Sheera Recipe | Suji Halwa | Sooji Ka Halwa

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Sheera halwa is a popular Indian pudding dessert recipe with delicious flavor, ready in less than 20 minutes. Sheera or Sooji Ka Halwa is prepared using ghee, rava (sooji, semolina), sugar, and dried fruits & nuts of your choice.

sheera, sooji ka halwa or suji ka halwa served on a black tray garnished with nuts

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What is Sheera?
Ingredients
How to make sheera
Pro Tips
FAQS
Video recipe
Recipe card
User Reviews

What is Sheera?

Sheera is an Indian halwa made by roasting semolina in ghee and then sweetened with sugar and flavored with cardamom powder or saffron strands.

This Indian pudding dessert is known as sheera or ravyacha shira or prasadache sheera in Maharastra and the coastal regions of Karnataka. In North India, this is popularly called suji halwa (sooji halwa). In South India, this is called rava kesari. In Myanmar, this dish is called sanwin makin and in the Caribbean, this is called as Mohan bhog.

sheera recipe prepared using sooji (semolina), desi ghee and sugar

Sheera is commonly offered to God during Ganesh Chaturthi, Varalakshmi pooja, Navratri, Diwali, Ram Navami, Kanya puja, Makara Sankranti, Sai Guruvar, etc., in the form of naivedyam or prasad.

Sooji halwa is also served as one of the popular Ashtami prasad along with poori and chana in North India.

In South India, sheera is sometimes served with upma for morning breakfast.

Top view of prasadacha sheera, popular naivedyam, bhog recipe for ganesh chaturthi, navratri diwali

Ingredients

½ cup Ghee (can reduce to ¼ cup )
2 tablespoons Cashews, chopped
2 tablespoons Almonds, chopped
1 tablespoon Raisins, chopped
½ cup Semolina (sooji or rava or durum wheat)
1 ½ cups Water
½ cup Sugar
½ teaspoon Cardamom powder

best sheera recipe in golden spoon, indian suji halwa, rava kesari

How to make sheera

In a pot, add water and heat it. Let the water come to a boil.

Meanwhile, in another pan on medium flame, heat ghee. To this, add cashews and almonds, and just when it starts becoming light golden, add raisins and saute for a few seconds. To this, add sooji (semolina) and roast on medium flame until aromatic. Roasting sooji generally takes less than 3 minutes. I have roasted for just a minute or 2. The more you roast, the color of the final product changes. Keep stirring. Else, it will burn from the bottom. Check out the video here.

flavorful and melt in mouth sooji ka halwa, ravyacha sheera

Now add the hot water and keep stirring. Be careful as sooji is going to splutter when hot water is being added to it. Keep stirring until you see the water is absorbed completely.

To the cooked suji, add sugar and mix well. The mixture may look gooey for a minute, but it will start becoming thick again. Cook until ghee leaves the side of the pan.

Finally, add cardamom powder, mix, and switch off the flame.

Serve and Enjoy!

Top view of sheera in golden spoon, sooji ka halwa for pooja, naivedyam, bhog

Pro Tips

To get the perfect temple-style sheera, always follow the ratio of ghee:semolina (suji, rava):sugar is 1: 1: 1 and 1.5 cups of water. But remember, for a healthier version, you can reduce ghee to ¼ cup in the recipe above, and the amount of water will vary depending on the type of semolina used.

If you want a richer version, use milk instead of water or use half and half.

You can vary the amount of dry fruits and nuts as desired.

While pouring hot water, be careful as it is going to splutter.

I use Bombay rava (a fine variety of sooji) while making sheera or sooji ka halwa.

moist and delicious Indian dessert - sheera, sooji halwa recipe

FAQS

Can I use any other sweetener to make sheera?

Sugar is used traditionally used while making suji ka halwa. Sometimes in a few temples sugar is replaced with jaggery.

Which sooji or semolina to use while making sheera?

I use Bombay rava or sooji, which is also used to make upma. If you use coarse sooji, the time and amount of water needed to cook the sooji will increase accordingly.

What are the variations to sheera or sooji halwa?

I have made several fruit-flavored sheera like pineapple sheera, apple sheera, mango sheera, chickoo/sapota sheera, etc. You can make with any seasonal fruits - just make sure to vary the amount of sugar depending on the sweetness of the fruit.

What flavoring can I add to sheera?

Traditionally, only cardamom powder is used for flavoring. To make it look rich and festive, even Kesar or saffron can be used.

Why is my suji halwa or sheera hard?

One of the main reasons for hard/dry sheera is not adding enough fat or water in the recipe. This can however be easily fixed. Reheat on low flame with a small addition of fat such as ghee/butter. You can also add a splash of water if needed till you get the desired consistency.

Is sooji halwa healthy and good for weight loss?

Halwa is good occasionally and during the festival season. The amount of ghee, sugar, and semolina used makes it a high-calorie food, thus affecting weight loss and diabetics patient.

How to make rich sooji halwa?

This halwa recipe is already rich, but if you want to make it richer, add milk instead of water.

Video recipe

You can check the making of sheera (sooji halwa, suji halwa, semolina halwa) here.

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