Chocolate Halwa

Chocolate Halwa is a delectable Indian fusion dessert. Basically it is our humble suji halwa flavored with chocolate taste. Here i have used unsweetened cocoa powder to get that chocolaty flavor and color. I have also replaced the refined sugar with jaggery in this recipe and cut down the ghee to make it a guilt free affair. Topped with slivered nuts and mildly flavored with cardamom powder, this aromatic and flavorful chocolate halwa is a delight for all ages. And mind you, this dessert is super addictive. Serve it at kid parties , pack it in their snack box or just make it for those sweet cravings. With a very simple and easy to follow recipe, this chocolate halwa is ready within 20 minutes from scratch and with the upcoming festive season , you have yet another delicious dessert to awe your loved ones !

Suji or semolina halwa (sheera) is a traditional Indian sweet made on special occasions and festivals. I have yet to meet an Indian who does not love this dessert. I mean what is not to love in this dish ? Ghee roasted nuts and semolina are cooked in either milk or water and then sweetened and flavored with aromatic spices like cardamom to give a melt in mouth dessert. Suji halwa is not only apt for special occasions but it is also offered as Naivedhyam to the deity on festivals and then served as prasad to the devotees. We make Narayani Sheera for Satyanarayan Pooja where the halwa is flavored with ripe banana. Narayani Sheera is made with equal parts of suji, ghee, sugar and milk and however closely you follow the recipe, you cannot get the taste of this Satyanarayan prasad sheera at your home on regular days. I guess , it is the same with all the temple offerings. The prasad gets its special taste from the love and devotion of the devotees, the positive vibes from the mantras and shlokas and off course the strong belief that the prasad has healing properties and blessings from the deity.

I have experimented adding fresh fruit flavors to this humble suji halwa multiple times and each time i get awesome results. Pineapple Kesari as the name suggests has fresh pineapple juice and pineapple chunks in it which give refreshing tropical flavors to the kesari. Orange Rava Kesari has a lovely citrus flavor in it ,Mango Halwa another scrumptious dessert with fresh mango pulp and the narayani sheera with the banana flavor are some of our family favorites. This time i wanted to give a firangi avatar to our sheera and hence this chocolate halwa. Now you must be wondering how did i get this idea.

Actually the #205th #FoodieMondayBlogHop theme is #MithiaMeinTwist. FoodieMondayBlogHop is a Facebook group, of which I am a part of. It was Sasmita's turn to suggest the theme for this week. In the theme MeethaiMeinTwist, she wanted us to cook an Indian dessert but not in the usual way. Either we could alter the ingredients or cooking method to give it a global twist. I was super excited with the theme. There were many thoughts in my mind, like gajar halwa parfait, gulab jamun cake etc. I already have Almond Chocolate Ladoo, Chocolate Modak, Chocolate Nankhatai , Eggless Thandai Cookies on my blog. So for our chocolate love and to keep it sweet and simple for my readers, this easy yet flavorful chocolate halwa was finalized for the theme. Do check out my other fellow bloggers post for some wonderful ideas on this interesiting theme. Also do check out Sasmita's blog for wonderful recipes. I like her traditional Odia recipes the most.

                                                       
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup suji/semolina
• 1/4 cup grated jaggery/gud
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoon ghee
• 2 tablespoon chopped almonds/badam
• 1 tablespoon pistachio slivers/pista
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder/elaichi powder

Method:

1. In a pan heat ghee and roast the semolina on low to medium flame until it turns light pink and fragrant. Keep stirring continuously to ensure the suji does not catch the bottom of the pan. It may take around 5 minutes for this. 

2. Meanwhile, in another sauce pan take 1 cup water and add grated jaggery to it. Allow this mixture to heat until all the jaggery melts and it gets a boil. If your jaggery has impurities, strain this syrup and boil again.

3. Add unsweetened cocoa powder to the roasted semolina and stir it until it blends well with the suji.
    Next, add chopped almonds to it and roast for another 1 minute.

4.  To this, slowly add the boiling jaggery syrup. Be careful as the mixture will be super hot and will splatter.

5. Keep stirring the pudding to make sure you do not get lumps. You will see the semolina soaks up the syrup and increases in volume and gets a beautiful color. Keep stirring and cooking on medium flame until you get a desired consistency. the halwa thickens further on cooling so adjust the cooking time accordingly. Put off the flame and add the cardamom powder and give a good mix.

6. Lastly garnish the halwa with slivered pistachio and serve !  

Recipe Notes:

• Vegans may use oil for roasting the semolina.
•  Strain the jaggery syrup to remove impurities, if any.
• You may skip addition of nuts or use dry fruit powder if serving to small babies to rule out chocking hazards.
• Use good quality unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe for best results.
• Make sure your jaggery syrup is boiling hot when you add it to the roasted semolina or else you will get a sticky halwa.
• Roast the semolina on low to medium flame until aromatic to avoid raw taste of semolina in the halwa.
• You may increase the quantity of ghee to make it more rich.
• Amount of jaggery can also be adjusted as per your taste.
• The chocolate halwa tastes best when served hot.

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below. Follow us on #Facebook  #Instagram, #Twitter,#Pinterest and #Google+  for more recipes and new updates. 

For more halwa recipes from this blog, checkout the following

• Mango Halwa

                             

• Orange Rava Kesari

                             

• Narayani Sheera

                             

• Pineapple Halwa

                             

• Gajar Ka Halwa