Bombay Halwa or Karachi Halwa is a melt-in-mouth Indian sweet recipe that you should try during this Diwali festival.
I just cannot believe the Navaratri festive season is over with the blink of an eye, and Diwali is around the corner. Thanks for all the love and support you guys have shown me by reading and appreciating my Navaratri posts.
Every year I plan to post multiple recipes for festivals because the choice of Indian sweets, snacks, namkeens are endless, but I end up posting only a couple of them.
This year, I have several easy sweets and snacks recipes in my draft already. I will try to post as many recipes as possible so that you can try and enjoy them with your family and friends this Holiday season.
Meanwhile, IF YOU LIKE INDIAN FOOD AND RECIPES, THEN YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY CHECK SOME OF THE POPULAR RECIPES FROM INDIAN CUISINE ON MY BLOG
- BEST INDIAN SWEETS AND DESSERTS
- DIWALI SWEETS RECIPES
- DIWALI SNACKS RECIPES
- FASTING, VRAT, UPVAS RECIPES
- POPULAR & EASY BURFI RECIPES
Coming back to Bombay Karachi Halwa...
History suggests that the origins of this halwa trace to Karachi, a city in Pakistan. But this halwa is also loved across the border in India and is referred to as Bombay Halwa. All I know is love for halwa (halua) sweet in India is endless. There are variations to halwa recipe, but this is one of our family's favorite. Unlike other halwa, which have a grainy texture, Karachi Halwa has a chewy, gelatinous texture.
And let me tell you, homemade Karachi Halwa tastes much more delicious than any store-bought halwa mainly because of the quality of ingredients that go into its making and are also consumed fresh. At home, we use pure desi ghee; on the other hand, store-bought ones have a significant amount of vanaspati or dalda in them.
What is Karachi Halwa or Bombay Halwa made of?
It needs three main ingredients ghee, cornflour, and sugar. You can then flavor it with cardamom, saffron, rose water, etc. In addition, some food color is added to give them their signature yellow, orange, or green look.
How does Karachi halwa taste like?
Like suji ka halwa or moong dal halwa this is not grainy in texture. Karachi has a smooth and soft melt in the mouth texture, with ghee, cardamom, and rose water flavors. Depending on the preparation style and ratio of ingredients used in the recipe, this halwa can have varying degrees of chewiness.
Is Turkish delight the same as Bombay Karachi Halwa?
Turkish delight or Lokum is similar to Karachi Halwa and is prepared using corn starch and sugar. However, Turkish delight is covered with powdered sugar when served, but Karachi halwa is not.
How to store Bombay Halwa or Karachi Halwa
You can store Karachi Halwa in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks. Compared to other halwa with shorter shelf-life, Karachi Halwa makes a good candidate for mithai boxes during Diwali, Eid, and Christmas, as mithai boxes are packaged well in advance of the festive season.
Ingredients for Bombay Halwa or Karachi Halwa
1 cup Cornflour
1 ⅓ cup Water
2 cups Sugar
2 cups of Water
½ teaspoon Lemon juice
6 tablespoon Ghee or Brown butter
2 tablespoon Cashews chopped
2 tablespoon Almonds chopped
2 tablespoon Watermelon seeds
½ teaspoon Food color ( I have used orange, and in powder form)
¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
1 teaspoon Rose water (optional)
How to make Bombay Halwa or Karachi Halwa sweet recipe?
In a bowl, add cornflour with 1 ⅓ cup of water and mix well to avoid lumps. Keep this aside.
In a pan on medium heat, add sugar and 2 cups of water. When the sugar syrup begins to boil, add few drops of lemon juice and mix.
Now add cornflour-water mixture/slurry and keep string. After five minutes of stirring, the mixture begins to look glossy. Now add ghee in increments of 2 tablespoon every 10 minutes. Mix until the ghee is entirely incorporated into the mixture after every addition. You can check the video here.
Add cashews, almonds, watermelon seeds, food color, and mix while adding ghee for the third time (around 25 to 30 mins mark).
When ghee starts leaving the sides of the pan (40 mins mark), add flavorings such as cardamom powder, rose water, and mix well. Switch off the flame.
Transfer this mixture immediately to a greased plate, garnish with more seeds and nuts if needed, and let it set completely. Cut them into the desired shape and sizes once the halwa mixture comes to room temperature and enjoy.
Tips:
- You can add any nuts or seeds of your choice like pistachios, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.
- We have used orange food color. You can add red, green, yellow or make it plain translucent white without adding any color.
- Corn flour in India is also known as Corn starch in western countries like Europe and the USA.
How to make chewy halwa?
The chewiness of halwa depends on the formation and stretching of gluten. While cooking this halwa, if the mixture is stirred vigorously for extended periods, the halwa gets a chewy texture associated with Karachi Halwa. The resulting halwa can be soft and mildly chewy if you use a gentle folding motion during mixing.
Video recipe on making of bombay halwa | karachi halwa | corn flour halwa
Detailed recipe for Bombay halwa | karachi halwa | corn flour halwa
Recipe card
Bombay Halwa | Karachi Halwa | How To Make Halwa Sweet
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cornflour / Cornstarch
- 1 ⅓ cup Water
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 cups Water
- ½ teaspoon Lemon juice
- 6 tablespoon Ghee or Brown butter
- 2 tablespoon Cashews , chopped
- 2 tablespoon Almonds , chopped
- 2 tablespoon Watermelon seeds
- ½ teaspoon Food color (I have used orange, and in powder form)
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 1 teaspoon Rose water (optional)
Instructions
- In a bowl, add cornflour with 1 ⅓ cup of water and mix well to avoid lumps. Keep this aside1 cup Cornflour, 1 ⅓ cup Water
- In a pan on medium heat, add sugar and 2 cups of water. When the sugar syrup begins to boil, add few drops of lemon juice and mix.2 cups Sugar, 2 cups Water, ½ teaspoon Lemon juice
- Now add cornflour-water mixture/slurry and keep string. After five minutes of stirring, the mixture begins to look glossy. Now add ghee in increments of 2 tablespoon every 10 minutes. Mix until the ghee is entirely incorporated into the mixture after every addition. You can check the video here.6 tablespoon Ghee
- Add cashews, almonds, watermelon seeds, food color, and mix while adding ghee for the third time (around 25 to 30 mins mark).2 tablespoon Cashews, 2 tablespoon Almonds, 2 tablespoon Watermelon seeds, ½ teaspoon Food color
- When ghee starts leaving the sides of the pan (40 mins mark), add flavorings such as cardamom powder, rose water, and mix well. Switch off the flame.¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder, 1 teaspoon Rose water
- Transfer this mixture immediately to a greased plate, garnish with more seeds and nuts if needed, and let it set completely. Cut them into the desired shape and sizes once the halwa mixture comes to room temperature and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- You can add any nuts or seeds of your choice like pistachios, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.
- We have used orange food color. You can add red, green, yellow color or make it plain translucent white without adding any color.
- Corn flour in India is also known as Corn starch in western countries like Europe and the USA.
Nutrition
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Janessa
This Halwa looks intriguing and the flavours sound like something that I would love. I can't wait to try making it!
Tara
Such a fantastic treat! They look absolutely incredible and I love that melt-in-your-mouth texture. So good!
Beth
Halwa sounds absolutely delicious! I love the combination of sweet and savory flavors and that texture sounds fantastic.
Joyce
This was so chewy and addicting, thanks so much for sharing, I loved it!