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Wheat / Godhumai Halwa (Tirunelveli Halwa) – Traditional TamilNadu Sweets |
Tirunelveli Halwa was in my to-do list for long time. I’m not sure if i have tried this before. But whenever i go to Madurai, we never forget to try halwa from the shop which is nearby Madurai Railway Station. I dont remember its name.
I had been asking my mom to get the recipe of tirunelveli halwa from her friend who is also from tirunelveli. Finally she got the recipe, but aunt told me to try halwa with maida(all purpose flour) as it is easy and later when i get confidence she asked me to try with wheat berries. With the help of mom, i tried wheat halwa first as i was waiting to try it for long time. My mom gave this stirring job to me which will surely test your patience. Anyhow, we succeeded in our mission 🙂 It will surely melt in your mouth. Lets check the recipe,
Yields 3-4 cup Halwa
Soaking time : 6 hrs or overnight
Fermentation time : overnight
Cooking time : 60 mins
Ingredients :
- 250 gms Whole Wheat – i have used Punjab Wheat (Samba Whole Wheat is preferred)
- 250 gms (or) 1 cup Ghee / Clarified Butter
- 5-6 cup sugar – according to your need
- 5-6 cup water
- 1 tbsp broken cashews – to garnish
Method:
- Clean and wash whole wheat properly. Soak it in enough water for 5-6 hrs. Drain the water completely. Divide wheat berries in batch.
- Grind one batch of wheat in mixie adding 1 cup water. Strain the milk and again grind the husk adding 1 cup water. Repeat this process for other batch of wheat berries. I have used approx 6 cup water to grind whole wheat. Throw off the husk.
- Transfer the strained wheat milk to a bowl. Cover it and let it ferment overnight. The next day, remove the top layer that has formed over milk carefully. Now you can see a thin layer of milk on top and thick layer deposited at the bottom. Mix both the layers of milk. Measure this milk. I got 6 cup of wheat milk.
- Take a non-stick pan which would be better to stir halwa. Add 1 tbsp ghee and allow it to spread all over the sides of pan. Pour wheat milk and stir it with the help of a wooden flat ladle which will make your job easy.
- Keep cooking on low flame. Lumps will starts forming. Dont get panic like i did. Just keep on stirring and break the lumps. The milk will become thick in hardly 5-8 mins.
- The next 50 mins is what will make you tired 🙂 Keep stirring the thick mass once in 3-5 mins. We dont want the bottom to get burnt so no other choice we have.
- After 10 mins add sugar and stir well. The halwa may look cooked but it will still have raw wheat smell. So keep on stirring and add 1-2 tbsp ghee occasionally when you feel halwa is sticking to the sides of pan.
- For me it took around 45-50 mins to reach halwa consistency, at this stage halwa starts leaving the sides of pan and ghee separates. When you take a tbsp of halwa, it should not stick and you should be able to roll it into ball. This is the correct stage to add broken cashews. Mix cashews with halwa and remove from the pan.
Note :
- You can keep this halwa at room temp for 2-3 days as we have used more ghee. After that refrigerate it. If it becomes hard, then reheat it in oven or heat it on stove top for few mins.
- Adding cashews or other nuts like pistachio, almonds is optional. You can also roast the nuts and add it.
- I have not added any food color here. If you want to add, then try red, yellow or green.
- Since i have used 6 cup of water to extract milk, i have added 6 cup sugar. But the amount of sugar is purely optional.
i love this Halwa. a childhood memory… a friend got this from India a couple of weeks ago and I am longing to eat more. may be I should just make it.
Yummy.super effort akka
looks yum! I never did it at home…
Beautiful halwa da looks heavenly and makes my hungry 🙂 delectable pictures PT love this post on the whole. You sure have truck loads of patience
Beautifully caught on camera…
super halwa…drooling!!
Delicious halwa.
i just love halwa very much,u make me tempt more
Excellent and mouthwatering to look at halwa. Excellent pics as well.
Deepa
wow…delicious halwa, very well done PT!
What a texture of halwa, super tempting and amazing clicks.
sounds like a bit of work… but then the end result looks so awesome… oh, i love that mullappo used in the pics, not to mention the rose petals… 🙂
I remember making it when my hubby was coming to see kuttu a week after he was born. Lot of work, but the worth all the sweat!!! 🙂 Toned arms and delicious treat!!! 🙂
have had this halwa.. it just melts in mouth.. i like this more than any other halwa.. looks too good.. appreciate ur patience.. 🙂
I look dumbstruck as I go through your blogpost! Such lovely halwa n lovely clicks! 🙂 No words
wow halwa looks so so delicious preeti , they are tempting me .. such an wonderful presentation 🙂
This is my favorite halwa, just glides down the throat, you have done it so well Preeti, awesome..
mmmm…..yummmm… Looks mouthwatering. Amazing clicks
Halwa looks so tempting.. loving your presentation too 🙂
Lovely halwa..yummy