Sooji ka halwa, or simply suji halwa is an Indian dish prepared with semolina, sugar and ghee as main ingredients for festival occasions like Navratri, Ashtami prasad. Let's see how to make this sweet easily in this post with step by step photos and video.
Sooji halwa or suji ka halwa, also known as Rava sheera, is one of the most loved during Indian sweets. Often made as prasad during Navratri, Ashtami or festival occasions.
This is similar to my other south Indian version on this site, but just minor changes makes it different from how it is prepare in the North Indian states.
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This semolina dessert is very similar to South Indian Rava kesari. Suji halwa gets ready in 15 minutes with semolina, sugar, cardamom and ghee as main ingredients.
When we make Suji halwa, we roast very well to get that deep golden hue and only saffron is used for colour. You can make it without saffron too.
There are many variations of the same recipe changing from household to household. Can be altered according to individual preferences.
Please check my Variations section for more notes.
Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients needed to make suji halwa.
- Sooji - Semolina (Cream of wheat) Suji/ Rava. Any type of suji can be used - coarse, fine, roasted/ un roasted.
- Sugar - I used white sugar, which is the sweetener in this recipe.
- Ghee - One of the main ingredients used that lends flavour and makes the dish rich.
- Cardamom - I used green cardamom. Always have some stock powdered with sugar to use easily.
- Nuts - You can use your favorite nuts.
See recipe card for full list and quantities.
Ratio
- Ratio (Sooji: Sugar: Water: Ghee) = 1: 1.5: 4: 1
Sooji = ½ cup, Sugar ¾ cup, Water 2 cups, Ghee ½ cup
Step by step images
- Heat a pan with ghee firstly. Add sooji to it.
2. Roast furthermore thoroughly until you get deep golden in color. Do it patiently in medium flame to avoid burnt semolina.
Especially towards the end. If it smokes, reduce the heat and keep stirring.
3. Meanwhile, boil measured water with salt. Bring to rolling boil.
4. After that, add it to the roasted sooji carefully. It will splutter a lot, so carefully add.
5. Mix briskly and let it gets absorbed.
6. Furthermore, cook covered for 3-4 minutes or until everything is absorbed.
7. Then, add saffron soaked in warm milk, sugar and mix well.
8. Eventually, it will loosen up as you mix.
9. Keep stirring continuously and the ghee will apparently ooze out and become non sticky. Hardly takes 2-3 minutes.
10. After that melt a tablespoon of ghee and fry nuts until golden.
11. Add it to the cooked rava along with cardamom powder. Mix well and switch off the flame.
Sooji ka halwa ready to enjoy!
Substitutions
- Sugar - instead of white, you can use un-refined or demerara for more deep hue. Not to confuse with brown one which may change the taste totally.
I would not suggest substituting other ingredients which may yield totally different results.
In case if you are wondering you could make a vegan semolina pudding, you can use vegan butter or Oil (any neutral smelling one like vegetable/ sunflower).
I recommend to use more cardamom or any flavor to suppress the oil smell.
Instead of milk, you can use almond milk.
Variations
Giving the visitor ideas on how they can change this recipe to better suit their dinner guests, or their cultural cuisine, is a great way to increase the chances they make the recipe
- Healthier choices - add any fruit puree like banana or dates and reduce sugar. You can use brown in place of white refined ones. Keep in mind all these are not low calorie but better choices, that's all as well as they may be totally different in taste from the original taste.
- Sugar quantity - Can be added according to personal preference. It can be as less as ½ to 1 cup for this recipe. I added ¾th and found it less sweet as I am sweet toothed. So it is up to you. If you ask me, I will suggest 1 cup as in my rava kesari recipe.
- Water - Though I have added 2 cups, you can also add less. 1 & ½ is also enough which gives you slightly chewier result if you like that.
- A note in method - I have seen most of the people boil sugar and water together. Then they add it to roasted sooji and cook together. I am used to do semolina first softly and then adding the sweetener. This gives softer results and there will be no chewy suji texture just in case if you run into trouble. This is foolproof method for beginners as well.
Suji halwa for festivals & Prasad
- Ashtami - Especially during Durga Ashtami and Krishnashtami. For vrat & pooja, suji halwa is commonly prepared as prasad.
- Satyanarayan puja - Prepared for popular North Indian Hindu ritual dedicated to Lord Satyanarayan, form of Lord Vishnu.
- Diwali & Karwa Chauth
Equipment
I used my IKEA saute pan (stainless steel). You can also use non stick for easy handling, especially if you are beginner.
Storage
Good for 2 days at room temperature. Up to 5 days in fridge and 3 months in freezer.
Store in airtight container for storing.
You can re heat by returning the halwa to pan and stirring over medium flame until you see soft texture and ghee oozing out.
To use frozen suji halwa, thaw it first by leaving in counter top for 30 mins. Then do as mentioned above.
Top tip
Make sure to cook the Sooji well for perfect texture. If it is not, then it may harden and give chewy texture.
Patiently stir it and do not over do.
Any type of sooji can be used (Bombay rava/ fine/ coarse/ roasted/ etc)
Even if it is roasted or not, it is must to roast again in ghee until dark yellowish in color.
Do not use semolina flour for this recipe.
After adding water, cook the semolina quickly in high flame. Do not do in low as it may turn the semolina too soft/ gooey.
FAQ
Some of the common mistakes while making sooji halwa is not roasting the sooji properly. Make sure to roast well and let the sooji get cooked soft before adding sugar. Because once you add sugar, the cooking process stops ending up in sticky texture.
You can use any type of rava, all the types like Bombay fine rava, coarse rava, roasted rava, all works. Even if you use roasted rava, do not skip the roasting part with ghee.
Yes you can make it, but the taste and colour will differ.
Yes you can definitely use milk, just replace half the water with milk. That is, 1 cup milk and 1 cup water for this recipe.
Rava kesari uses mostly artificial food colour and less ghee. It also has more pudding consistency where as in suji halwa, we roast the rava thoroughly almost golden and use generous ghee, nuts and saffron for colour.
I suggest to cook the sooji soft prior adding sugar. This way you can avoid the chewy or hard result. Because once the sugar is added, the rava will stop cooking.
Recipe card
Sooji Halwa Recipe (Suji ka Halwa | Rava Sheera) | Easy Indian Semolina Dessert
Ingredients
- ½ cup Sooji Semolina, Rava
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 2 cups Water
- ½ cup Ghee Divided
- 2 Cardamom Powdered
- ¼ cup Chopped nuts Almonds, cashews
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 1 Pinch Saffron optional
- 1 tablespoon Milk Warm, to soak saffron
Instructions
- Heat a pan with ghee firstly. Add sooji to it.
- Roast furthermore thoroughly until you get deep golden in color. Do it patiently in medium heat to avoid burnt semolina.
- Especially towards the end. If it smokes, reduce the heat and keep stirring.
- Meanwhile, boil measured water with salt. Bring to rolling boil.
- After that, add it to the roasted sooji carefully. It will splutter a lot, so carefully add.
- Mix briskly and let the water gets absorbed.
- Furthermore, cook covered for 3-4 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
- Then, add saffron soaked in warm milk, sugar and mix well.
- Eventually, it will loosen up as you mix and sugar melts.
- Keep stirring continuously and the ghee will apparently ooze out and become non sticky. Hardly takes 2-3 minutes.
- After that heat a tablespoon of ghee and roast nuts until golden.
- Add it to the sooji ka halwa along with cardamom powder. Mix well and switch off the flame.
Video
Notes
- I added ¾ cup sugar, it was just right, if you are sweet toothed, you can add upto 1 cup.
- Ghee measurement includes ghee I used for roasting nuts. ⅓ cup is enough for roasting sooji.
- Instead of 2 cups water for cooking sooji, you can use just 1 & ½ cups too for firmer texture.
Sugandi says
Love this recipe! My son-in-law asks for halwa every time he visits, and I am making your version. When I don’t have ghee, I start with butter, when it becomes ghee I fry suji in it. I also add the cashews at that time. If I am in a rush I have used hot tap water. Very forgiving recipe, still comes out great!
Raks Anand says
Thank you for your comment & rating 🙂