Ashoka Halwa

After having an enjoyable, relaxing, sweet week in california with one of our best friends family, back to the blog again. Thanks friends, visitors again for visiting this blog and your comments are highly appreciated.

Today I am going to write about "Ashoka Halwa". Its the first food i made in my lifetime!!! ( Not even coffee or tea and I made it in 9th std with my friend after bunking school for half a day). A small hot packet of Ashoka Halwa which my mom used to bring for us from tiruvaiyuru really took my heart. It became my most favourite sweet since childhood. Tiruvaiyaru ashoka halwa is known for its unique taste and nothing can beat the originality of it. You would have come across this sweet if you have attended any marriages around thanjavur district.

Here comes my version of Ashoka Halwa to you.

Ingredients
Moong Dhal ( Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu) - 1 Cup
Wheat Flour - 1/4 cup.
Sugar - 1 Cup ( More or less depending on your taste).
Elachi Powder - 2 tsp.
Kesar food colour - 1/2 tsp.
Ghee - 1/2 cup. ( For low calorie, add only 1/4 cup).
Milk - 1/2 cup.

Method

1. Cook the Moong dhal ( Payatham Paruppu / Pesara pappu) with milk and water in a pressure cooker for 4-5 whistles till it becomes tender and softer.
2. Slightly fry the whole wheat flour on a kadai with very little ghee and keep it aside.
3. Open the cooker now and mash the dhal perfectly without any lumps. Add powdered sugar and food colour to the dhal, stir it continously.
4. Slowly add spoons of ghee on the sides while stirring.
5. After it melts, add the elachi powder for good flavour.
6. Also, add the light fried wheat flour into the kadai and stir everything continously.
7. Keep adding spoons of ghee in the middle and stir the mixture till it comes to a thicker consistency like a halwa.
8. Add the remaining ghee and decorate it with cashew nuts. Let it cool for sometime and then taste it.

Variations

Generally i add milk while cooking moong dhal, you can avoid it if you dont like the taste of it. Amounts of sugar and ghee can vary depending upon your taste, weight, calorie counts.

Tips

Switch off the heat when the halwa mixture is almost nearing the halwa consistency. Dont stir the halwa mix till it becomes hard. When it gets cooled, automatically it gets little thicker. If you have a good quality dal / Paruppu, it tastes very good.