KARACHI HALWA or BOMBAY HALWA

This is a Sindi recipe.It is also known as Karachi halwa or Bombay halwa. Actually it is a dessert which is usually taken after meals but it is very tasty and you can take it any time.Indian people make this dessert on any festival.It takes 35 to 40 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients for making bombay halwa,corn flour halwa,rubber halwa or Karachi halwa.

• Cornflour(cornstarch)  1 cup.
• Sugar      1 1/2 cup.
• Water      3 cups(1 cup for sugar syrup and 2 cups for cornflour mixture).
• Lemon juice 2 tsp.
• Pure desi ghee or clarified butter 1 1/2 cup.
• Small cardamom powder 1/2 tsp.
• Almond    2 tsp.
• Raisins   2 tsp.
• Pistachio   2 tsp.
• Cashew nuts  2 tsp.
• Melon or cucumber seeds  3 tsp.
• Any food colour of your choice.

Method

Step1

Take a bowl, to make cornflour batter(cornflour which is used to thicken the gravy) .Put cornflour into this bowl.

Step2

Add 1/10 food colour into the mixing bowl(if it is in powder form or if you are using liquid food colour,add few drops of food colour into the mixing bowl. Mix it well.Stir it continuously.
Step3
Add 2 cups of water.Mix it well to avoid any lumps.Keep it aside.

Step4

Take a non stick pan.Put this pan on gas and make sugar syrup.Add 1 1/2 cup of sugar along with 1 cup of water.Mix it well.
Step5
Add 1 tbsp of lemon juice.Mix lemon juice into this pan.Let the syrup boil for sometime.Your sugar syrup should be thick to some extent.Do not forget to stir.We add lemon juice because we do not want sugar to crystal.You can replace lemon juice with citric acid(tatri,1/2 tsp).

Step6

Now pour the cornflour batter (that you have mixed with water in a bowl) in this pan.One thing that I want to share with you, is that before adding cornflour,stir it well as it always settles down.
Step7
Add 1/2 tsp of small cardamom powder to the sugar syrup.Mix it well.

Step8 

Reduce the gas to low flame.Stir the pan of sugar syrup mixed with cornflour batter very carefully on low medium flame for fifteen to twenty  minutes.Once the cornflour or corn starch mixture starts to thicken,add ghee or clarified butter. Continue stirring on low medium flame,otherwise you would not get good results and your halwa would not be able to get elastic or rubber type consistency.Add more ghee and stir well.
Step9
Add ghee or clarified butter in installments to prevent any lumps.when it becomes thick or ghee separates from halwa,it means your dessert is ready to eat.
Step10
Pour these material in a greased tray.Always prefer refined oil for greasing the tray.Let it rest for one hour.
Step11
Finally cut into desired shapes and serve.

Note -Your dry fruits should be roughly chopped.

To make this recipe always prefer low to medium flame.

In this recipe lemon juice is used to avoid crystallization of sugar.You may use citric acid or tatri in place of lemon juice.