Friday 15 March 2013

Arrowroot Halwa


Arrowroot Halwa



This is a unique halwa which is one of the traditional desserts of Kerala. It is usually prepared during ‘Thiruvathira’ festival by women. On the day of ‘thiruvathira’ women of Kerala take up a peculiar type of fasting where they avoid any kind of rice dishes and non vegetarian food items.  Roots, tubers, wheat and fruits add to their day’s meal.  Arrowroot is indeed a good source of folates. And that becomes the very reason why arrowroot is included in this diet that women follow as it acts as a traditional medicinal food. Apart from its nutritive benefits it tastes really good and thus makes a good choice to treat your sweet tooth.




Ingredients
1.      Arrowroot powder      100g
2.      Jaggery                        100g
3.      Coconut scrapings       100g
4.      Cardamom                  1 tsp
5.      Ghee                            3 tsps
6.      Cashewnut                  50g


Method
1.      Mix arrowroot powder with enough water and let it rest for 2 hrs. Drain off the water carefully and repeat the process thrice.
2.      Dissolve jaggery by boiling, strain and keep aside.
3.      In ½ L water add the washed arrowroot powder and boil. Keep stirring continuously for 5 mins.
4.      Pour the dissolved jaggery to the above mix and stir well, till the mixture turns sticky.
5.      Add grated coconut, cardamom, 2 tsps of ghee and mix well.
6.      Remove from fire and transfer to a greased plate, flatten the mix with a spatula and allow to cool.
7.      When the mix cools down, cut into pieces and serve. Garnish with roasted cashew nuts.

Yield: 2 cups
Nutritional information:
1 cup of halwa gives 10.1g of protein, 60.9 g of fat, 107 g of carbohydrates, 797 kcal of energy, 67.5 mg of calcium and 11.4mg of iron.

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