Sweet Potato Halwa

I first tried making this for Mahashivratri 2024 and I was amazed how good it tastes. It tastes just like Moong halwa in my opinion (which I absolutely love). Plus, this uses less ghee, sugar and is upawas-friendly – what more

This recipe makes about 8 servings and takes only 15-20 minutes to make once the sweet potatoes are steamed. total cooking time is 45 minutes.

You will need:

700 gm – Sweet Potato – 3 slender Japanese sweet potatoes

½ Cup – Ghee

½ Cup – Sugar

½ Cup – Dry Fruits, chopped (almonds, cashewnuts, pistachios and golden raisins)

1 tsp – Cardamom Powder

A big pinch of saffron – crushed and soaked in 2 tbsp of room temp water for 15-20 mins.

Procedure:

Chop the dryfruits and soak the saffron

Wash the Sweet Potatoes and slice off the ends
Make slits along the surface with a knife and steam them for 20-30 minutes, until a knife inserted goes right through
Let them cool slightly, then peel and grate them – set aside. Grating it makes it into a mash practically, but its better than mashing because it ensures no lumps are left accidentally. Also, they are super easy to grate.

In a non-stick pan, heat the ghee and add the chopped dry fruits – roast the dry fruits in ghee for a couple minutes until light golden, then add the grated sweet potato.
Keep stirring with a spatula making sure all of the mixture gets exposed to heat
As it cooks, it will get slightly glossy. This takes about 3 minutes or so
At this point add the almond flour and continue mixing over low-medium heat for 5-7 minutes. This mixture should be dry-ish and fluffy at this point – not gooey and spoggy like it is at the beginning.
At tis point add the sugar and mix well. The sugar will melt in and improve the texture of the halwa further. The halwa becomes glossy and leaves a little bit of ghee on the sides. This step will take 2-3 minutes.