BOMBAY HALWA | KARACHI HALWA | HOW TO MAKE HALWA SWEET

Bombay Halwa or Karachi Halwa is a melt-in-mouth Indian sweet recipe that you should try during this Diwali festival.

History suggests that the origins of this halwa trace to Karachi, a city in Pakistan. But this halwa is also loved across the border in India and is referred to as Bombay Halwa. All I know is love for halwa (halua) sweet in India is endless. There are variations to halwa recipe, but this is one of our family’s favorite. Unlike other halwa, which have a grainy texture, Karachi Halwa has a chewy, gelatinous texture.

And let me tell you, homemade Karachi Halwa tastes much more delicious than any store-bought halwa mainly because of the quality of ingredients that go into its making and are also consumed fresh. At home, we use pure desi ghee; on the other hand, store-bought ones have a significant amount of vanaspati or dalda in them.

HOW DOES KARACHI HALWA TASTE LIKE?

Like suji ka halwa or moong dal halwa this is not grainy in texture. Karachi has a smooth and soft melt in the mouth texture, with ghee, cardamom, and rose water flavors. Depending on the preparation style and ratio of ingredients used in the recipe, this halwa can have varying degrees of chewiness.

HOW TO STORE BOMBAY HALWA OR KARACHI HALWA

You can store Karachi Halwa in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks. Compared to other halwa with shorter shelf-life, Karachi Halwa makes a good candidate for mithai boxes during Diwali, Eid, and Christmas, as mithai boxes are packaged well in advance of the festive season.

INGREDIENTS FOR BOMBAY HALWA OR KARACHI HALWA

• 1 cup Cornflour
• 1 1/3 cup Water
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 cups of Water
• 1/2 tsp Lemon juice
• 6 tbsp Ghee or Brown butter
• 2 tbsp Cashews chopped
• 2 tbsp Almonds chopped
• 2 tbsp Watermelon seeds
• 1/2 tsp Food color ( I have used orange, and in powder form)
• 1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
• 1 tsp Rose water (optional)

In a bowl, add cornflour with 1 1/3 cup of water and mix well to avoid lumps. Keep this aside.

In a pan on medium heat, add sugar and 2 cups of water. When the sugar syrup begins to boil, add few drops of lemon juice and mix.

Now add cornflour-water mixture/slurry and keep string. After five minutes of stirring, the mixture begins to look glossy. Now add ghee in increments of 2 tbsp every 10 minutes. Mix until the ghee is entirely incorporated into the mixture after every addition

Add cashews, almonds, watermelon seeds, food color, and mix while adding ghee for the third time (around 25 to 30 mins mark).

When ghee starts leaving the sides of the pan (40 mins mark), add flavorings such as cardamom powder, rose water, and mix well. Switch off the flame.

Transfer this mixture immediately to a greased plate, garnish with more seeds and nuts if needed, and let it set completely. Cut them into the desired shape and sizes once the halwa mixture comes to room temperature and enjoy.

HOW TO MAKE CHEWY HALWA?

The chewiness of halwa depends on the formation and stretching of gluten. While cooking this halwa, if the mixture is stirred vigorously for extended periods, the halwa gets a chewy texture associated with Karachi Halwa. The resulting halwa can be soft and mildly chewy if you use a gentle folding motion during mixing.

TIPS:

• You can add any nuts or seeds of your choice like pistachios, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.
• We have used orange food color. You can add red, green, yellow or make it plain translucent white without adding any color.
• Corn flour in India is also known as Corn starch in western countries like Europe and the USA.