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What is Halwa (Halva)?
Halwa is an Arabic word meaning sweetmeat, normally made of grains fats and sugar
It is a typical North Indian dish made of Sooji (Farina). Variations of Halwa known as Halva are available in Middle East, Balkans, and Mediterranean. In United States, it is not un-common to find Halva sold as a packaged candy in the Jewish Stores. In South India, another version is called Alvaa.
Sooji Halwa
Basic Proportions of ingredients relate back to the amount of Farina by volume
Ghee = Sooji, Sugar = Sooji, Water = 2.5 times Sooji
No leavening agents are used. Sooji is fried in equal amount of Ghee to a light golden brown color. It gives the dish a nutty flavor, and prevents in forming gluten structure to make it pasty. A slurry of water and sugar is prepared over heat. Cardamoms or other flavoring agents may be added to the slurry. The fried Farina is cooked with slurry. Sooji granules can absorb 2.5 times moisture by volume still maintaining cell structure. In other words, for each cup of Farina, you will need 2½ cups of water. The amount of sugar is same as Farina. The nuts and raisins are added.
Lentils Halwa
Basic Proportions of ingredients relate back to the amount of dried split legumes before pre-soaking.
Ghee = ¼ to ½ of Legumes, Sugar = Legume, Water = ½ of Legumes
Decorticated split legumes are presoaked in plain water over night. In the morning, the legumes drained and rinsed, ground to a coarse paste. The paste is fried in Ghee. Ghee by volume is about half the volume of dried lentils. Sugar in equal amount of the original dried legumes is added. You need one cup of sugar for each up of dried lentils. The lentils have already soaked in the water so you only need about ½ cup of water for each up of dried lentils. Nuts are added.
Vegetable Halwa
Basic Proportions of ingredients relate back to the amount of grated vegetables before cooking.
Ghee = ¼ Vegetables, Sugar = ¼ Vegetables, Water or Milk = Vegetables
Most common vegetables used are carrots, pumpkins and bottle gourds. The vegetables are peeled/scraped, grated coarsely. The grated vegetables are cooked in water or milk till tender. This amount depends on the vegetable and should be minimized just enough to cook the vegetables to tender. The cooked vegetables are fried in Ghee. Ghee by volume is about ¼ the volume of dried vegetables. Sugar is ¼ amount of the grated vegetables. Nuts are added.