Halbai or Rice Halwa

Halbai is a traditional recipe of Karnataka and has been one of my favorite sweet dishes from my childhood. It is one sweet dish I don’t seem to get tired of in spite of countless times my mother and aunt prepared this for me. Unlike traditional sweets and halwas based on Sugar, Halbai is Jaggery based and easier to consume in relatively larger quantities and still not feel a feeling of being stuffed with sweets. If you have never tried it before and you or someone in your family likes sweets, I strongly encourage you to try it out and not miss having this version of Rice Halwa called Halbai. My experience is that once you fall in love with this, there is no going back.

Although I have never tried it or don’t remember tasting it before, you may be interested in Halbai prepared using Wheat Flour by my friend Vani. Roopa has a recipe for not-so-common Ragi Halbai or Ragi Halwa which looks great. Nirupama from itslife points out that Halbai can be stored in refrigerator for 5 days for consumption.

Also, wishing all my readers a very happy Ugadi New Year.

Halbai or Rice Halwa

Time to Prepare : 20-30 min

How To Make Halbai or Rice Halwa:

1. Wash and soak Rice in water for about 4 to 5 hours.
2. In a mixer jar, take soaked Rice, Grated Coconut, Cardamom with half cup of water added to it. Grind all these ingredients until the whole mixture turns into smooth paste.
3. Grease a plate with plain surface (like a big stainless steel plate) with1/2 tsp of Ghee. Keep aside.
4. In a vessel, add 1 and 1/2 cup Water, Salt and Ghee. When the Water boils, add 1 cup of Jaggery to the vessel. Boil the Water until the Jaggery dissolves completely. Sometimes you may find Sugarcane bits in Jaggery; if so, try to filter the Jaggery water with the help of strainer. Once the Jaggery water is filtered, transfer it back to the vessel and boil for a minute and reduce the flame to low.
5. Now add the Rice-Coconut paste from Step 2 above to the boiling Jaggery water, keep stirring the mixture until the whole sticky mass starts leaving the sides of the vessel. Ensure that no lumps are formed by continuously stirring the contents of the vessel.
6. Remove from the fire and then pour the Halbai paste to the Ghee greased plate and spread evenly. Leave it to cool.

Once cooled, cut the Halbai to your favorite shape and size. Halbai or Rice Halwa is now ready to serve.

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