Halwa Types Compared: Suji, Gajar, Zarda and More

One word, a dozen desserts

Ask three people for halwa and you may get semolina pudding, carrot dessert or sweet yellow rice. In South Asia, halwa covers a family of sweets made by frying a base in ghee, adding liquid and sugar, and cooking until the mixture thickens. The base changes: semolina, carrots, flour, lentils, milk, rice. The method barely does.

Our library has suji halwa, gajar halwa, zarda and the breakfast set halwa puri chana. This guide sorts them out.

The method in one paragraph

Heat ghee. Fry the base until it changes colour and smells nutty (bhunai, in Urdu: stir-frying until the raw smell goes). Add hot liquid carefully, since it will spit. Cook until the base absorbs it. Add sugar and cook until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Finish with cardamom, nuts and sometimes a pinch of saffron.

The three at a glance

Suji halwa: the fast one

For 4: 100 g (1/2 cup) semolina, 100 g (1/2 cup) ghee, 250 ml (1 cup) hot water, 250 ml (1 cup) hot milk, 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar, 4 cardamom pods, 2 tbsp nuts.

The classic ratio is 1 part semolina to 1 part fat to 2 parts liquid to 1 part sugar by volume. Roast the semolina in ghee on medium-low for 8 to 10 minutes until it is golden and smells toasty. Add hot liquid slowly, stirring, because it steams and spits. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until thick, add sugar and cook 3 more minutes. Cover for 2 minutes off the heat.

Raw-tasting halwa means the semolina was not roasted long enough. Pasty halwa means too much liquid or too little roasting.

Gajar halwa: the slow one

For 6: 1 kg (2 1/4 lb) carrots, grated, 1 litre (4 1/4 cups) milk, 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar, 3 tbsp ghee, 1/2 tsp cardamom, nuts and raisins.

Cook grated carrots in milk on medium-low, stirring, until the milk has evaporated almost entirely. This takes 45 to 60 minutes. Add sugar and ghee and cook 15 to 20 minutes more until glossy. Sugar added early draws water out of the carrots and extends the time, so hold it until the milk is mostly gone.

Red carrots, if you can find them in winter, give the best colour. Orange carrots work fine.

Zarda: sweet rice, not a pudding

Zarda is basmati rice boiled to about 80% done, then layered with sugar syrup, ghee and colour and steamed. Our library recipe lists the details. Common problems are mushy rice, from boiling too long before the syrup step, and pale rice, because the colour was added to the rice instead of dissolved in a spoon of milk first. See how to cook basmati with separate grains for the rice stage.

Choosing by occasion

• Surprise guests, 25 minutes: suji halwa.
• Winter evenings, a weekend: gajar halwa.
• Eid, weddings, big gatherings: zarda, and sheer khurma.
• Sunday breakfast: suji halwa with puri and chana, as in our halwa puri Sunday plan.

Fixing halwa problems

How much sugar

Sugar amounts are personal. A tested starting point is about one-half to two-thirds the weight of the dry base for suji, and 80 to 100 g per kilo of carrots. Reduce from there. Halwa gets sweeter as it cools in people's mouths, so stop a touch short.

Storing

Suji halwa keeps 2 days in the fridge and reheats with a splash of milk. Gajar halwa keeps up to 5 days chilled. Cooked rice dishes like zarda should be cooled quickly and eaten within a day; see cooling and reheating rice safely.

Degchi can keep semolina, carrots and ghee on your list so they are ready for a halwa night; try it in the pantry sandbox.