Halwa Puri is a comforting, hearty meal that's popular in India and Pakistan for weekend breakfast or during festival season. It's made of puri (or fried bread) and a sweet halwa with a semolina base for a delicious balance of sweet and savory flavors. It's often accompanied by a yellow or black chickpeas curry.
Halwa Puri didn't make an appearance too often on our weekly meal plan, but man did I wish it did. The combo of the savory fried bread with the sweet, soft semolina pudding with a hearty chole or kala chana is nonsensical and absolutely divine!
Halwa was always served as a "dessert" to our breakfast, typically after a bowl of Chivda or at the temple as prasad in the afternoon. Add it into the same plate as another brunch classic, Chole Puri, and something amazing happens.
It's so good that you'll see it across India and Pakistan as a very popular breakfast dish. I was able to order in Halwa Puri all the time from halal restaurants when I around Kensington in Brooklyn which has a lively Muslim population.
It's also definitely a meal to look forward to around Navratri, a Hindu festival occurring in October, especially on Ashtami and Navami as prasad.
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What is Halwa Puri
There are three components to Halwa Puri -
- Halwa - The sweet component of this dish is a semolina-based pudding called Suji ka Halwa. It's sweet, buttery, and delicious when served warm.
- Puri - A savory deep-fried bread, or puri.
- Chana - The halwa and puri is typically accompanied by a chickpeas dish to eat the puri with as you eat halwa in between bites.
Halwa Puri is a popular dish in Pakistan and North India. It's often served for breakfast, or nashta, or at special occasions such as weddings and religious festivals. It's a comforting brunch dish to enjoy on weekends or with guests. It is also a common street food.
How to Make Halwa Puri
1. How to make Suji ka Halwa
For more in depth information on the history, ingredient substitutions, tips and tricks, and more you can check out this Suji ka Halwa recipe.
You'll need the following ingredients to make a semolina-based pudding.
Pretty straightforward and pantry friendly, right? You'll also need a large nonstick pan that'll give you enough space for liquid and stirring. As well as a spatula to stir!
And you'll be doing a lot of stirring. So get settled in.
- Start by warming the pan on low to medium heat. Once warm, add the semolina in and start stirring. Thoroughly dry roast the semolina until it unquestionably browns a few shades darker and the nutty aroma comes through. This will require constant stirring to prevent the semolina from burning, so you'll need a bit of patience.
- Once the semolina has darkened a few shades, add the ghee into the middle and begin stirring it into the semolina.
- The semolina will be crumbly at first, and then start to form larger clumps as it starts to hydrate the semolina.
- Next, add water into a saucepan or warm it up in the microwave for a minute. It just needs to be hot enough to melt the sugar. Once hot, add the sugar into the water and stir until the sugar complete dissolves. Then, pour the sugar water into the pan with the semolina. Stir until smooth.
- It may start to sputter, so cover the pan with the lid and allow it to continue simmering and thickening, stirring every few minutes.
- At the halfway point, add the ground cardamom and raisins
- Continue to simmer and stir the halwa. Once it's thick enough that it no longer splatters and the ghee starts to separate on the edges, the halwa is done. Turn off the heat.
Once the heat is turned off, the halwa will continue to thicken a bit further. Allow it a bit of resting time before serving, about five minutes.
Garnish with toasty crunchy almonds or cashews, and it's ready to serve.
2. How to make Puri
For more in depth information on the history, ingredient substitutions, tips and tricks, and more you can check out this Puri recipe.
You'll need the following ingredients to make this Indian deep-fried bread.
Atta, or Chapati Flour, is a whole wheat flour used in the Indian subcontinent to make rotis/chapati, parathas, puri, etc. I have tried using all-purpose flour for puris and parathas and the texture is simply not the same. I highly recommend getting atta from a local Indian grocer for the perfect puris.
- Start making the dough by adding the oil and a bit of water into a mixing bowl with the atta.
- Mix the liquids with the flour with your fingers until you get a coarse dough.
- Slowly start adding water into the flour while kneading the dough. We're looking for a dough that comes together, which is about ¼ to ⅓ cup of water per cup of flour. If the dough is sticky, it has too much water. Knead the dough for a few minutes, or until it's elastic but the dough is hard, it shouldn't have so much water that it's on the softer side. The dough will look really rough and won't be completely smooth.
- Brush a bit of neutral oil on the dough to keep it moist, then cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Rest the dough for a minimum of 10 minutes, and no more than 20 minutes. After the rest time, knead the dough again for a few minutes until it's smooth.
- Once you have a smooth ball of dough, roll it out into an even log.
- Use a knife to cut the dough into 8 equal pieces to make 8 puris.
- Roll each piece of dough into balls.
- At this point, I like to use a tortilla press to get perfect, flat circles for the puris. Otherwise, use a rolling pin or a belan to roll out the dough into thin circles that are about 3-4" in diameter.
Roll it back and forth a few times with a rolling pin, and then rotates it 90 degrees every few rolls to create the perfect circle. You're looking to get it fairly thin without being able to see through the dough.
Roll out each puri and let them hang off the bowl without touching each other. If you're a little more skilled, you'll be able to roll them out and fry at the same time.
Carefully slip the puri in via the side of the pot. Use a slotted spoon to gently hold it under the oil for a few seconds, making small circles to ensure the puri stays under the oil. It should slowly start to resist the slotted spoon and begin puffing up on one side.
Continue to gently press down on the side that hasn't quite puffed, so that the steam is forced to spread in the puri.
Flip the puri on to the other side. Continue to gently hold the puri down into the oil so the bottom half is completely submerged in the oil. Monitor the bubbles again to know when it's done.
Place it on the plate with a paper towel to drain off excess oil.
Serving Suggestions
To serve, I recommend 1-2 puris, a hearty scoop of the halwa, and a chana. It can also pair with another savory curry, like Arbi Sabzi or Saag Paneer, to eat with the puri.
What a lot of people do is put a puri in their open palm, and then fill half of it with sukha kala chana and the other half with halwa. Roll the puri up like a little taquito and eat it all together!
The halwa is sweet and the puri is savory... but a chana often accompanies this perfect pair. I highly recommend the Dry Kala Chana I've included as optional in the recipe. Other chana options include Kala Chana Masala, with black chickpeas, as well as Chole, a yellow chickpea curry.
I also love it with aloo ki bhujia, or potato curry.
More Recipes to try during Festival Season
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Halwa Puri
Ingredients
Puri
- 1 cup atta, (chapati flour)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup neutral oil, for frying
Suji ka Halwa
- 1 cup semolina
- ½ cup ghee
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon golden raisins
- 4 cups water, hot
- ½ teaspoon ground green cardamom
- pinch saffron, (optional)
- finely chopped almonds, almond flakes, or unsalted cashews, to garnish
Dry Kala Chana (optional)
- 1 cup black chickpeas, dried
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- pinch of asafoetida
- 1 inch knob of ginger, grated
- 2 green chilis, sliced
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
- cilantro, to garnish
Instructions
Puri
- Add the atta into a mixing bowl. Pour in the oil. Then, slowly add the water in while mixing everything together with your fingers until the flour is hydrated and you have a coarse dough.
- Knead the flour together until it forms a rough ball of dough. The dough should be hard when you push a finger into it. Lightly brush some oil on top of the dough and cover it with cling wrap or a kitchen towel. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
- After resting, knead the dough again into a smooth ball. Roll the dough out into a log. Cut the log into 8 equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Work with one dough ball at a time. Roll the dough out using a rolling pin into a circle as large and thin as possible without tearing it.
- In a deep wok or dutch oven for frying, heat neutral oil for deep frying. It'll start to shimmer once it's hot and ready for frying. Carefully transfer the rolled out dough to the oil, slipping it in from the edge of the wok and into the oil. With a slotted spoon, gently hold the dough under the oil until it begins to puff. Fry until golden, about 1 minute total, and flip on the other side.
- Gently push the puri under the oil again for about 10 seconds and then fry until golden brown, about a minute. Transfer the puri to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Repeat with the rest of the rolled out puri dough.
Suji ka Halwa
- Heat a nonstick pan on a low to medium flame. Add the semolina into the pan and dry roast it until it starts browning, about 3-4 minutes. It'll turn a few shades darker than the light beige it starts at and emit a nutty aroma.
- Add the ghee into the pan. Let the ghee come to a bubble as you are mixing it into the semolina. Keep stirring the mixture until it's golden brown.
- In the meantime, heat the water in a pot or in the microwave until hot. Add the sugar into the water and stir until fully melted.
- Add the sugar water into the pan with the semolina and ghee mixture. Stir it together and then cover with a lid, as it'll start to sputter. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring every minute or two to prevent the halwa from sticking and burning.
- Once the halwa has thickened but still a bit liquidy, add the golden raisins and ground cardamom. Stir in the raisins and cardamom and replace the lid.
- Once the halwa is thick enough that it stops splattering, remove the lid. Continue stirring until the halwa sticks together in a clump and doesn't stick on the sides. Remove from heat. Serve the halwa warm with almond flakes or chopped almonds.
Dry Kala Chana (optional)
- Soak the black chickpeas in 3 cups of water for 4 hours or overnight. Once they have been soaked, drain the chickpeas. Bring water to a boil in a pot and add the chickpeas into the water with salt. Boil the chickpeas until they're soft and can squish between two fingers. Alternatively, add the chickpeas to a pressure cooker with the 2 cups of water and salt for 40 minutes, or until the whistle goes off 3-4 times.
- In a saucepan, melt the ghee. Once melted, add the cumin seeds, asafoetida, grated ginger, and green chilis and allow the spices to bloom in the ghee for 1 minute. Then, add the coriander, turmeric, and tamarind paste into the oil and give everything a good mix.
- Drain the boiled chickpeas, saving ½ a cup of the water the chickpeas boiled in. Add the liquid from boiling the black chickpeas in to the saucepan with the spices.
- Transfer the black chickpeas into the saucepan, stir, and allow the liquid to simmer off. Once it has simmered off, add the garam masala and mix again. The spices will coat the chickpeas in a delicious dry sauce.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
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