This is quite famous recipe in Southern Tamil Nadu. The is no much variation from the usual ‘Halwa’ recipe though!

Ingredients:

White Poppy Seeds 1 cup
Sugar ¾ cup
Milk 2 cups
Saffron few strands
Ghee or Clarified Butter 1 small cup
Cashew nuts 15 – halved
Golden raisins 1 fistful(dry grapes)

Method:

Soak poppy seeds in 1 cup of warm water for about 10-12 hours.

Then filter the seeds alone(discard the soaked water)

Boil milk really well and set aside.

Wet grind the poppy seeds using limited warm milk.

Heat sugar along with ½ cup of water. Add saffron strands to this sugar syrup and continue heating.

Add wet-ground poppy paste tot his syrup and stir well. Allow it to cook over medium heat….with constant stirring.

Meanwhile in a separate pan, heat ghee. Fry cashew nuts in it till golden to reddish color, set this aside.

In the same ghee, add raisins and fry till they pop. Set this aside too.

When poppy puree is almost done without any raw small add few ghee, fried raisins and cashew nuts. Turn them really well.

When ‘Halwa’ consistency is achieved and oil shows up on sides, remove it from the stove.

Serve warm or cold as a dessert. Enjoy!