Tomato Halwa / Thakkali Alwa - No Ghee Recipe

How about a sweet and rich dessert without ghee? some may say its impossible to get a dessert done without ghee but that's what we are going to discuss about today, a very delicious yet easy to make ghee-less tomato halwa a festive special or a normal day today dessert, fits both themes. Although almost all of us love the flavor of ghee, some have an aversion to its aroma and flavor, for such people this will be a great treat. You need very few ingredients to prepare this awesome tasting and delectable dessert. Though I have not used ghee here, it still tastes great and rich and perfectly suits your festive mood. It has a sweet flavor with a mild tangy flavor. I love tomatoes in any form they make your curries rich and tasty gives a nice texture and color to whatever recipes you add them to, be it chunky pieces of toppings for pizza or pureed tomatoes for masala, they make the recipe look and taste great and they are also very healthy. Tomatoes are rich in antioxidants which fights against cancer and also helps reduce cholesterol level; vitamins A & C, and many other minerals, when cooked the tomatoes release more lycopene an antioxidant, so try adding more tomatoes in curries and gravies, include them in your day today cooking. They say that tomatoes can help make you look fairer too am sure many must have loved this tip. Choose bright red colored tomatoes for cooking this contains more lycopene and Vitamins. Now lets move on to the recipe, do try sometime am sure you will love this halwa. 

Check out my Nutty Tomato Coconut Milk Jam here!!

INGREDIENTS

Serve 1 to 2 people
Total Preparation Time - 30 to 40 minutes

1. Tomato - 4 (medium sized)
2. Sugar - According to the tomatoes used (See preparation method, step 2) 
3. Lemon juice - 2 spoons 
4. Cardamom pods - 3 
5. Corn flour - 1 spoon (2 grams) 
6. Red food color - A pinch  (Optional)

PREPARATION METHOD

• Add all the tomatoes into a blender and grind well. Do not add even a drop of water. 
• Now take the necessary amount of sugar. If you get 1 cup of tomato paste, use 
  ¾ cup of sugar. Use the same cup to measure. 
• Now heat a pan and pour the tomato paste, add crushed cardamom pods (or cardamom powder) and sugar into it and stir well on a low flame. 
• Keep stirring until it thickens slightly. This may take upto 20 minutes. 
• Now to a cup add a spoon of corn flour and two spoons of water and mix well. Add this mixture into the pan and stir well. 
• Then add the red food color and lemon juice and stir well. 
• Keep stirring until it thickens well and gets the halwa consistency. It will be neither too thick nor too watery. If you keep on stirring to make it more thick it will become hard like toffee. 
• As soon as it reaches the halwa consistency remove from flame and serve after it cools down!! 

TIP 1: Adding lemon juice gives a mild tangy flavor that makes the halwa taste too good. 

TIP 2: Tomato paste - 1 cup; Sugar ¾ cup; This is the best proportion for making tomato halwa 

TIP 3: Instead of adding the whole paste you can also strain the juice and use it for making halwa. The seeds in the tomatoes may give a disturbing flavor for some so if you do not want them just strain the juice discard the pulp and make halwa. Measure the juice and add equal quantities of sugar.

TIP 4: You can also add 2 spoons of ghee to make it even more yummier and flavorful. Also you can roast few cashews in ghee and then add them to the halwa just few minutes before you remove halwa from flame. 

TIP 5: Use ripe tomatoes to get the best flavor.

TIP 6: Keep stirring to avoid burning and also to get a perfect consistency.

Delicious and Delectable Tomato Halwa is now ready!! Try this for festive seasons or as day today desserts, you will love it!!

Related recipes

• Besan Ladoo / Kadalai Maavu Ladoo (youtoocancookindianfood.blogspot.com)
• Nutty Tomato Coconut Milk Jam (youtoocancookindianfood.blogspot.com)