Apple Halwa

Apple halwa is one of my favorite Indian dessert as it has combination of sweet and sourness.  The fragrant and taste of the sweet is elevated, when pureed apples are cooked with pure ghee. It is also a very simple dessert for any cooking beginners to learn and  to be prepared for any occasion in jiffy. You could use any type of red apples such as Gala, Washington etc. Here in this recipe, I have used gala red apples which had little sourness so extra sugar was added to counterbalance the flavor. Yesterday, I made this apple halwa for Shirdi Sai Baba Temple naivedyam or offering during the prayers. The taste was excellent and I was also able to cut small square pieces easily after keeping the halwa in refrigerator for 2 hours. I just heat the knife blade on the stove flame to cut the firm halwa. I think the secret for getting nice square pieces is by frying the ground apple pulp in ghee till the sizzling sound stops and seems slightly dry. The liquid in the pureed apple should all be absorbed during frying before adding sugar. Lets check the recipe in detail. The ingredients are given for 12 pieces but for grand occasion you can double the amount as much needed.

Apple halwa

Ingredients for making apple halwa : (This will yield 12 pieces)

Small Gala red apples : 6

Sugar : 1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp

Ghee : 8 tbsp plus 1 tsp

Cashew nuts : 14

Cardamon powder : 1/8 tsp

*1 cup sweet apple pulp : 1/2 cup sugar

*1 cup sweet and sour apple pulp : 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Wash and peel off the skin of the apples.  De seed the apples and cut into small chunks.

2. Blend the cut apples in liquidizer into a smooth pulp. 

3.  Measure the pureed apple to 1 cup. 

blended pulp of 1 cup

4. In a pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee and fry cashews lightly. Keep it aside. With the leftover ghee in the pan, cook the pureed apple pulp. Stir continuously till the sizzling sound stops and it dries out. Now and then, you may add another 2 tbsp of ghee. 

5. Now, add sugar and mix well. The color of the mixture will start changing to deep brown. Keep stirring till the apple mixture leaves sides of the pan and no longer clings to the pan by gradually adding another 4 tbsp of ghee. At this stage, fried cashew nuts can be added along with cardamon powder.

6. The halwa should turn glossy and lastly before removing from the pan, add 1 tsp of ghee. Please refer to the picture number 3 below. 

First stage, mixture has natural liquid of apple pulp and there's a lot of sizzling going on. Second stage, where the pulp starts drying out, now, add sugar. Third stage, bring mixture together without sticking to the sides of the pan.

5. For this halwa, ghee will not ooze out as the amount of ghee used is very little. Transfer it to a plate and spread evenly. Let it cool outside before moving it into the fridge. Then, after 2 hours of chilling in refrigerator, cut and serve.