Kerala Black Halwa
(Halwa or halvah is sweet confectionery popular in Asia especially the West, Central, and South Asian regions.)
INGREDIENTS
Rice flour- 1 cup
Coconut milk- 7 cups (Milk of approximately 2 coconut)
Jaggery – 1/2 kg
Ghee- 1/4 cup (or any butter)
Coconut oil- 1/4 cup
Cashew nut- 1/4 cup
Ground Cardamon- 1/2 tsp
Ground dry ginger- 1/8 tsp (optional)
Vanilla Essence – 1/2 tsp (optional)
PREPARATION METHOD
1). To begin making the Kerala Style Rice Halwa recipe, heat 1 tablespoon ghee (or butter) in a pan. Add broken cashew nuts and fry till they start changing colour. Transfer them to a plate and keep aside.
2). Extract thick and thin coconut milk and keep them in different bowls. (You can use coconut powder to make coconut milk)
3). Add grated jaggery, coconut milk, to a thick bottomed pan (or uruli). Heat this mixture until the jaggery melts completely. Strain it to remove impurities.
4). Clean the pan and add the mixture back to the pan. To this add rice flour, little at a time and mix well without lumps.
5). Cook this mixture on a medium flame, until it starts thickening. Keep stirring in order to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan.
6). Add roasted cashews and powdered cardamoms,
If needed you can add Ground dry ginger and vanilla essence (optional)
7). When it starts to thicken, reduce the flame to low, pour ghee (or butter) and thick coconut milk alternately while stirring continuously.
8). Keep stirring and cook for another 30 – 35 minutes. Whenever you find the halwa sticking to the sides of the pan, add 1 tablespoon of ghee to the sides of the pan. Cook until the mixture gets a halwa consistency and starts leaving the sides of the pan.
9). Grease a flat plate with ghee. Pour the above hot mixture into the greased plate. Using a spoon coated with sufficient ghee (in order to give a glazy look to the halwa), spread the mixture well in the plate.
10). Allow it to cool. Cut Kerala Black Halwa into desired shapes.