Rusk Halwa

Rusk halwa

 When I was doing my PG in Madurai, I had a couple of Sourashtrian friends. Whenever they returned back to the hostel, after attending a marriage or some other function, they would pack a tiffin container full of this Rusk halwa. It's a dessert they make for all special occasions. Those days I just ate, ate and ate the delicious halwa but never thought to get hold of its recipe. Actually they call this as Bun halwa. The taste is halfway between our gulab jamun and the traditional thirunelveli halwa. Then, what else more to say, it's an absolute yummy dessert.

 A few years ago , I was mentioning about this halwa and its taste to my aunt. She immediately grabbed a pack of buns, dunked it in milk, sugar and ghee.... Stirred everything together and made a sweet (???!!!). Yes,it was not halwa, the taste and texture was terrible. I had to put on a smiling face and had a bowl of that. But I told her it was not of the same taste. Finally my uncle came to my rescue. He asked my aunt to discard it. Phew!!!  

Then after many years, I got in touch with one of the PG friend "S" . I asked her for the recipe and she immediately mesaged it to me. Thanks Dear 😊. 

When I read the recipe, and there... I found the secret... Though it's called Bun halwa, it's main ingredient was Rusk and not Bun 😂😝. 

So, here is the recipe for the yummy 'Rusk' halwa, mostly adapted from my friend's. I slightly changed the measurements and the preparation method according to my taste. 

Ingredients:

Rusk powder - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Sugar - 2/3 cup

Ghee - 1/3 cup

Cashews - 15 (broken) 

Raisins - 10 (optional) 

Method:

1. Heat all the ghee in a non-stick Kadai.  Fry the cashews and raisins, drain, remove and keep it aside. 

2. Next roast the rusk powder in the same kadai nicely for 2-3 mins in low flame. Do not let it to get burnt, keep stirring gently and continuously. 

3. Then add water little by little stirring continuously to avoid lumps 

4. When the ghee separates from the mixture, add the sugar little by little stirring continuously. 

5. Stir well so that all the sugar melts, add the fried cashews and raisins. Cook till the mixture leaves the sides and ghee separates. Remove from heat. 

Simple n yummy halwa is ready. 

Note:

1. My 1 cup measures 240 ml .

2. Using a good quality non-stick vessel makes cooking this halwa an easy job. 

3. I used cardamom flavoured rusk. If using plain rusk, you can add a few pinches of cardamom powder before adding the sugar.

4. Ghee and sugar can be added more or less according to your taste.