My Grandmother’s Suji Halwa Recipe
Sooji Halwa, or sheera is a heavenly semolina pudding made with simple pantry staples- semolina, ghee & sugar. Takes just 30 mins to make.
Equipment
- heavy kadhai (preferable iron) or large cast iron pan for making halwa
- small sauce pan for making sugar syrup
Ingredients
- 1 black cardamom pod (for flavor) or use green cardamom
- 6-8 tablespoon ghee melt the ghee and then measure,start with 6 tablespoon at first. Use vegan butter for vegan halwa
- ½ cup fine semolina
- ½ cup granulated sugar (can go down to ⅓ cup if you prefer less sweet halwa)
- 1 + ¾ cup water
Nuts & Dry Fruit (Use any nuts you like)
- 2 tablespoon raisins
- 7-8 almonds thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon silvered pistachios
Instructions
- Open up the black cardamom pods and add the seeds to a mortar. Pound the seeds to as fine powder as you can. Keep near.
- Place a large heavy bottom pan (like cast iron pan) or kadhai on stove on low flame. Add the ghee and let melt. For the entire length of the recipe, we are going to keep stove on low flame.
- Add the suji to the ghee and using a spatula, mix well for a minute or so until you see all the semolina granules are covered in ghee.
- Begin roasting the semolina in ghee. Keep an eye and keep stirring continually as fine semolina tends to burn easily. You will see that as you stir, the suji starts feels fluffy under the spatula.
- While the semolina is roasting, add the sugar and water to a small sauce pot and place on the other stove on low medium heat. In about 3-5 minutes, as the water comes to a boil, the sugar will dissolve. Switch off the stove, don't cook the syrup. We don‘t want any string consistency. Add the black cardamom seeds powder to the syrup. Keep the syrup warm.
- Coming back to semolina, keep on roasting it while making sure to scrape it from the sides of the pan. Roast the semolina for good 10- 12 minutes or until you see that the ghee begins to separate and the semolina granules are deep brown in color. There should be no black specks of semolina- that means the semolina has burnt, that’s why we need consistent low flame and continual stirring to ensure that won't happen.
- To the roasted suji, carefully and slowly add the warm sugar syrup (there will be spluttering). Make sure that you are stirring the suji at the same time to make sure that no lumps are formed.
- As soon as the syrup is added, you will see that halwa turns into a bubbly puddle like consistency. Keep stirring and continue to cook on low heat.
- Cook the halwa for 3-5 minutes. Let most of the liquid absorb but dont dry out fully. Slowly it will become soft pudding like consistency and you will be able to fold it over itself. You will see it getting shiny. The more you cook, the more ghee seperation occurs. If you want, add 1-2 tablespoon more ghee at this point for added richness. The halwa will thicken & acquires a wet sand like texture as it rests.
- Serve warm garnished with nuts. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
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- Cook the halwa on low heat. Continuous stirring helps in evenly roasting semolina. Stirring gently yet continuously after adding syrup makes for a creamier halwa.
- Amount of ghee can be varied but please keep in mind that skimping on ghee will affect the proper texture of halwa and it will taste dry.
- You can reduce the amount of sugar if desired.
- If you don't want a dark halwa- roast the semolina in ghee for just 5-7 minutes, until its pinkish golden in color. Rest of the recipe remains the same.
- If you like a runny halwa, increase the water quantity to 3.5 cup.
- Store halwa in air tight container for 4-5 days refrigerated. Reheat when serving.
- Suji halwa freezes beautifully too. Freeze for up to a month. I like to use silicone trays and portion out the halwa before freezing. To reheat, and microwave as needed.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!