Ragi Halwa : (Aadi Month Special Dessert)

Thinking for an easy unique desert to serve during festivals?? Your best choice would be Ragi Halwa. As this is Aadi Month, most tamil hindu ladies celebrate the Aadi perukku (Adiperukku is a unique South Indian and specially a Tamil festival celebrated on the 18th day of the Tamil month of Aadi (mid July)). Young women wear new clothes and take a dip in the holy waters of the river and worship Amman. So, here is a unique sweet recipe to celebrate it.

Halwa is a common desert throughout India. There are lot of varieties in that and each halwa is special in each cities say thirunelveli is famous for Halwa in Tamil Nadu. This is a unique dessert made out of ragi flour and it’s healthy too. It’s very easy to make and best when served after it sets completely cool. Here comes the making.

Ingredients:

• Ragi flour – 1 cup
• Jaggery powdered – 1 to 1 ½ cup
• Water – 2 cups
• Fresh Cream/Thick Milk - 1 cup
• Ghee – 2 to 3 tablespoons
• Cardamom powder – ½ teaspoon
• Cashew nuts – few

Method:

• In a pan, pour ghee, add ragi flour and fry on medium flame till nice aroma arises from it and keep aside.
• In a separate pan, add ghee and fry the cashews and keep aside.
• In a separate pan, add water with the jaggery powder and boil for some time until it thickens, filter it to remove the impurities if any.
• To the fried ragi, add the jaggery syrup and stir continuously.
• When it starts thickening, add the fresh cream or milk to it and stir continuously until it becomes thicker.
• Add the fried cashews and powdered cardamom to it and stir thoroughly.
• Add a tspn of ghee again to the halwa and stir again.

 

Tips:

"Adding milk is optional. You could skip it if you want to reduce the fat however it adds a good taste to the halwa."