KARACHI HALWA

 KARACHI HALWA

As the name suggests, its origin points to the city of Karachi in Pakistan. ... Karachi Halwa or Bombay Halwa, this sweetmeat easily stands out for its bright colour, usually a vibrant orange, mimicking the hue that is obtained from saffron strands. Soft and melt in the mouth is karachi halwa which is also known as Bombay halwa. Karachi halwa is made with basically four ingredients – corn flour, ghee, water and sugar. I had got some recipe requests to share karachi halwa, hence sharing the recipe. Making karachi halwa is easy and does not take much time also.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Corn Flour

1+1/2 cups Sugar

2+/12 cups Water

6 tbsp Ghee

1/4 cup Broken Cashews

2 tbsp melon seeds

2 tbsp chopped pistachios 

1/4 tsp Green Cardamom Powder (or crushed cardamom)

2 Pinches of Red Orange Food Color

Recipe:

1. In a nonstick pan, bring Sugar and 1 cup of Water together to boil.
2. Meanwhile, make a slurry of the corn flour and 1.5 cups of Water along with the food color, mix well without any lumps.
3. As the sugar is completely dissolved, keep stirring on medium heat until it begins to boil and get sticky. The sugar syrup need not get to 1-string consistency.
4. Simmer the gas stove and pour the corn flour slurry and mix well before there are any lumps.
5. On medium flame, continue cooking the mixture and slowly the corn flour begins to set. Notice the change of color at few places.
6. Continue cooking the mixture on medium flame, stirring constantly. It becomes transparent.
7. As the mixture begins to thicken, add cardamom powder and cashews, melon seeds and pistachios. Mix well.
8. Keep stirring the mixture as it begins to thicken further.
9. Add 2 tbsp ghee to this and keep stirring the halwa to incorporate the ghee and cook the halwa. Repeat this step 2 more times till total 6 tbsp ghee has been added to the mixture.
10. It thickens completely and doesn’t easily drop from the ladle, also leaving from the sides of the pan. At this stage, drop a small portion of mixture onto a plate. If it sets in next couple of minutes, the halwa is done.
11. Prepare a plate or a square bowl greased with some ghee.
12. Quickly pour over the halwa onto the plate and even out the top as much as possible. Let it set for about an hour at room temperature.
13. Gently cut the halwa using a knife and remove the pieces.
14. Stays fresh in the fridge for upto 4 days in an airtight container.

Serve warm or cold. 

Enjoy and keep showering your love.

COCONUT BARFI

 COCONUT BARFI

Usually at home, for Raksha Bandhan we always make Kheer. This time for a change I made the coconut burfi today and also clicked the pics. These were easy to prepare. Coconut barfi is a delicious south Indian Sweet recipe made with coconut, sugar, milk and cardamom powder. It is one of the most commonly made sweet during festivals & celebrations in South India.

Ingredients:

3 cups grated coconut (fresh or frozen)

1+1/2 cups sugar

1 cup milk powder 

1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom

2 tbsp of ghee

Finely chopped pistachios for garnishing optional

Recipe:

1. Heat the ghee in a thick bottomed non stick pan. Allow it to melt completely and add milk.
2. Warm the milk for 1-2 minutes and add sugar. Mix it well and stir to dissolve completely.
3. Now add milk powder to the milk and keep it stirring continuously on a very low heat till it starts to thicken.
4. Add desiccated coconut and mix it in the mixture and cook it till whole mix starts to come together and form a thick mass.
5. Now grease a plate/dish with ghee and spread the hot coconut burfi mixture with a spatula while flattening it on the surface.
6. Garnish with chopped pistachios and place it to set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Cut the milk powder coconut burfi into desired shapes and enjoy.

Enjoy and keep showering your love.