Recipe : Gond aur Atte ka Halwa. Indian gum and wheat flour dessert. Kada Prasad

I’ve been craving something sweet for a couple of days. Pre-lockdown that normally meant buying one portion of dessert - cake / macaron / pudding / ice cream. But now I was stuck at home wanting something sweet, with no enthu to bake and I didn’t want kheer, but something with texture.

Aunty Shikha (My brothers MIL) used to whip up halwas so easily when I visited with her in February. Halwa and papad is a regular breakfast in her Rajasthani household. So I decided that a wheat halwa would be simple enough and hit the spot.

This literally took less than 15 minutes to prepare.

I started with a basic Kada Prasad idea - ghee : wheat flour : water : sugar :: 1 : 1 : 1 : 1.

I had gond (Indian gum - see how pretty it is) in my pantry (I think I originally bought it because of how pretty and shiny it is ☺️). Gond is used liberally in winter sweets in Gujarat and UP for its warming properties. Given that it’s winter here, I deep fried the Gond and a mix of nuts before starting on the halwa. Removed them and then added them when the halwa was done.

Ingredients :

1 cup ghee

2 tbsp gond - Indian gum - tragacanth gum - gond katira

2 tbsp nuts (your choice of almonds, cashews, pista)

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup hot water

1 cup sugar

Method:

Heat the ghee in a wide mouthed pan - ideally, a kadhai.

Drop the gond into it, and remove as soon as it fluffs up (a few seconds)

Now put the nuts in and take them out as soon as they are done (again, just a few seconds).

The ghee might turn a bit cloudy after the nuts are fried, don't worry about it.

Now add the wheat flour, stirring continuously, so it doesn't form lumps.

As soon as you start smelling that the wheat flour is roasted (a few seconds), add the hot water.

Stir continuously as you are adding water, so it doesn't form lumps.

Once it starts melding into a halwa, add the sugar and stir continuously.

When the ghee starts to separate from the mixture, your halwa is done.

Mix in the fried gond and the nuts before serving.

Yummy and very satisfying.The husband was delighted with the totally unexpected sweet treat .

For a traditional Gurudwara style Kada Prasad, drop the gondh and dry fruits and follow the rest of the recipe.

Kim's Tip 1 : Since this recipe cooks so quickly, measure all ingredients and keep ready before you start cooking.

Kim's Tip 2 : You can decrease the sugar if you want, but do not decrease the ghee, you can remove the ghee that separates from the halwa before serving, if you are worried about it.

Kim's Tip 4 : Gond can be very sticky like 'gum' when you eat it. If you don't like the sticky feeling in your mouth, you can powder it after you have fried it. It then blends in better and you don't get sticky lumps.

Since this is cooked in ghee, the recipe is vegetarian, not vegan.  My cousin Jenny who runs an organic cafe in Mumbai, recommends substituting the ghee with a nut butter, but given how the ghee is supposed to work in this dish, I’m not sure if any vegan substitute would work here. Let me know if you have any other ideas.