Thirunelveli Halwa is a traditional halwa made with whole wheat or samba wheat, sugar, and ghee. It is different from atta halwa or wheat flour halwa. It is prepared with wheat milk squeezed from soaked and grounded samba wheat. Another method is to knead and soak the wheat flour and get milk from that, but it is not a traditional way. Thirunelveli Halwa is a popular dish with Indians around the world.
- 1/2 cup Whole wheat or Samba wheat
- 1 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup Sugar for caramelization
- 4 tsp Cashew nuts
- 1/2 cup Ghee
- 2 tsp Ghee to fry cashews
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Wash and soak wheat for 8 hours.
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Once done, drain and add it to the mixture jar, add the required water and grind it.
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Strain the ground mixture and extract milk.
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Squeeze the milk once more (2nd time) and discard the wheat residue.
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Add the wheat milk to a tall glass, and keep it aside for an hour.
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Wheat milk will settle in the bottom with clear water on top.
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Discard the water, and keep the wheat milk in the bowl. (450 ml wheat milk approx.)
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For 2 cups of wheat milk, add 4 cups of water (900 ml).
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In a pan, add 1/4 cup of sugar and a little water.
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Cook until sugar becomes brown in colour.
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Add 1 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water to the same pan.
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Boil for 5 - 10 minutes or cook till the one string consistency is achieved.
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Now add wheat milk with sugar and cook over medium heat.
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Once it starts to thicken, add 2 or 3 tsp of ghee and keep stirring.
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After 20 minutes, add more ghee to avoid burning.
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You can see the halwa starts to bubble and reduce the flame to medium-low if necessary.
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After 40 minutes, add more ghee and keep stirring.
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After 1 hour and 10 minutes, add roasted cashew nuts.
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Keep stirring till the halwa separates the pan or ghee oozes out from the sides.
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Transfer it to a greased plate and serve hot.