How To Make Tasty Raisin Halwa For Your Sweet Cravings?

Do you also have a sweet tooth? Or are your kids always asking for chocolate, but you be looking for a homemade substitute!? Or do you have to serve sweet dishes to your guests? Well, here’s an all-in-one solution for you! Raisin Halwa or Kishmish ka Halwa, a delicious and nutrition-rich Indian sweet dish to take away all your sweet cravings!

Raisins are naturally sweet dry fruits obtained from grapes. They are added to all varieties of food ranging from cakes or pudding & namkeens to rice. Their versatility is due to their unique texture and taste, as they are not crunchy like other dry fruits. Raisins are originated from Persia and the Egyptian region. However, being an Indian who cannot even eat Chinese food without adding an Indian twist, how can one not experiment with raisins? Initially, raisins were used in Kashmiri Pulav; however, today, they are used in many Indian desserts as a topping or a main ingredient, like in our dish- Kishmish ka Halwa.  

Go and Gather all the Stuff

Usually, Halwa or pudding requires some base like semolina or wheat flour. However, you can still get a better effect without using any base, just with the right choice of raisins, giving a different level of burst of taste. So let’s get started with all the ingredients & their benefits, first?!

• Raisins (Kishmish): Raisins are rich in Vitamin C and other minerals like iron and copper. They assist in maintaining blood pressure and sugar levels. And, of course, they are a natural source of sugar.
• Cardamom (Elaichi) Powder: Add cardamom for an instigating aroma and fresh taste.
• Cashew Nuts (Kaju): Add cashews for the crunch and take a break from that overload of sweets in each halwa bite!
• Corn Starch: For the base and to bind all the ingredients together. 
• Ghee: Come on. We all know why we need ghee in an Indian sweet dish. Our moms will not only accept it as an Indian raisin halwa without ghee.
• Sugar: Generally, Sugar is used for that authentic taste. However, if you are looking for a healthier version, you can replace it with brown sugar or jaggery.
• Water: To cook the ingredients and avoid them from burning. Sometimes, water also adds to the volume as ingredients soak it.

Before starting the cooking, you need to soak the raisins overnight. The overall cooking time for Kishmish ka Halwa is 40 minutes, which also includes 10 minutes of preparation time.

Kishmish ka Halwa Recipe 

So get ready with all the ingredients and your sweet craving. We will make raisin halwa in an easy 8-step recipe. We hope you have soaked your raisins overnight already; otherwise, do it now!

Make a Slurry

1. Drain the water from the 200 gms soaked raisin utensil and blend it until it makes a coarse paste. Remember, we don't want a very flowy paste. Unless you want to make it a smoothie, it might also be a great idea. Let's keep it aside for next time.

2. Take ½ cup of corn starch and add water to make it a slurry.
   

Let’s Make Raisin Halwa

1. Add ¼ cup of ghee to a pan and heat it. Add 20 gms of cashew nuts to it and let them roast in ghee until their colour changes.
2. Now add water and 1 ½ cup of sugar to the pan. And cook it until the sugar dissolves completely. Make sure that the total water in starch slurry, and in the pan, should be only 150 ml. This will keep the texture of Kishmish halwa as desired, neither sticky nor very liquid.
3. Now, mix the raisin paste into the slurry in the pan. Let it cook until the mixture starts to boil a little.
4. Now, add the starch slurry into the pan and mix it continuously to avoid lumps. Once the mixture is homogenized, add one ¼ cup of ghee in small quantities until your ladle stops getting covered with all the paste in the pan and the ghee starts to ooze out.
   

Final Touches

1. Add ¼ tsp of cardamom powder on top of halwa.

2. Transfer the halwa to a greased tray or cover it with butter paper. Spread it uniformly and let it cool down. 

3. Now cut it into squares or diamonds or any shape you like it to be served in.

So your Raisin Halwa is ready to be eaten now! Have it in small portions to avoid a sugar rush…….. Forget it! Who stops after one piece of sweet? Just make sure you use natural and adulteration-free dry fruits, like those available at Kunuts Dry Fruits.
Use cashews and green raisins in this recipe from Kunuts to experience the handcrafted and supreme-quality dry fruits. Kunuts dry fruits save you from toxin intake in the name of a healthy snack. To buy from our huge variety of other dry fruits like dates, almonds, whole inshell walnuts, and anjeer, visit our website