Wheat flour Halwa ( Aate ka halwa)

Ingredients

1 cup wheat flour (aata)
1 cup sugar
1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
1 cup water
1/2 cup grated fresh coconut
1 cup of nuts (cashews, almonds, golden raisins)
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp almond powder
2 tbsp Mawa (khoya)(optional)

Preparation

Heat 1tbsp ghee in a heavy bottomed pan on medium flame and fry the dry fruits till golden. Set aside.
In the same pan add the remaining ghee. Once the ghee is warm, add wheat flour and keep stirring on medium flame till the wheat flour turns golden brown and the aroma fills the air. As soon as the flour turns golden, add the water and the sugar together to the flour and simultaneously stir.
Once all the ingredients are nicely mixed, add the nuts,cardamom powder,almond powder, grated coconut (optional)and keep stirring. Once the halwa starts leaving the sides of the pan, turn off the heat and transfer the halwa to a greased plate. If the halwa does not leave the sides add more ghee;) Serve warm like halwa or set to cool, cut to pieces and serve!!
Mawa can be added after adding water for extra richness.

Wish you a very Happy Ugadi/ Gudi Padwa

Hearty Ugadi greetings to all!
After long time celebrating Ugadi in India. I made Ugadi pachadi with fresh Neem flowers, Mango, Tamarind, Jaggery, salt and chilli powder! Recipe here

This is picture of fresh neem flowers!

Enjoy!

Beetroot Halwa for our men in blue!

Yesterday all the blog buddies watched the India/Pakistan match together via FB and it was true fun. It seemed as if I became a kid again:)
This Halwa is to celebrate:)

Ingredients

2 cups boiled and grated beetroot
1 cup sugar
2 tsp raisins
2 tsp cashewnuts
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp khoya (mawa) optional
2 tbsp ghee

Preparation

Boil 2 medium size beetroots and finely grate it to make 2 cups. Heat a heavy bottomed pan, add 1 tsp ghee. Fry the cashewnuts and raisins till golden and set aside. In the same pan add the remaining ghee, grated beets and saute for 2 minutes. To the beets add sugar and cardamom powder and cook for 10-12 minutes till the moisture evaporates and fragrance fills the kitchen. For additional richness add khoya or milk (its purely optional). Once the halwa leaves the sides of the pan remove from heat. Finally add the dry fruits and serve warm!

My Hearty thanks to Smitha for the lovely gesture, cute magnets and a warm note!