Dates Halwa

I am not a huge fan of dates and I had a lot of trouble swallowing these dates during my pregnancy days. Dates are super rich in Iron and women are most often low on Iron, so I had to eat dates during my pregnant days. The dates syrup was yuckier. I wish I’d tried this Dates Halwa recipe then. It really tastes fabulous. And because dates are already quite sweet you really wouldn’t need too much sugar either. The magic ingredient though is the channa dal (kadalai paruppu) here that transforms these sticky dates to a luscious Halwa. This is as healthy as a Halwa can get. I adapted this Halwa recipe from a Nita Mehta book on Hyderabadi cuisine.

This is also a great way to include dates into your children’s diet. My son for one loves sweets and Halwa is perfect for toddlers and even grown up kids. I am sending this dates Halwa to Srivalli’s Blogging Marathon for the theme – After School Bites.

So here are the cashews

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 5-6

Ingredients

Dates – 1 cup pitted and chopped
Channa dal/Kadalai paruppu – 1 cup cooked
Milk – 1 cup
Sugar – ½ cup + 2-3 tbsp (adjust)
Ghee – 4 tbsp + 5 tbsp
Cashews – 8 halved

Method

1.      Cook channa dal in a pressure cooker till soft. Drain the water and mash the channa dal.

2.      In a kadai/skillet, heat 4 tbsp ghee and fry the cashews till golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. In the same kadai add the mashed channa dal and fry it is dry and crumbly. Remove on to a plate.

3.      Pit the dates and chop them into little pieces. To the same kadai, add 1 cup milk and the chopped dates and simmer covered till the dates are soft and the milk is absorbed. Transfer the cooked dates mixture to a mixie and puree.

4.      To the very same kadai, add about 2 tbsp ghee and combine the dates mixture and the channa dal mixture. Mix well. Add sugar. Mix well and cook on low till the sugar dissolves. Taste and adjust sugar. Add the remaining ghee and cook on low till ghee oozes out. Remove from heat and garnish with fried cashews. Serve warm.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#31