Asoka Halwa recipe

Are you looking for a fail-proof recipe of the glossy and melt in the mouth, Asoka Halwa? Look no further! Impress your guests this Diwali, by serving them this mouthwatering treat. It is one of the popular Diwali sweets recipes, in South India.

This is my first blog post and I’ve chosen one of my favorite Indian sweets to commemorate it. You can read more about me, here.

What is Asoka Halwa?

Asoka Halwa hails from the humble town of Thiruvaiyaru in India. Although, I’ve never had the fortune of tasting it there, I’ve had my fair share of good Asoka halwas in my life.

I always associate it with the South Indian wedding breakfast. I could count the number of times with my fingers when this sweet was not served in the South Indian weddings I’ve been to.

Ever since I moved to the US, I’ve been missing a lot of Indian sweets that are not available here. My son was born during the COVID pandemic, and I was experimenting in the kitchen while I was on my maternity leave. That’s when I tried making this halwa at home, and I was hooked! I’ve made it several times ever since.

My dad is a huge fan of this halwa and is very picky when it comes to his sweets. I can proudly say that it’s my dad-approved recipe. The best part about this recipe is, it comes together very quickly once your sugar syrup reaches the desired one-string consistency.

You can also try other Indian sweet recipes from my blog

Badam Burfi with Almond Flour

Ingredients

Moong Dal/ Split petite yellow lentils

It is made out of split petite yellow lentils, commonly known as Moong dal or Paasi paruppu. Moong dal cooks very easily.

Whole Wheat Flour

Whole wheat flour is added to give this halwa some body. Some prefer to add very little quantity of wheat flour, but I have added it in 1:1 ratio to get the desired silky texture.

Sugar

This recipe calls for white sugar or granulated cane sugar. I have not tried this recipe using brown sugar, and would not recommend substituting it.

Ghee

Ghee, also known as clarified butter is an important ingredient in this recipe. I know, it’s a lot of ghee, but you’ll appreciate the dream-like texture in the end product.

Food color

To get the characteristic orange hue in the Asoka halwa, you can either use natural food color, or cook the moong dal in beet water. Beet water is nothing but the water in which you boil beetroot. Do not use too much beet water, as it will affect the taste of the halwa.

Asoka Halwa – Step by Step Method:

Heat a pan and dry roast the moong dal, until a nice aroma wafts from it. Be careful not to brown the dal. We just want it nicely roasted to extract the maximum flavor from it.

Pressure cook the moong dal with water just enough to submerge it. You can let 3-4 whistles. You can replace some of the water with beet water here, to avoid using any food colors.

Once the dal is well cooked, blend it into a paste. You can also use a hand blender here, but make sure it is blended properly. Any whole moong dal will affect the texture of the halwa. So this is an important step.

Heat 2 tsp ghee in a pan, and add the whole wheat flour to it. Roast it till it turns a pale brown. Again, there should be a wonderful aroma.

Take the sugar and water in a pan, and heat it till the sugar melts. Once it’s melted, turn the heat to medium-low and keep checking for one-string consistency.

One-string consistency of Sugar Syrup

To check for one-string consistency, simply put some syrup between your index finger and thumb, and pull the fingers apart. If you see a single thread that does not break easily, you’ve reached the stage. Refer the picture below. Immediately, turn the heat to low.

Add the mashed dal and the roasted wheat flour to the sugar syrup and mix it well. You can add few drops of orange food color now, if you’re planning to use it.

Add 1/2 cup of ghee and mix the halwa well. Keep adding ghee in intervals, until all the ghee is used up.

If your mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan as shown below, and turns glossy, it’s done. Add some cardamom powder, mix well, and remove from heat.

In a small pan, add a tsp of ghee and roast 1.5 tbsp of cashews in it. Once roasted, add it to the halwa. Asoka halwa is ready!