Karachi Special Halwa

Karachi Halwa is a sweet made with cornstarch and has a distinctive rubbery touch. It feels, rigidities almost like rubber.

 

Ingredients

1 tsp of ghee

1 tbsp. of kewra water

1 cup sugar

1 cup cornstarch

1 tsp citric acid

1 tsp of cardamom powder

Direction

1- Start by taking 1 cup of cornstarch in a bowl. Add 3 & 1/4 cups of water.

2- Mix very well till cornstarch dissolves. Set this aside.

3- Adjust a pan on medium heat, add 2 cups of sugar. To that add the remaining 1/2 cup of water. Mix and let the sugar dissolve.

4- When sugar is dissolved add 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to the sugar. This helps avoid crystallization. If you did not have citric acid you can use lemon juice.

5- Now adjust the heat and add the prepared cornstarch.

6- After around about 8 to 9 minutes, the mixture will start forming bumps. It will seem very lump-filled but don’t worry.

7- After around about 13 to 14 minutes of adding the cornstarch mix to the pan, the mixture will turn thick and smooth.

9- Add 1 tablespoon and mix till ghee is completely absorbed by the mixture.

10- Add around 6 to 7 tablespoons of ghee for around about 10 minutes total time. You note that the mixture will become shiny at this stage and thicker.

11- Add food color to give them a beautiful look. Mix for about 5 more minutes after adding the color. This is how Karachi Halwa was sold in shops in Delhi and so I went for that orange color.

12- After this should add 2 tbsp. of melon seeds.

13- Cook for about 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.

14- Add 1 teaspoon of cardamom powder and a few drops of kewra water and mix.

15- Keep cooking and mixing, you will notice the smoothness of the halwa change.

16- After 1 hour, you will notice that ghee leaves from the sides of the mixture and start changing its shape like rubber.

18- At the end of cooking: take a small portion of the mixture and pull it apart. It should be stretched like rubber, if not it needs to be cooked more. Look for this consistency rather than the mentioned timing because timing can vary depending on the thickness of the pan, the intensity of heat, and the quality of ingredients being used. This recipe may be prolonged from 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes.

19- Then grease a pan lined with parchment paper and transfer the mixture to it. Decorate it with melon seeds and chopped cashews and pistachios. Remain it for 2 to 3 hours.

20- Then cut this mixture into pieces, you can cut them into small or big pieces. In Karachi we would usually have these big rectangular pieces at sweet shops.