Beetroot halwa – It is a scrumptious pudding made from grated beetroot simmered in milk, spiced with cardamom and finished with roasted nuts. It is one of the easiest recipes you can make for festivals. Navratri( dusshera) and diwali are nearing by, so I thought it would be a helpful to post it now. And I was celebrating the first month of blogging yesterday through a sweet recipe, beetroot halwa :). yippee! So just made a simple delectable sweet:).
Halwa is a very popular indian dessert. The name originates from an Arabic word “Halwa” which means “sweet”. There are many varieties of halwa like carrot halwa, bettroot halwa and bottle guard halwa. The most popular among them is “carrot halwa”.Beetroot halwa is prepared in the same manner as carrot/gajar halwa. Sweetened condensed milk is optional; I had it in refrigerator after I did the “coconut ladoo”. So, wanted to use it.
Beets are highly nutrious and healthy. It is a great dish for kids. Kids don’t love beetroot a lot, so it is a good way to sneak it into their diet. Even beetroot tikki/ beetroot paratha are good ideas to make them have this veggie.
- Beetroot – 3 or 2 ½, grated beetroot.
- Whole Milk – 3 cups
- Sugar – 5 - 6 tbsp – adjust as required
- Sweetened condensed milk – 1 tbsp
- Cardamon – 4 crushed and powdered (I grind it in mortar-pestle with a tsp of sugar)
- Cashews – 8 broken
- Badham – 5 sliced/flaked
- Ghee – 1 ½ - 2 tbsp
- Rinse, peel and grate the beetroots using hand grater.
- Heat a non-stick pan on a low to medium flame and drop the grated beetroots in the pan, sauté them for about ten minutes.
- Add the milk and sweetened condensed milk and keep boiling for ten minutes. Keep on stirring at regular intervals so that the mixture does not stick to the pan. The milk will boil and evaporate.
- When the milk is reduced to 80%, add the sugar, ghee to the halwa mixture. Stir well and continue to simmer. Keep on stirring them.
- Meanwhile, heat a small pan, add a spoon of ghee, and roast the cashews and badham and sauté till golden brown.
- Top the beetroot with the roasted nuts. Mix well and switch off when all the milk has evaporated.
2. Sweetened condensed milk is optional; I had it in refrigerator after I did the “coconut ladoo”. So, wanted to use it.
3. Switch off only when all the milk has been evaporated.
Serve the halwa hot/cold. You can serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.
