A hot bowl of halwa after a light breakfast or lunch can make your day. Though we all love halwa anytime, still it’s preferred in winters. Mostly prepared in festivals halwa is not only served as a dessert but is quiet filling which can go as good as a breakfast accompanied with chapati, bread or parantha! Let's check some wonderful halwa preparations good to savour in winter evenings or anytime!!

MOONG DAAL HALWA

Ingredients:

• 1 cup moong daal
• 9/ 10 t-spoon Purabi ghee
• 4/5 cardamoms,
• 10/12 pistachios
• 1 t-spoon golden raisins

To be mixed together

• 1 cup Purabi milk
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup regular sugar

Method:

• Melt ghee in a non stick pan. Add the ground moong daal and stir well.
• Keep on stirring the halwa on alow to medium flame. Make sure you cook well the halwa so the raw smell of moong daal go away completely.
• The halwa should start breaking down and getting separated with the fat releasing from the sides. So break the lumps while stirring.
• Meanwhile when the halwa is cooking, in another pan or kadai, take milk, water and sugar.  Keep this pan on the stove top and stir so that the sugar dissolves. On a low or medium flame, heat this milk water-sugar mixture till comes to a boil.
• The moong mixture should reach a granular consistency before you add the milk mixture. You should get a fried aroma from the moong daal mixture, and the colour should become a light golden. The fat also should get separated.
• When the milk mixtures comes to a boil, add it to the fried mung mixture very slowly and carefully.
• Stir well, simmer and cook stirring often.
• The liquid should get absorbed and once again you will notice the ghee getting separated.
• Add cardamom powder, chopped pistachios and raisins.
• Serve halwa hot with choice of dry fruits.

BESAN KA HALWA

Ingredients

• ¾ cup Besan / Gram flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 cup water
• 2 cups Purabi milk
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 6-8 tsp ghee
• Dry fruits – for garnishing

Method

• Sieve Besan and keep aside. Heat 2 tsp ghee in a pan or Kadai. Switch to low flame and roast Besan for 5-8 mins till raw smell goes.
• Add water and using a hand- whisk keep stirring to avoid lumps formation.
• Switch to low-medium flame once Besan is completely mixed with water.
• Add sugar, milk and cardamom powder. Stir well and cook for 15-20 mins.
• Add 1 tsp ghee at a time and stir occasionally.
• Let it cook till halwa starts leaving the sides of the pan. Garnish with chopped dry fruits and serve hot.

KESARI BATH

Ingredients

• 2/ 3 tbsp  Purabi ghee
• 10 cashews / kaju, halves
• 1 tbsp raisins / kishmish / dry grapes
• ½ cup fine semolina/ sooji
• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp saffron water
• ¼ tsp cardamom power / elachi powder

Method

• Heat 2 tbsp ghee and roast 10 cashews and one tbsp raisins on low flame until the cashews turn brown and keep aside.
• Now in the same ghee roast ½ cup sooji on low flame for 5 minutes or till it turns aromatic. Keep aside.
• In a large kadai boil 1 cup water. Keeping the flame low, add the sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.
• Nowadd in the roasted sooji. Stir continuously till the sooji absorbs water and no lumps are formed.
• Now add 2 tbsp saffron water or kesari food colour. (soak few treads of saffron in 2 tbsp of warm water for 15 minutes)
• Also and ¼ cup ghee and stir continuously.
• Make sure the mixture is combined well and no lumps are present.
• cover and simmer for 2 minutes or till sooji gets cooked well completely.
• Add roasted cashews, raisins and ¼ tsp cardamom power. Mix well till the halwa separates from pan.
• Serve hot or warm.