2 to 3 tbsp + for garnishing
  • Raisins - a few
  • Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

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Method
  1. In a saucepan, add water and sugar. Bring to a boil on medium heat just until the sugar dissolves. Switch off the flame. Add in saffron strands, cardamom powder, raisins, and  slivered nuts keeping few aside for garnishing. 
  2. In a kadhai, heat the ghee on low flame.
  3. Add sooji and saute it until nice, fragrant and light golden in color. Make sure you stir it continuously all this while as it may burn in the blink of an eye.
  4. At this stage, add besan and stir it too along with sooji for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sooji turns deep golden in color. Keep the heat on very low all this while.
  5. Pour in the sugar syrup to the sooji slowly and very cautiously as sooji tends to splutter. Keep stirring the halwa for 5 to 6 minutes until it turns thick and starts leaving the oil. Shut the flame. Halwa would thicken further as it cools.
  6. Garnish with slivered nuts and serve warm. 


Sooji ka Halwa | Indian Semolina Pudding



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