Sweet Potato Halwa

Sweet Potato Halwa

Sweet potato halwa is a beautiful orange colored Indian style pudding in which pureed sweet potato is cooked with roasted semolina, milk and sugar syrup and dusted with roasted coconut and cashews.Halwa or Halva is a very popular Indian dessert prepared with either semolina, lentils, nuts or vegetables or fruits like pumpkins, sweet potato, carrot, squash etc. It is also popular in many other parts of Asia, Africa and Europe.
In this halwa, cooked and pureed sweet potato is mixed with roasted semolina, milk and sugar syrup and cooked low and slow until the halwa is super creamy. If you want to go dairy-free or vegan, you can use almond milk or coconut milk instead of milk and use coconut oil instead of clarified butter.

This halwa is a variation on a very common Indian dessert called sooji halwa in which sooji or Semolina is roasted in some amount of ghee or clarified butter and then cooked in sugar syrup. This sweet potato halwa is definitely healthier because of the health benefits of sweet potato and also the amount of ghee or butter is lessened by a great amount.

Sweet Potato Halwa Recipe

Recipe by Neha NairCourse: DessertCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Medium
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

25

minutes

Halwa recipe with a twist. Sweet Potato halwa is a delicious Indian dessert made with sweet potatoes, semolina, saffron, cardamon, cashews and coconut.

Ingredients

  • 1 fully-packed cup of pureed sweet potato

  • 2 Tbsp of ghee or clarified butter ( substitute coconut oil for vegan recipe)

  • 1 cup of fine semolina

  • 1 and 1/4 cup of whole milk

  • 1.5 cups of sugar

  • 2 cups of water

  • 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder

  • Few saffron strands, optional (mixed in 2 tbsp of warm milk)

  • For Garnishing :-
  • 10-15 cashews and raisins

  • 1 Tbsp of dry coconut flakes

  • 1 tsp of ghee

  • Pinch of salt

Directions

  • In a sauce pan, make sugar syrup by mixing sugar and water. Let the mixture come to a slow boil. Keep it aside when the sugar is all melted.
  • Meanwhile, heat a wide pan over low-medium heat and add semolina. Then dry roast it until it is golden brown stirring in between. (will take about 8-10 minutes)
  • Transfer the roasted semolina in another plate or bowl and keep it aside for later use.
  • Now in the same pan, add ghee, pureed sweet potato, milk and mix well and cook over low heat until the sweet potato has absorbed all the liquid. (it will take about 10 minutes)
  • Now mix the roasted semolina into the sweet potato mixture and cook again for 2 minutes.
  • Pour the hot sugar syrup carefully and slowly and mix everything well. Add in the saffron with its milk.
  • Cook the halwa until semolina and sweet potato has absorbed all the liquid and the halwa is thick and creamy. Mix in the cardamom powder.
  • For Garnishing :-
  • In another pan, heat a tsp of ghee and add broken cashews and stir for a minute. Then add coconut and raisins and stir again until the coconut is golden brown. Add salt.
  • Pour the cashew mixture over the halwa and garnish well. Sweet potato halwa is done.

Notes

  • Serve sweet potato halwa warm or cold. It will stay fresh for 4-5 days in a refrigerator.
  • Use almond meal instead of semolina if you want to go gluten free.

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