Beetroot Suji Halwa: Rava Halwa With Beetroot

Happy New Year!!

A goodbye to 2016. A year with more downs and less ups. A year that gave more bad memories then good. A year that wasn’t that fulfilling. A year that made me fight. A year that made me strong. Yes, 2016 wasn’t the best year for us. It gave us less smiles and more frowns but like always it taught us to be a fighter. And with this new fighter in me, I welcome 2017.

So, dear 2017-please be little polite to us. Give us stress and problems, lessons to learn but give us good health to battle with it. Shower on us your love mother nature. Bestow on us little laughs, cuddles and memories. Be a great year 2017.

I promise to spare sometime and read a book. I promise to play with camera atleast once a week. I promise to call my friends and family. I promise to take a nap. I promise to take it easy. I promise to find happiness. I promise to not let die the child in me. I am ready for you 2017.

As always, here is a sweet recipe to begin a new year. Beetroot Suji Halwa. Infact, Beetroot Suji (rava) Halva. To be honest, I don’t know if the recipe already exist on internet/blogging world or not, coz I never googled it. One day I and friend were discussing, she wanted to make sure that her 2 year old daughter eats beetroot-and it was then when this Beetroot Halwa with Sooji was invented.

The steps are similar to plain Suji Ka Halwa. Beetroot brings on lovely pink (red velvet cake kind) colour and its healthy nutrients (ofcourse). So when I made this halwa and served it to two kids-they both loved it. Ah! Those happy mothers!. Such a blessing.

So this halwa is a good looking and nutrients loaded twist to good old Suji ka Halwa. Serve with ice cream to make a class statement in parties. 

Ingredients:

1 cup suji/rava/semolina

2 tablespoons ghee

1 medium size beetroot

1 cup hot boiling water

¼ cup sugar

2 green cardmoms/elaychi

Chopped nuts (optional)

Method:

Peal the beetroot .Grate the beetroot through a fine grater. I used a fine cheese grater.

In a heavy bottom pan, on a slow heat, dry roast the suji till you see the change in the colour and aroma is noticeable.

Next mix in the ghee and keep mixing till ghee is separated and suji becomes more fragrant. Also throw in the cardamom. Mix for 1 minute.

Add in beetroot. Mix for 30 seconds.

Add sugar and mix again. Mix till sugar crystals are not visible.

Finally add in the water and stir. You will notice that suji has fluffed up. Keep mixing till you see ghee on sides and halva is not sticking to the pan.

Garnish with nuts. Serve hot.

Notes:

Do not rush, make sure that you do the whole process on slow flame. If you are in hurry, you can dry roast the suji beforehand.

Feel free to add pistachios, almonds or any nuts of your choice.

Suji Ka Halva For Karva Chauth (With Tips To Make The Perfect Halwa)

Karva Chauth is round the corner ladies. What are your plans?  What are you wearing? Have you decided about the henna design? So much work isn’t it? I like karva chauth a lot. The beautiful saris, colourful bangles, glowing faces- wow is the word. Just like all the festivals this too is celebrated in different ways in different parts of the country.

Karwa is another word for pot (a small earthen pot of water) and chauth means 'fourth' in Hindi. All married women fasts from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands without eating or drinking anything at all. They apply henna on their hands, wear good traditional clothes. In the afternoon prayers are read. Then the women await the rising of the moon. Once the moon is visible, she sees the moon with a sieve and then sees her husband. Water is offered to the moon to secure its blessings. We believe that "Like the gold necklace and the pearl bracelet, just like the moon may my husband’s life also always shine brightly."The husband then offers water and gives his wife her first sip and feeds her with the first morsel of the day (usually something sweet). The fast is now broken, and the woman has a complete meal.

Cool isn’t it? All these rituals add love to your life and you get a good change from the daily routine. My husband from past 4 years fasts with me to show his support and love for me. I just find this very sweet and comforting. Click HERE for sweet recipes that you must prepare in Indian festivals. Anyways, no festival or celebration is complete without dessert or something sweet and what can be better then hot scoops of Suji Ka Halwa.

Suji or rava halva is very famous sweet dish in India and is made in almost all happy occasions. Now everyone loves this sweet dish, but many are not able to make it to perfection and I even got requests to share any tips I know to prepare the prefect sooji ka halwa. So here are the tips-

• Measure everything- Do not just eye ball and mix ingredients. Trust me, just like baking, you need to measure every ingredients.
• Dry roast the suji first- Before adding ghee or anything else, just dry roast the suji in heavy bottom pan. Roast till suji changes its colour and you can smell the aroma.
• You do not need lot of ghee- surprised? Well yes, to make the perfect halwa you dont need buckets of ghee, you need just 1/4 cup of every 1 cup of suji.
• Water amount- First make sure that water is boiling hot and not just warm. The quantity of water should be exactly double of the suji quantity.
• Do not mix water and sugar- Yes please do not make syrup- just mix raw sugar.

Now when you know the secrets let me move on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup suji/rava/semolina

¾ cup sugar

1/4 cup ghee

4 to 5 cardamoms, powdered in a mortar-pestle, husks discarded

10 to 12 cashews/kaju chopped roughly

2 tbsp raisins/kishmish

2 cups water

Method:

In a heavy bottom pan, on a slow heat, dry roast the suji till you see the change in the colour and aroma is noticeable.

Next mix in the ghee and keep mixing till ghee is separated and suji becomes more fragrant. Also throw in the cashews and raisins. Mix for 5 minutes.

Add sugar and mix again. Mix till sugar crystals are not visible. Also add cardamom.

Finally add in the water and stir. You will notice that suji has fluffed up. Keep mixing till you see ghee on sides and halva is not sticking to the pan.

Serve hot.

Notes:

Do not rush, make sure that you do the whole process on slow flame. If you are in hurry, you can dry roast the suji beforehand.

Feel free to add pistachios, almonds or any nuts of your choice.

You will know that halva is perfectly made, when it does not stick to spatula or spoon at all.

This keeps well in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. Just reheat before serving.

Serving suggestions:

Puri and halva is the best combination. Serve hot with any poori with any subji on side- like kala chana, aloo tamatar ki subji, gobi mutter or bharwa bhindi.

Halva is a huge hit among kids and adults both. This makes it perfect dessert for any parties.

Sending this Diwali Event at  Swathi's and at Mayuri's space