This is a sweet dish made predominantly in Karnataka...or rather it has come from there - now it is of course made the world over where all the Kannadigas reside..:-)
Each house has it's own version of the recipe....and there are quite a few that just like it the way it is made at their own or their mother's place...
The original recipe calls for rice, coconut or coconut milk and jaggery...along with cashews, raisins and cardamom...
My mom had modified the above to include a whole bunch of other things ...one to make it more healthy and second to utilize what is at home ( I think )....and we having gotten used to the way she makes it .... & do it the same way...
After making ( in huge quantities ) she used to pour it out onto plates and also 2 elliptical steel containers - so that once it had cooled we could cover with lid and take home...it made for convenient storage in the fridge and gave us our equal portions ( this is me and my sister - once we were married and had moved out...)
So now I do the same....
So going back to the recipes given below are both ...
The first one is...
Ingredients :
1 cup rice - soaked for 2-3 hrs
1 cup coconut - grated
3/4 cup jaggery
1/4 cup cashews broken
1/4 cup raisins
2-3 pods of cardamom - crushed
2 tsps of ghee
a pinch of salt
Method:
Grind to a fine paste the soaked rice and coconut - then add jaggery, cashew, raisins and cardamom - along with about 5-6 cups of water....in a heavy bottomed pan.
Bring to a boil - then reduce heat and on low flame - keep stirring till it all comes together...Add the ghee, pinch of salt and stir till it is incorporated.
This entire process takes at least 30 - 45 minutes...
Once it is done - pour it onto a plate and cool - then refrigerate to harden - and cut into diamond or square shapes.
This is the simpler method - and the halwa is more light ....since it uses only rice...
Instead of coconut - some use coconut milk - in that case the rice is soaked and ground to a fine paste with a little water, then coconut milk is removed from 1 coconut - to get about 4 cups of coconut milk and it is mixed with the rice paste and jaggery and the process is the same as above.
At our place we used to make it with 1/2 rice and rava mixture...as below
Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 cup rava ( sometimes 3/4 rava & 1/4 ragi )
2 cups coconuts grated ( some tender coconut was also added ) ( as I mentioned we would use what was available at home at the time of making )
1 cup of cream ( this was malai which was gathered from the milk and stored in the fridge for making of ghee )
1/4 + 1/2 cup cashew
1/4 cup raisins
8 - 10 cardamoms crushed
a pinch of saffron
1 and 1/2 cup of jaggery
1 tsp of roasted and then crushed fenugreek seeds.
1/4 tsp salt.
Method :
1) Soak rice for 2-3 hours. Then grind the rice along with the coconut & 1/4 cashew adding water as required till it is a fine paste.
2) Transfer to a heavy bottomed pan and add the cream of milk, 1/2 cup cashew chopped, raisins, jaggery, salt, fenugreek seeds powder.
3) Add about 8 cups of water in parts - first 4 cups of water and mix well and heat the pan on high flame till it comes to a boil stirring continuously...then reduce the flame and continue to mix.
(If during the grinding process a lot of water was used then you can reduce the above 8 cups to 6 )
4) After about 10 mins - add the balance water, cup at a time - and mix to incorporate - this is so that it can absorb it slowly and continue cooking.
Also add saffron and cardamom powder at this stage.
5) At this point you can do a taste test and adjust salt, sweet ( jaggery ) and even fenugreek seeds ......it should not be bitter - the fenugreek just heightens the taste of coconut and jaggery.
6) The mixture should be stirred till it all starts coming together - then pour it onto big plates ( at least 2 ) or containers. Due to the cream - the plates needs no greasing...
7) Cool for about 1/2 hr - then refregirate and then cut into pieces and serve. You can decorate the top with either cashew or raisin.
Enjoy !!!
As I mentioned before - this is a very forgiving sweet - a little less of something and a little more of something is all allowed - the above is a general guideline - you can add or subtract what you have with you in your pantry at the time of going to the stoves ( so as to say )....
The taste will slightly differ as per your current ingredients...and so most of the time we do not get the same thing we had the previous time...is that a good thing ?...well...maybe...it is a sort of surprise sweet...and most times it does turn out very delicious...the malai in it makes it very creamy and you do not need any additional ghee in it. It softens the whole halwa...the rava gives it more form than if it is only rice - besides being more healthy for diabetics ( who should avoid rice )....not that using all that cream is ? :-) but it is a sweet and it is used instead of ghee ...so maybe it is ok...but it can be substituted by a few tsps of ghee.
So with this I wish you all happy experimenting...and hope you all have as much fun making and eating this halwa of Karnataka.
 |
| Manni |
This is a sweet dish made predominantly in Karnataka...or rather it has come from there - now it is of course made the world over where all the Kannadigas reside..:-)
Each house has it's own version of the recipe....and there are quite a few that just like it the way it is made at their own or their mother's place...
The original recipe calls for rice, coconut or coconut milk and jaggery...along with cashews, raisins and cardamom...
My mom had modified the above to include a whole bunch of other things ...one to make it more healthy and second to utilize what is at home ( I think )....and we having gotten used to the way she makes it .... & do it the same way...
After making ( in huge quantities ) she used to pour it out onto plates and also 2 elliptical steel containers - so that once it had cooled we could cover with lid and take home...it made for convenient storage in the fridge and gave us our equal portions ( this is me and my sister - once we were married and had moved out...)
So now I do the same....
So going back to the recipes given below are both ...
The first one is...
Ingredients :
1 cup rice - soaked for 2-3 hrs
1 cup coconut - grated
3/4 cup jaggery
1/4 cup cashews broken
1/4 cup raisins
2-3 pods of cardamom - crushed
2 tsps of ghee
a pinch of salt
Method:
Grind to a fine paste the soaked rice and coconut - then add jaggery, cashew, raisins and cardamom - along with about 5-6 cups of water....in a heavy bottomed pan.
Bring to a boil - then reduce heat and on low flame - keep stirring till it all comes together...Add the ghee, pinch of salt and stir till it is incorporated.
This entire process takes at least 30 - 45 minutes...
Once it is done - pour it onto a plate and cool - then refrigerate to harden - and cut into diamond or square shapes.
This is the simpler method - and the halwa is more light ....since it uses only rice...
Instead of coconut - some use coconut milk - in that case the rice is soaked and ground to a fine paste with a little water, then coconut milk is removed from 1 coconut - to get about 4 cups of coconut milk and it is mixed with the rice paste and jaggery and the process is the same as above.
At our place we used to make it with 1/2 rice and rava mixture...as below
Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 cup rava ( sometimes 3/4 rava & 1/4 ragi )
2 cups coconuts grated ( some tender coconut was also added ) ( as I mentioned we would use what was available at home at the time of making )
1 cup of cream ( this was malai which was gathered from the milk and stored in the fridge for making of ghee )
1/4 + 1/2 cup cashew
1/4 cup raisins
8 - 10 cardamoms crushed
a pinch of saffron
1 and 1/2 cup of jaggery
1 tsp of roasted and then crushed fenugreek seeds.
1/4 tsp salt.
Method :
1) Soak rice for 2-3 hours. Then grind the rice along with the coconut & 1/4 cashew adding water as required till it is a fine paste.
2) Transfer to a heavy bottomed pan and add the cream of milk, 1/2 cup cashew chopped, raisins, jaggery, salt, fenugreek seeds powder.
3) Add about 8 cups of water in parts - first 4 cups of water and mix well and heat the pan on high flame till it comes to a boil stirring continuously...then reduce the flame and continue to mix.
(If during the grinding process a lot of water was used then you can reduce the above 8 cups to 6 )
4) After about 10 mins - add the balance water, cup at a time - and mix to incorporate - this is so that it can absorb it slowly and continue cooking.
Also add saffron and cardamom powder at this stage.
5) At this point you can do a taste test and adjust salt, sweet ( jaggery ) and even fenugreek seeds ......it should not be bitter - the fenugreek just heightens the taste of coconut and jaggery.
6) The mixture should be stirred till it all starts coming together - then pour it onto big plates ( at least 2 ) or containers. Due to the cream - the plates needs no greasing...
7) Cool for about 1/2 hr - then refregirate and then cut into pieces and serve. You can decorate the top with either cashew or raisin.
Enjoy !!!
As I mentioned before - this is a very forgiving sweet - a little less of something and a little more of something is all allowed - the above is a general guideline - you can add or subtract what you have with you in your pantry at the time of going to the stoves ( so as to say )....
The taste will slightly differ as per your current ingredients...and so most of the time we do not get the same thing we had the previous time...is that a good thing ?...well...maybe...it is a sort of surprise sweet...and most times it does turn out very delicious...the malai in it makes it very creamy and you do not need any additional ghee in it. It softens the whole halwa...the rava gives it more form than if it is only rice - besides being more healthy for diabetics ( who should avoid rice )....not that using all that cream is ? :-) but it is a sweet and it is used instead of ghee ...so maybe it is ok...but it can be substituted by a few tsps of ghee.
So with this I wish you all happy experimenting...and hope you all have as much fun making and eating this halwa of Karnataka.
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