Cornflour Halwa

Deepavali is nearing and many of you would be wondering what kind of sweetmeats to make or buy. For centuries, Indian sweetmeats have been part of all Indian festivals and also as offerings during prayers. However, sugar is bad for us and the children. We do give an excuse of, “I only eat them during Deepavali, and other times I do not indulge much in sweet stuff”. Well, I think it is perfectly alright to make any sweet items as long as we give it away and share with others; So that you eat less! In any case, I have cut down the sugar tremendously in this Cornflour Halwa recipe and have added lots of raisins to make up for the lack of caster sugar. Raisins are healthy and you can choose not to fry them too.

110 g corn flour

200 ml water

2 teaspoons egg yellow colouring

500 ml water

220 g caster sugar

80 g ghee

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

40 g chopped roasted cashew nuts

40 g golden raisins, fried in ghee

METHOD

1. Combine corn flour, water and yellow colouring in a bowl. Stir to ensure it is lump free.
2. In a non-stick pan, bring water and sugar together to a boil. Boil until the sugar syrup is sticky. It may take about 8-10 minutes.
3. Lower the heat and pour in the corn flour mixture but keep stirring continuously so that no lumps are formed.
4. When the halwa thickens, add in the ghee, cardamom powder, cashew nuts and raisins. Carry on stirring until the halwa becomes one whole glossy mass and leaves the sides of the pan.
5. Transfer to a greased square or rectangle pan and smoothen the surface.
6. Let it cool and cut into squares or diamond shapes to serve.