Sooji Halwa Recipe | Sheera | Indian Semolina Pudding
Suji Ka Halwa, also known as Sheera is a simple Indian semolina pudding, made with basic ingredients – semolina, sugar, and ghee. Sooji ka halwa tastes simply divine, and takes just 20 minutes to prepare.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Total Time20 minutesmins
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: how to make suji halwa, sheera recipe, Sooji Halwa recipe
In a pot, add the water, milk, sugar, cardamom and saffron. Heat on medium-high flame until it comes to a boil. Turn off once there is a boil.
While the above step is going on, heat a pan on medium-low flame. Add sooji and ghee. Roast it while stirring continuously until it starts turning golden.
Add half of the nuts to the pan and roast along with the semolina. Turn the flame to low as soon as the sooji lightly browns.
Pour in milk, water and sugar mixture, while stirring. Be careful as there will be some splatter when you initially start pouring, but that will stop once once of the mixture is added.
The halwa will boil and thicken. Keep stirring.
Remove from flame when it just thickens. Let it cool. Garnish with remaining nuts. Serve immediately.
Notes
Which semolina to use for Sooji Halwa? Usually in the store you will find "fine" and "coarse" varieties of semolina. For Halwa, we use fine sooji, and course sooji works well for Upma. Ratio of sooji to liquid: I use 1:4 ratio of sooji to liquids in this recipe. This gives a pudding like texture that is preferred in North India. For a more crumbly texture for sheera, you can reduce the amount of liquid by 1/2 cup. So the ratio of sooji to liquid will be 1:3.What to use: Milk or Water to make Suji Halwa? The easy answer is that either works or a mixture of both milk and water works too. When using milk, the color will be more on the brownish side. If you use milk, the final Sooji Halwa will look more whitish in color. I prefer to use a combination of milk and water. Hence in this recipe, I used a proportion of 1:3 milk to water - 1/2 cup milk with 1 1/2 cup of water. Ghee: Don't skimp on ghee when making halwa. I have tried with less and it does not taste as good :-)Roasting Sooji: Be patient when roasting the semolina, it takes time. But roasting along with ghee definitely helps to speed the process. Why boil the liquids? Boiling the liquids separately helps to make softer perfectly cooked halwa. So don't skip that, and it also helps to do the steps in parallel.Optional ingredients: Nuts, saffron and cardamom are optional. Add or skip based on your taste and availability.Serving: You can serve it warm (preferred) or cold. To reheat, place in microwave for 15-30 seconds.