Besan ka halwa is a delicious and aromatic dessert made of gram flour, ghee, sugar and nuts. It is one of the halwa varieties that is most commonly made in the North Indian households. Besan ka halwa has a special nutty aroma & taste that comes from roasting the besan in ghee. It can be prepared during any festive occasion as it is simple to make and just needs few ingredients.
The key to making good besan ka halwa is to roast the besan or gram flour well in ghee until it begins to release a nutty aroma. Besan halwa can be made with milk or with water and both ways it tastes good.
If made without milk it turns to light brown color. My fussy kids refuse to eat the brown color halwa so this time I made it with milk just to get the nice bright color.
Do not reduce the amount of ghee in the recipe otherwise the halwa may have lot of lumps.
You may like to check 100 Diwali Sweets Recipes and Diwali Snacks Recipes
Step-by-step photos
Preparation for besan halwa
1. Add ½ to ¾ cup sugar to a pot. I used ¾ cup.
2. Then pour 1 cup water. You can replace with milk.
3. Next pour 1 cup milk. You can replace with water.
4. Dissolve sugar and bring to a boil. I added a pinch of saffron for color.
Roasting besan for besan ka halwa
5. Heat ghee in a pan. Set aside 1 tbsp for later use.
6. Add besan and mix well.
7. Besan must be coated well with ghee.
8. Begin to roast on a medium flame until aromatic and deep golden. This step is very important and make sure there is no raw smell in the besan. When it is done, you will get a very nice aroma. Add cardamom powder.
Making Besan ka halwa
9. Reduce the flame completely. Pour the hot milk little by little stirring continuously.
10. You may find few lumps here and there, just break them with a spatula and continue to cook. After few minutes the halwa turns thick absorbing all the moisture. Then add 1 tbsp ghee.
11. Continue to cook until besan ka halwa begins to leave the pan and becomes a mass. I cooked further for another 4 to 5 mins.
Remove besan ka halwa to a serving bowl and garnish with sliced almonds and pistas.
More Halwa recipes
Badam halwa
Moong dal halwa
Carrot halwa
Bread halwa
Recipe
Besan ka halwa recipe
Besan ka halwa
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 1 cup besan or gram flour
- ½ cup ghee
- ½ to ¾ cup sugar (use as needed, I used ¾)
- 2 cup milk or water (or 1 cup milk 1 cup water)
- 1/3 tsp cardamom powder or elaichi powder.
- 2 tbsp almonds or badam sliced
- 2 tbsp pistachios sliced
Instructions
Preparation for besan ka halwa
- Pour water, milk and sugar to a pot and dissolve the sugar completely. Bring it to a boil.
- On another burner, heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan.
- Add besan and begin to roast on a medium flame stirring continuously until aromatic and deep golden. When it is done, you will begin to get a nutty aroma of ghee roasted besan.
- The color of the besan has to change to deep golden color otherwise the besan halwa will taste raw. Do not brown the besan a lot, it has to just get a deep golden color.
- When the besan is about to be done, reduce the flame to low.
Making besan ka halwa
- Quickly and slowly pour the milk in small quantities to the besan stirring continuously.
- Keep stirring continuously breaking the lumps and cooking.
- Do not panic if you find too many lumps. Just break them up with a spatula and continue stirring.
- When the moisture is absorbed, add 1 tbsp ghee and stir. Within few minutes the halwa will begin to leave the sides of the pan.
- Cook for another 2 to 3 mins until the ghee begins to release. Remove to serving bowls.
- Sprinkle sliced almonds & pistas. Serve besan ka halwa warm or hot.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
Notes
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Shreya says
Hello Swasthi,
I hope to be making this halwa for lunch the coming weekend for a few friends. Could I use jaggery/rapadura sugar instead of regular sugar?
Also, I really appreciate the step by step photos. So helpful.
Love from Australia,
Shreya
swasthi says
Hi Shreya,
I haven’t tried this halwa with jaggery any time. I did besan ladoo. Not everyone will like the combined flavor of jaggery and besan. I wouldn’t suggest for this recipe atleast. May be for ladoo it should be okay. You may want to take a look at this besan ladoos here. Thank you!
liza says
Your recipes are amazing and delicious! I wish you would make a way for me to easily save the recipe and print it out. Right now I cannot copy and paste from your website so it is quite time consuming if I want to save a recipe to make later and don’t have my computer or phone with me to look up the recipe online.
swasthi says
Thank you so much Liza
Currently I do not have the option. Thanks again
Shalini says
Yummy besan ka halwa 😋. I made this on the weekend. Tasted great. Thank you.