Besan Halwa recipe with step by step photos and video . Besan ka Halwa is a most popular Punjabi Dessert . This Besan ka halwa is made with gram flour, clarified butter, sugar , dry fruits -nuts and flavored with cardamom powder.
Besan Halwa is a easy dish , gets ready within 30 minutes , its tasty and makes a very filling breakfast or dessert.
Halwa makes for an amazing dessert after your meals or for any festivals or pooja celebrations. So do try some other halwa recipes too Sweet Potato Halwa , Dates Halwa , Carrot halwa , Rajgira halwa , Pumpkin / kaddu halwa , Dumroot / Kashi Halwa
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About this recipe
Besan halwa is a delicious ad popular Punjabi sweet dish that is prepared using chickpea flour (besan or gram flour), ghee, sugar, and lots of dry fruits.
This besan halwa is a thick, and creamy sweet that is usually made for celebrations at home , pujas and also for festivals.
Besan halwa is also considered as a winter dessert. This is a great dish and is said to give comfort in severest of cold.
Besan ka halwa comes together in 30 minutes. It is a great sweet dish to prepare when you want to make something super delicious and super quick.
This Besan Ka Halwa is,
- Rich & Creamy
- Easy to make
- Delicious
- Perfect for any pujas and celebrations
Ingredients
To make Besan ka halwa , all you need is just 5 main and basic ingredients. Other ingredients are optional
Most basic ingredients used to make besan halwa are gram flour/ chickpeas flour , ghee , milk , cardamom powder , sugar , dry fruits - nuts .
I have also used dry rose petals , saffron strands and some silver foil for presenting but it's truly optional .
Use only ghee (clarified butter) to prepare halwa. Never make Halwa in oil, it doesn't taste good at all.
Adjust the amount of sugar or jaggery as per your taste. This had perfect sweetness for my taste buds, not too sweet nor less.
Full fat cream milk gives best results. But you can use skim milk and also half of water to make this halwa. But just make sure to add 1.5 cups of liquid for the used measurements.
Do not forget to freshly pound and add cardamom powder, as it adds a unique flavor. Fresh cardamom powder adds lot of flavors to ie.
As said , saffron strands are truly optional, but adding it adds a hint of flavor and color tinge to besan halwa.
Finish off the Halwa with some dry fruits-nuts , dried rose petals and add silver foil while serving.
How to make Besan Halwa ?
In a thick bottom pan , heat ghee.
When ghee melts completely, add 1 cup of gram flour and mix well.
On a low to medium heat , keep roasting gram flour in ghee until you get nutty aromatic smell. This step is very important , if gram flour is not roasted well, then the entire dish will be spoilt.
Once after aromatic smell comes, color of gram flour changes to light golden color. Take care not to burn ,it should just turn color from yellow to very light golden .
Now add 1.5 cups of boiled full cream milk ( or 1 cup milk with ½ cup water ) .
Once after adding liquid , add some crushed saffron strands ( optional) and continuously stir until gram flour thickens up.
Continue to mix well, at once stage ghee starts to release from edges.
Now add in sugar and mix well. Sugar melts completely and melds well.
Mix well.
Add cardamom powder, raisins and nuts .
Continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes until ghee oozes out from edges and halwa thickens and looks glossy.
Turn off stove and serve halwa warm .
Tips
Make this halwa only in ghee(clarified butter). Oil doesn’t taste as good. Do not reduce the amount of ghee. For every 1 cup of gramflour , ½ cup of ghee ( clarified butter is must )
Fry the besan on low-medium heat. Frying on high heat will burn the flour.
Make sure to fry the besan until nutty aroma starts to come. After that color changes from yellow to light golden . You need to stop at this point and proceed with next step of adding milk . If gram flour is not fried properly, the besan will taste raw and dessert doesnt taste good. Also if you fry too much and make it brown , it will taste bitter. So its crucial to fry the flour right.
You can replace full cream milk with half water and half milk , if you want it lighter.
Storage Suggestions
This halwa tastes best when made fresh. But if you have leftovers, you can refrigerate the halwa for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
Reheat it in a pan or microwave until nice and warm. If you feel it has become a little thick while refrigerating, sprinkle water and adjust the consistency.
You can also freeze it for up to 1 month. Once ready to eat, just thaw for few hours. Heat in a microwave and serve warm.
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Recipe
Besan Halwa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup besan / gram flour
- ½ cup ghee/clarified butter
- 1.5 cups full cream milk
- 1 cup sugar or as required
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder - freshly pound
- 5-6 saffron strands - optional
- 1 tablespoon raisins
- 1 tablespoon almonds - slivered
- 1 tablespoon pistachios - slivered
- 1 tablespoon cashews - chopped
Instructions
- In a thick bottom pan , heat ghee.
- When ghee melts completely, add 1 cup of gram flour and mix well.
- On a low to medium heat , keep roasting gram flour in ghee until you get nutty aromatic smell. This step is very important , if gram flour is not roasted well, then the entire dish will be spoilt.
- Once after aromatic smell comes, color of gram flour changes to light golden color. Take care not to burn ,it should just turn color from yellow to very light golden .
- Now add 1.5 cups of boiled full cream milk ( or 1 cup milk with ½ cup water ) .
- Once after adding liquid , add some crushed saffron strands ( optional) and continuously stir until gram flour thickens up.
- Continue to mix well, at once stage ghee starts to release from edges.
- Now add in sugar and mix well. Sugar melts completely and melds well.
- Add cardamom powder, raisins and nuts . Mix well.
- Continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes until ghee oozes out from edges and halwa thickens and looks glossy.
- Turn off and serve warm .
Video
Frequently asked questions
Why did my Halwa turned very dry - You may have overcooked it after adding sugar. Just make sure to turn off the stove when ghee oozes out from edges of halwa.
Halwa was very sticky - This happens when you undercook ,to avoid this in the last step wait until ghee releases from halwa. Halwa should come out clean without sticking to pan and spatula.
Halwa was bitter to taste - You may have burnt the flour while frying in ghee. Make sure to fry until it turns nutty and aromatic. Color should change from yellow to light golden , at this point proceed with next step.
Halwa tasted raw and powdery - if you haven't roasted the flour well, then halwa may taste raw . So make sure to roast well.
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