Godhumai Halwa | Tirunelveli Halwa

Wheat Halwa is a silky melt in mouth sweet made by simmering& stirring wheat milk with ghee, caramelized sugar & cashews. Tirunelveli Alva is a famous Wheat Halwa & the method of making it is prescribed here. Wheat Halwa is worth the effort & time for its taste.

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Wheat Halwa Recipe with step by step pictures. It is also popularly called as Godhumai halwa or  Tirunelveli halwa.

This halwa is very popular in a city named Tirunelveli.  Tirunelveli is famous for this sweet made with wheat, sugar and ghee also called as ‘Irutu kadai halwa’. Tirunelveli halwa was popularised by Irutukadai Halwa, a shop opened in 1900 which sells the sweets only during twilight.

I saw a video recently which used caramelised sugar to achieve the natural brown color so wanted to try that and it worked really well, lookwise and tastewise it was soo good. Check the small insta video that I posted. As I already have experience stirring wheat halwa, I just tried with a small quantity today as its really tough to stir single handedly. But its worth the effort I can say, the halwa just melts in your mouth. Hot wheat halwa with dripping ghee is a delighful sight to see – What more taste a spoonful its heaven I say.

Wheat Halwa Recipe – 2 ways

There are 2 methods to make wheat halwa. I have shared both the traditional way and easy way of making wheat halwa. Personally though the traditional method takes time. When it comes to halwa nothing can beat the taste of tirunelveli halwa, yummy is an understatement I say.

• Traditional method : This method is made by soaking wheat berries, extracting milk then cooking till the desired consistency is reached. Though it takes time, the taste is so good.
• Easy method : This is one of the easy methods using wheat flour with no compromise in taste. Though this method needs soaking, extracting milk does not take much effort and time like the traditional method.

Related recipes

• Atta halwa
• Badam halwa
• Milk halwa

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How to make Wheat Halwa

Method 1 – Traditional method

1. Measure and take samba wheat add water till immersing level. Soak it overnight or atleast for 8 hrs.Drain the water then add 1/2 cup water and transfer to mixer jar.
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2. Grind it smoothly,then transfer it to a strainer.
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3. Filter it,keep mixing and pressing it with a spoon to extract milk completely.Grind it again with 1/4 cup water to take second milk.Transfer the extracted milk to a bowl and keep it undisturbed for atleast 15mins. Now get ready with a heavy bottomed pan, lets get on to make wheat halwa.
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4. You can see the clear water on top, drain little of it but not fully,Set aside.Heat a tablespoon of ghee in the heavy bottomed pan.
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5. Add the extracted wheat milk and keep stirring to avoid lumps.In few mins it will reach porridge consistency(it will coat the laddle).
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6. At this stage add sugar,keep mixing it will again turn goey.Keep mixing.
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7. In another small kadai heat a tablespoon `of` ghee,fry the broken cashews until golden brown,remove the cashews.Now in the same pan with remaining ghee…
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8. Add a tablespoon of sugar,keep mixing it in low flame.First it will change to light brown then crystallise.
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9. Keep stirring to get a reddish golden brown color.
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10. Now add this caramelised sugar to the halwa,keep mixing.It will form small crystals but keep mixing.Don’t panic like me 😉 after few mins it will get dissolved.
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11. From now on get ready for some hand exercise 😉 I measured 1/2 cup of melted ghee and kept but did not use fully. Add a tablespoon of ghee in regular intervals,keep mixing.
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12. Add a tablespoon of ghee and keep stirring without leaving.Do this in low flame itself.
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13. It will nicely bubble up then slowly it will start to form a  mass.Add ghee in intervals and keep stirring.Wheat halwa is almost getting ready.
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14. See how it rolls,at this stage it will stop absorbing ghee and will let out ghee at  the sides as you can see.Now stop adding ghee.The whole mixture will dance like a jelly in the pan without sticking to the pan because of the ghee.
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15. At this stage add fried cashews and mix well.The halwa will be glossy and dark in color,it will roll like a ball.
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16. You can slide the pan and collect the excess ghee with a spoon if you want.Look at the ghee around the halwa.
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Serve wheat halwa hot / warm.

Method 2 – Easy method

1. Take wheat flour and add water little by little to form a stiff dough. Soak the dough in 1 cup of warm water atleast for 5-7 hours – I soaked it overnight. Then mix the dough well with your hands till the dough is completely dissolved without any lumps.
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2. Then strain the milk using a strainer and discard the leftout scum. Leave the milk to rest for sometime….Next, discard the top most clear liquid, without disturbing the settled milk(this step is optional but helps in saving time to get the final halwa stage). Fry the cashews in ghee and set aside.
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3. Take a heavy bottomed pan(I used my nonstick pan)Boil sugar with 1/4 cup water until it reaches a single thread consistency. Then add the wheat flour milk.
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4. Keep stirring…once it reaches the porridge stage start adding ghee may be 2-3 tablespoon.
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5. Next it starts to look more transparent, add the food color and keep stirring. Add ghee and keep stirring it absorbs the ghee fast.More stirring and you will reach a consistency where it will come together as a whole mass.
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6. Keep stirring and add the remaining ghee….once it reaches halwa like consistency add the cashews, cardamom powder give a quick stir. Slowly it starts leaving ghee at the sides,try to roll a ball and it will easily form a ball this is the stage you should switch it off.
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7. Delicious wheat halwa ready.

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Expert Tips

• If the extracted milk is very thick it will get thicken faster and will leave raw smell. So water content should be there so I just drained little of the clear water not fully.
• Once the sugar is caramelized add it immediately, it may form thick crystals but keep stirring it will dissolve by itself.
• It is tough to stir single handedly for an hr so if you are making in bulk, take a helping hand so that you can stir alternatively. If you are trying for the first time, just try for 1/2 or 1 cup so that you get to know the tactics of stirring.
• There is no consistency check just when ghee oozes out stop adding ghee and cook for few mins then switch off.
• Do not cook after ghee oozes out, else halwa will become hard very chewy.
• For 1/4 cup of samba wheat it gave a good volume.
• Make sure to use a heavy bottomed pan or kadai.
• Use good quality pure ghee for best flavour. Don’t add ghee fully add it in intervals.
• You can even use half and half oil and ghee but the flavour will differ.
• You can even grease a tray and pour it and cut into pieces.
• You can keep it outside for 2 days after that refrigerate it. When refrigerated it will become slightly hard just heat it up while serving.

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