Awesome rainy weather calls for food which is rich, sweet and hot. Watching the rains pitter pattering from the comfort of our home gives all of us a warm comfortable feeling, of course childhood days of running around in the rains, deliberately jumping into puddles of rain water just for the fun of it are treasured and fun filled memories.
Foods which are energy giving are of course preferred during winters and monsoons, which brings us to the recipe I will be sharing today with you, beetroot halwa. This dish was never cooked at home maybe because mummy normally stuck to sindhi cuisine, of which she was master chef. But beetroot was definitely served in the form of salad, be it the simple garden salad which consisted of boiled beet cut into circles, topped with grated carrot, sliced red onion and dressed with salt, pepper and a squirt of lime juice and garnished with freshly cut corriander leaves, or in a boiled vegetable salad tossed with homemade mayonnaise, to which it imparted a lovely pink colour. Those were the basic salads which were served at home while we were kids, simplicity being the norm in the good old days. The other form of beetroot which I personally love to this day , is the beetroot cutlet served at the Priya restaurant , main street.. Pune. No visit to Pune is complete without me eating this wholesome cutlet, still served exactly the same way it was served in the early seventies, deep fried crispy goodness enclosing a soft sticky beetroot mixture, slightly sweet, topped with shredded lettuce leaves, and sweet tomato sauce and spicy green chutney, the balance of flavours is amazing.This amazing root is full of vitamins and is a super healthy vegetable, advised by doctors to consume on a regular basis,
especially for those who are anemic Back to the recipe of beetroot halwa, I came across this simple recipe while browsing the net , changed it to my liking, made it and loved it. It is unbelievably simple to make. Best had chilled, and in small servings. Do try this delicious recipe .
Beetroot Halwa
Ingredients
250 gms peeled and grated beetroot
1 cup milk
2 tbsps ghee
3 tbsps sugar or to taste
2 tbsps condensed milk
1/4 cup of coarsely chopped nuts( cashew nuts, almonds and some pistas)
extra nuts finely chopped for garnish
1 tsp poppy seeds for garnish
1/2 tsp cardamon powder
Method
1.. Heat one tbsp of ghee in a non stick pan and add grated beetroot.
2.. Saute till moisture starts evaporating and ghee separates from the beet.
3.. Add the milk and cook on a medium flame till it reduces and thickens.
4.. Add sugar at this point and the condensed milk, stir frequently till the liquid reduces totally, and the halwa starts leaving the sides of the pan..
5.. In a separate pan, heat one tbsp of ghee and add the coarsely chopped nuts and saute till light golden brown. Add the nuts along with the ghee to the halwa. mix well and add the cardamon powder.
6.. Halwa ready to be served .
7.. Dust with the finely chopped nuts and poppy seeds.
ratisfusionkitchen 