Tomato halwa recipe, Thakkali halwa recipe

Tomato halwa/ Thakkali halwa is a sweet, slightly tangy, naturally colored and glossy looking delicious sweet containing the goodness of tomatoes. This interesting instant halwa recipe is prepared with tomato puree/ paste, cornflour, sugar, ghee and flavored with cardamom. Yes just 5 pantry friendly ingredients and the halwa will be ready in no time. Thakkali halwa requires no fancy techniques like 1 string consistency or long time stirring so even beginners/ bachelors can make it quickly. Thakkali halwa looks just like the regular cornflour/ karachi halwa but wont be found that has tomato in it until it is tasted, actually even the taste won’t let your audience find it because it is something we are not used to/ new for us and them. I posted a video in my facebook page prior to this post and many guessed it as badam halwa, karachi halwa and pumpkin halwa too. See I was right! Thank you guys for all those guesses!!

Since the lockdown just like others storing extra veggies has been a necessary to avoid frequent visits to shop- the result is tomatoes get over ripe and sometimes water/ rot very quickly. I have been planting constantly these tomatoes and I should say our yard is filled with tomato plants now. I have been making lot of spaghetti and other tomato based dishes as well but was super bored this time and I was reminded of this tomato jam/tomato pachadi that is served in wedding along with biryani, but this time had just 4 tomatoes and the jam quantity will be too less so made few corrections to the recipe and turned it into halwa and everyone relished it. Sometimes got to turn the tables right😎 I have not added any food color in this recipe as good color ripe tomatoes yields appetizing color to the halwa or any chutney or dishes made with tomatoes. The sugar quantity mentioned in the recipe can be altered according to your preference. So let’s get to the making of thakkali halwa!

You may be interested in below recipes:

Tomato halwa recipe, Thakkali halwa recipe

2020-06-18 23:34:16

Serves 2

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

30 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

1. Tomatoes – 4
2. Cornflour – 2 tbsp
3. Water – 1/3 cup
4. Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp
5. Sugar - ¼ to 1/3 cup
6. Cashews – 4 to 6 nos
7. Ghee – 3 tbsp

Note

* 1 cup = 235 ml

Instructions

Heat ½ cup to 1 cup water in a pan, to it add full tomatoes discarding the top part. Allow to cook well till skin looks cracked or half peeled. When tomatoes look cooked put off the flame and when it is warm enough to handle peel off the tomato skin. Discard it. Allow the tomatoes to cool down fully.
When the tomatoes have cooled fully add it in a blender and grind into fine paste without adding any water. Keep it aside.
In a bowl add cornflour and mentioned quantity of water and mix well without lumps. Keep it aside.
Heat a tbsp of ghee in a pan and fry cashews when it turns golden brown remove from cashews and keep it aside. Now to the ghee add the tomato paste. Cook the mixture in medium flame for till all the water is evaporated and the tomato paste changes to bright red color. This should take about 4 minutes. You can cook with lid on as well as there will be lot of spluttering.
Now to the cooked tomato mixture add sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well. As soon as you add sugar the mixture will be little watery. Keep stirring then add the cornflour mixture and keep stirring continuously, initially it will be watery and light in color when you keep stirring it will thicken gradually, so cook in low to medium flame. When the mixture starts thickening comes together as ball start adding ghee, first a tbsp of ghee then add another tbsp of ghee and you should slowly see the halwa coming together with that glossy look leaving the sides of the pan. Add fried cashews and put off the flame. Serve it warm or cold. When served warm you can eat it with spoon and when the halwa gets cold you can make it into pieces so make sure to put it in a good shape. Relish it!

By Sandhya Riyaz

Sandhya's recipes https://www.sandyathome.com/

How to make Tomato halwa with step by step images

Heat ½ cup to 1 cup water in a pan, to it add full tomatoes discarding the top part. Allow to cook well till skin looks cracked or half peeled. When tomatoes look cooked put off the flame and when it is warm enough to handle peel off the tomato skin. Discard it. Allow the tomatoes to cool down fully.
When the tomatoes have cooled fully add it in a blender and grind into fine paste without adding any water. Keep it aside.
In a bowl add cornflour and mentioned quantity of water and mix well without lumps. Keep it aside.
Heat a tbsp of ghee in a pan and fry cashews when it turns golden brown remove from cashews and keep it aside. Now to the ghee add the tomato paste. Cook the mixture in medium flame for till all the water is evaporated and the tomato paste changes to bright red color. This should take about 4 minutes. You can cook with lid on as well as there will be lot of spluttering.
When the tomatoes rae cooked the mixture will look dry like the one in 2nd picture of the collage. Now to the cooked tomato mixture add sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well. As soon as you add sugar the mixture will be little watery.
Keep stirring then add the cornflour mixture and keep stirring continuously, initially it will be watery and light in color when you keep stirring it will thicken gradually, so cook in low to medium flame.
When the mixture starts thickening comes together as ball start adding ghee, first a tbsp of ghee then add another tbsp of ghee and you should slowly see the halwa coming together with that glossy look leaving the sides of the pan. Add fried cashews and put off the flame. Serve it warm or cold. When served warm you can eat it with spoon and when the halwa gets cold you can make it into pieces so make sure to put it in a good shape. Relish it!