TIRUNELVELI HALWA / GODHUMAI HALWA – DIWALI SWEET RECIPES

Being a native of tirunelveli , i had an eye on this halwa for a long time . For this diwali i thought, i should make something that i never tried so far. At last my search ended up with this halwa. I referred this video  ( 3 PARTS ARE THERE) & this blog for the recipe. I too made some changes.It was a huge success at home. Halwa looked glossy and tasted as we get in “Iruttukadai “. Of course, its very difficult to reproduce the same at home because Nellai people used to say, the taste of halwa is due to the use of thamirabarani river water and the original recipe is kept secret :). But I followed the video and tried to bring its taste close to the original halwa. I am happy with this recipe. Though its a time consuming process , its worth the effort..Please go through the Notes section for some tips..



INGREDIENTS 
1 cup – 200ml

  • Whole Wheat / Samba godhumai –  1 cup
  • Sugar – 2.5 – 3 cups
  • Ghee – 2 cups
  • Roasted cashews – 15 nos ( break into two halves)
  • Water – 6 cups + extra for grinding the soaked whole wheat.
  • Food color – few drops ( optional)

METHOD 

  • Soak the whole wheat berries over nite or for 8 hrs.
  • Drain the water and grind to make  a smooth paste by adding water. It took half an hour to grind completely.( i used grinder) No matter how much water u add here for grinding.
  • Remove and take the extract by filtering it twice or thrice.U’ll get a white milk .
  • Take the milk in a wide bowl , close and allow it to ferment for 10hrs.
  • The next day u’ll c a layer of water getting separated. Without disturbing the sediment , just drain the water in the top.
  • U’ll get a thick milk around 1.5 cups.
  • Now add 6 cups of water as i mentioned in the ingredients and mix well.
  • Add the sugar and take the mixture in a deep , wide  bowl.
  • Stir the sugar till it dissolves in the wheat milk mixed with water and allow it to boil.
  • It takes nearly 50 mins – 1hr to get cooked. keep in a medium flame and make sure it don’t get burnt.Stir for every 3 mins. U can cover & cook .
  • At one stage u’ll find the halwa starts to leave the sides , turns glossy and non sticky.
  • Now add the roasted cashews.By the time the halwa gets cooked , the color will be changed automatically. If needed, add few drops of food color too.
  • Add ghee little by little say 2 tbsp . As soon as u add the ghee, u’ll find it easy to stir but after some minutes halwa absorbs all the ghee and solidifies making it difficult to stir.
  • Again add little ghee.Continue the same process . At one stage ,  the halwa starts to ooze out the ghee it took. At this time stop adding ghee and remove the ghee ( it oozes out ) in a separate bowl. Mix well and collect all the ghee.The halwa starts to rotate holding the ladle. This is the final step.Switch off the stove and allow the halwa to be in the same bowl. This helps thickening of halwa .
  • Transfer it to an air tight container after it cools down. Reheat the halwa  in MW and njoy if u wanna eat it hot 🙂

Delicious tirunelveli halwa is ready to enjoy !!


NOTES 

      • Here i’ve combined the method i saw in the video & blog. Actually the procedure is to make a sugar syrup of one thread consistency before adding the wheat milk.This helps to quicken the process of cooking.But i followed what’s mentioned in that video.
      • In that video , he has mentioned to add the ghee and remove immediately. But the thing is u’ve to add all the ghee little by little and stir till the ghee comes out back.This is the correct procedure i feel.Its missed in the video.Also the sugar quantity he said is more.Please add the amount i’ve given here.Sweet lovers , add little more.
      • Instead of adding 2 cups of ghee  , u can replace half of the ghee by dalda/vanaspathi. ( but its better to add ghee in health point of view )
      • U can use the collected ghee for making other sweets or in ur daily cooking.No need to waste it.
      • The point is the halwa should slide down when u take in a spoon . please take care not to over cook it.
      • For this measurement , u’ll get nearly 3/4 kg of halwa.
      • Total preparation time for this halwa would be around 1 hr 15 mins.

TAKE CARE , CATCH U ALL IN MY NEXT POST:)

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40 thoughts on “TIRUNELVELI HALWA / GODHUMAI HALWA – DIWALI SWEET RECIPES”

  10. GEETHA ACHAL

    ஆஹா…சித்ரா…ரொம்ப சூப்பராக இருக்கு…ஓவ்வொன்றையும் மிகவும் கவனமாக படித்தேன் அப்ப தானே செய்யும் பொழுது சூப்பராக இருக்கும்….

    எனக்காக இதனை Cup/ கப் அளவில் கொடுங்களேன்……இன்றே போய் வாங்கி கொண்டு வர வேண்டியது தான்…Wheat berries என்றால் முழு கோதுமை தானே….

    Reply
  11. Chitra

    Thanks all. @ Sharmi , wheat berry is nothing but the whole wheat.
    @ammu , thanks.wheat berry is whole wheat only. Will update the post with cup measurements tomorrow 🙂

    Reply
  12. Padma

    Love Tirunelveli halwa and that too hot and fresh from iruttu kadai. Never miss them on our visits. Looks very tempting Chitra. Has come out super. My grandma too makes same like these.

    Reply
  16. Swathi

    Tirunelveli halwa looks delicious. I have seen the that episode of Flavors of India by Lakshmi nair. I like it. Anyway thanks for corrected halwa recipe to make at home.

    Reply
  17. FewMinute Wonders

    Hi,

    The minute I read the title I was singing the Samy movie song. The halwa looks so amazing. My husband just finished the halwa I made for Deepavali. Feel like having some after looking at this post.

    Reply
  20. Sangi

    yummy n perfect looking halwa.. Just by reading the word iruttu kadai.. I got reminded of those rich n flavorful halwa I used to njy.. 🙂

    Reply
  21. Myvegfare

    wow, nice looking halwa, It's my H's favourite, he always bought loads of it whenever he went or somebody visited us!, I never knew it was made from wheat, I make a sweet out of wheat milk, as I am not fond of sweets, I don't make sweets often but I will try this out for my H's sake. thanks for sharing

    Reply
  24. Jeyashris Kitchen

    i have tasted this in a friend's place.homemade halwa always gives a yummy and unique taste. great attempt. Hope ur family enjoyed a lot.
    Chitra, diwalikku ellarukkum alwa kuduthuteengallae:)(LOL)

    Reply
  31. Mahi

    halwa looks yummy! Worth of 11/4hour cooking time and all the hard work.Looks like iruttu kadai halwa!:P 😛

    Good job chithra!

    Reply
  34. sojo

    How I lov irruttu kada halwa…. ooooo… well, the next best thing I can do is book mark this and make it as soon as I can… thanks a lot for dropping by my space…and I loved it here especially ur Kitchen Clinic…and ofcourse recipes too….

    Reply
  35. Shylaja

    Halwa looks delicious and perfect Chithra.I too refered the same video and felt the amount of sugar is too high.

    One suggestion.Instead of adding artificial color, we can melt the sugar in heated ghee and add to the halwa. This will give the original color of Thirunelveli Halwa
    South Indian Home

    Reply
  36. Chitra

    Thanks everyone.. @ South indian home, thanks for the suggestion.Will do it as u said.. Yes , amount of sugar is too high in the video . But i've adjusted the ratio and given here.. 🙂

    Reply
  37. Meena

    hi chitra,

    one small doubt , i read a receipe where they cook the wheat milk and then add sugar ,and you have other way .do u have any idea why it is done and which way is better , i have soaked wheat berries for doing it tommorrow .if u could reply at earliest highly appreciated.bit confused.

    regards
    Meena

    Reply
  38. Chitra

    Hi meena , The method u mentioned takes less time to cook i feel. U can try it. My method takes nearly 1 hour. But while cooking the wheat , make sure it doesnt get burnt..Add a tbsp of ghee to avoid getting burnt. Hope this helps 🙂 Do tell me how the halwa turned out 🙂

    Reply
  39. Meena

    hi chitra
    thanks for the reply.wishing you too a very happy diwali .the halwa turned out amazing ,i soaked 250gm of wheat , it took 1 hour totally.i was too elated and happy .

    cheers
    Meena

    Reply
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