Desi Fiesta

Somali Halwa / Xalwa

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Halwa Varieties

To finish the halwa series I have a very delicious and yummy halwa from somali . I would say the traditional somali halwa is golden brown in color as they use brown sugar in equal quantity with white sugar , I have made some alterations and bought you a very delicious halwa from somali with the traditional flavors added in it. The nutmeg , cardamon and saffrom gives the halwa an unique aroma . They might sound like our Indian karachi halwa but the flavor is absolutely different. Also if you want to make the traditional way in golden brown color I would suggest you to add 1 cup  of white sugar and 1 cup of light brown sugar  with red and yellow color added they the traditional way this halwa or Xalwo from somali is prepared. I gave them a lemon yellow color and they taste very delicious. 

As you know yesterday I shared an Oman special Omani halwa this is an similar islamic halwa served to show the hospitality with kahwa ( Arabic black coffee ). Somali halwa’s are also very popular and made for many occasions like eid  and other festivals .Honestly these are the facts I know about this halwa other than this the halwa taste extremely sinful and the flavor makes all difference from our karachi halwa. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38. Over to the recipe..

Sweets of Oman and somali
Somalian sweets
Recipe Source : Adapted from here

Ingredients

1/2 cup Corn Flour
2 1/2 cups Sugar 
1/2 cup Light brown sugar 
3 Cups Water 
2-4 tbsp Ghee
1/4 tsp Nutmeg pd
1/4 tsp Cardamon pd 
Few Strands Saffron
Few drops Lemon yellow color

Method

  • In a sauce pan put sugar, brown sugar and water.
  • Let it boil and the sugar dissolve.
  • Add Nutmeg pd , Cardamon pd and saffron.
  • In another bowl dilute cornflour with 1/2 cup water and color.
  • Once the the sugar water boils add the diluted cornflour .
  • Stir them constantly and add ghee 1 tbsp at a time in regular intervals. 
  • Stir them till the halwa leaves the pan and forms a bowl, this would take about 10- 15 mins.
  • Transfer them to a greased pan and let them cool after which you can cut them in to pieces , or serve them a is .
Tips 
  • I used very little ghee to make more rich halwa you can add more.
  • Mostly this halwa is in brown color bcoz of the brown sugar used , I made them with white sugar so didn’t get the brown color . You can add red and yellow color to achieve the perfect color. or Simply add red color .
Halwad/ Halvah
Xalwo
You can also check my tried Somalian recipes 
Wali Na Maharage 
Quamdi/ Mahambri

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Comments

  9. Briju Parthasarathy says

    Lovely colourful halwa. All african sweets especially fudge type are made from Casavva as it is the staple food and easily available. Yummy one i should say the vibrant in colour and yummy

  20. Sathya Priya says

    hmm colorful halwa series..m so sad the series is ending here…r u asking me u kidding me ?no not all .every halwa looks so tempting ..good job manju.