TIRUNELVELI HALWA ( WHEAT HALWA)

Hi all.. It’s the month of Diwali and I hope you all will be busy in making sweets, receiving and sharing sweets among near and dear ones. Sweets are loved by everyone and halwa is one among them. Being a south Indian ,dwelling in the state of Tamil Nadu… if you say halwa, my mind simply visualises tirunelveli halwa. It is so famous and loved by everyone, not only in Tamil Nadu but by every single person who tastes it!!! Tirunelveli is one of the districts in Tamil Nadu and this is the place where this halwa actually originated. Its also known as “Iruttukadai halwa”(the most famous shop that sells this halwa). It has a very unique taste and I also loved making this halwa because I have always thought that it was tough to make it, but to my surprise I felt the cooking process was soooo easy with less ingredients. The only thing to take in concern is that it’s little time consuming, but with the end result in mind & being an ardent sweet lover, that doesn’t really matter :D Here goes the recipe….

CUSINE: South Indian (Tirunelveli district special)
SERVES: 5-6
TIME : 12 hours(soaking time) + 2 hours(cooking time)

INGREDIENTS :

• Sambha wheat (sambha godhumai ) - 1 cup (sambha - a variety of wheat)
• Sugar - 2 cups
• Ghee - 1 1/2 to 2 cups
• Cashew nuts - 1 cup

METHOD:

1. Take one cup of sambha wheat in a bowl, wash well and allow it to soak in water overnight. At least for 12 hours.
2. Now blend that in a mixie with a less amount of water. Collect only the milk out of them and again grind the solid with some more water. Do this only twice to collect the thickest milk off the wheat.
3. Now filter the extracted milk with a cloth strainer or sieve to extract the pure milk. 
4. Throw the filtered solid part away and keep the pure milk in a bowl, undisturbed for an hour.
5. After one hour you would see the excess water as a layer above the thick pure milk. Pour that water off carefully and save the pure milk.
6. To the pure milk add 2 cups of water and keep aside which is ready for making halwa.
7. Now , take a cup water in non stick pan, add 1 cup sugar to it and start stirring for making the caramel.
8. Keep stirring until you get dark brown color. (this will be the final color of your halwa).
9. Once the color is achieved you can add the extracted pure milk and another cup of sugar and start stirring. ( soon after adding milk you would see the crystallisation of caramel as a result of adding something cold over it!! Do not panic like me. :p It will dissolve once you start stirring)
10. Keep adding a little amount of ghee for every 10 minutes and stir continuously. Halwa will absorb all the ghee you add and starts becoming thicker. The more the ghee, the more tastier it is!!
11. Keep stirring. At one point you would see the ghee oozing out of halwa. This is the indication saying that your yummy halwa is ready.
12. Here you can add cashews(separately posted in ghee) and mix evenly. 

Halwa is ready with a great aroma and glossy texture, all set to invoke your taste buds and the Festive spirit!!

Do not wait for anyone!!! Take it in a bowl and start tasting because it taste best when HOT… HAPPY HAPPY DIWALI..

METHOD IN PICTURES :

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