In the Agra district of Utter Pradesh lies the majestic palace of Fatehpur Sikri. In the old days Akbar would reside in his palace with his many wives with his most trusted advisors. He would decide on who to go to war with and what kingdoms to raze. Within this palace legend says the first halwa was made. It is said Akbar set up the Royal Kitchen with over four hundred chefs and ordered them to feed those in his kingdom who could not afford to feed themselves, and he explicitly decreed that halwa should be on the menu.

 

 

The actual origins of Halwa trace back to where most of India’s culture started, Persia. While the entire story can be found here, an abbreviated version will be told on this blog.  The word ‘halwa’ comes from the Arabic word ‘Hulw’, which means sweet and is believed to have entered the English language between 1840 and 1850. The sweet in its modern form however is as Indian as it gets. It is a sweet Indian dish consisting of some vegetable boiled with milk, almonds, sugar, butter, and cardamom. The most popular form of Halwa is its most traditional form, gajar halwa, which is made from carrots(gajar directly translates to carrot).

 

Halwa is a simple sweet to make and a full recipe would not take in the range of 40 minutes. To abridge roast almonds, pistachios, an cashews until crunchy, then pour milk and begin to warm. After a while add grated carrots and then have it sit until the milk fully evaporates. Add sugar and then stir. When the sugar melts and most of the moisture has evaporated add ghee and stir well. Wait until the mixture thickens and that is the finished product of gajar halwa. Most would garnish it after this but in effect the sweet is finished.

 

Although carrot is the most popular form, it can be found in many other forms such as besan, moongdal, or rava(a larger list of varieties can be found here). Different forms of halwa stem from different parts of India. ‘Hari Mirch ka Halwa’ from Pune, ‘Cholar Dal Halwa’ from West Bengal, ‘Anda Halwa’ from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, ‘Kashi Halwa’ from Karnataka, ‘Karutha Haluwa’ from Kerala, are some of the few assortments of Halwas that one could get across India. It is a diverse sweet for a diverse continent. In fact there is a completely different version of the sweet known as ice halwa, but that is a story for another time.

 

 

The Gulab Jamun is a humble sweet originating from medieval Iran but is now extremely popular in India and is considered a staple of Indian culture. Although the dis itself did not originate in India, the modern version served in India is different from the Persian sweet it is derived from, Luqmat-Al-Qadi.  It can be found in most Indian restaurants(both northern and southern), and is ranked in the top fifteen most popular Indian sweets by food magazine, The Culture Trip(https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/indias-15-most-popular-and-mouth-watering-desserts/). Gulab Jamun themselves are extremely simple at heart, often likened to fried dough balls in a sweet, sugary, liquid in terms of western food. In actuality Gulab jamun are fried balls of a dough made from milk solids and semolina, soaked with an aromatic syrup spiced with green cardamom, rose water, saffron, and more.

 

A recipe can be found here:(https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/gulab-jamun-recipe-using-milk-powder). Although the recipe itself is long, it can be summarized in a few simple steps. The first and most important step is to pick between milk powder and khoya(pictured above). While milk powder is easy to find in most western super markets, it will give a much more “white-washed” taste compared to khoya. Khoya, also known as mawa, is a dried milk substance used throughout most of the Indian subcontinent for various recipes. While one could make it themselves it is found in most local super markets, and the apparent advantage in this recipe is the more authentic taste. Now that the decision has been made between khoya and milk powder, the actual recipe can start. Put green cardamom pods, sugar, and water in a pot and boil. Separately mix either khoya or milk powder, baking soda, and all purpose flower and then knead. After everything is homogenous add ghee to the dough. Ghee is clarified butter and can be found in most Indian supermarkets, more info on ghee can be found here:(https://www.feastingathome.com/how-to-make-ghee/). Add yogurt or lemon juice, and milk to the dough and then mix. To wrap up split the dough into balls and fry in hot ghee. After fried put them in the sugar mixture made in the beginning and let them rest for up to five hours. That is it for the simplified Gulab Jamun recipe.

 

The humble Gulab Jamun, although not actually from India, is perhaps India’s most iconic sweet. Most Indian restaurants in America serve Gulab Jamun, and almost anybody of Indian decent could recognize the iconic sweet.

 

Kaju Katli

Kaju Katli, also known as Kaju Barfi is a classic Indian sweet native to the sub continent itself. Kaju, meaning cashew and barfi being a thickened milk mixed with sugar and other ingredients, is a quite literal translation of what the sweet actually is. Kaju Katli is ranked as one of the most popular Indian sweets by travel magazine, The Culture Trip (https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/indias-15-most-popular-and-mouth-watering-desserts/). It is up there with sweets like Gulab Jamun and Laddu, which are other Indian classics, and it is not difficult to see why. It is an extremely simple dish at heart being a soft blend between cashews and a sweet thickened milk.

Making Kaju Katli, while in concept is not difficult as the ingredients are quite simple, requires a lot of technique. A very popular recipe from Hebbars Kitchen can be found here(https://hebbarskitchen.com/kaju-katli-recipe-kaju-barfi-recipe/). To summarize, you first need to blend the cashews into a fine powder. You then need to boil sugar and then stir in the cashews until it makes a paste. Finally, just wait until it reaches a somewhat thick but soft consistency and then pour into a baking sheet and cut. Obviously the recipe is very abridged and skips over a lot of the technique required to make the delectable sweet.

This amazing delicacy has not been without controversy however. In India there is a religion called Jainism that has had a lot of influence throughout all of India. The core tenant of Jainism is the principle of nonviolence against all living things(learn more here —> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism). While items like milk are allowed, eggs, meat and any ground root vegetable is not allowed. While this does not seem to be inherently problematic when it comes to kaju katlu but the error comes when you look at the silver substance on it(pictured below)

That substance is called varak, and it is a thin silver foil that is edible. While it does not seem inherently not Jain the issue comes from how varak is made. It is made by taking purified animal skins and putting edible silver insed. They then hammer the silver into this sheets which get it into the form you see above. While the practice has widely been abolished, many consider varak completely not vegetarian and thus will always get their kaju katli without it. The main controversy behind all of this comes because this was originally not common knowledge angering many people who were Jain or followed Jain diets.

Despite being so simple Kaju Katli is one of the most popular sweets from India and has seen its fair share of controversy.