Semolina roasted in ghee and cooked with milk and sugar into a thick, fragrant halwa — the Bengali version of suji halwa that is prepared for morning prayers, offered as prasad at home puja and eaten for breakfast on festival mornings.
Ingredients
1 cup semolina (rava/suji — coarse variety)
3 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups full-fat milk
1 cup water
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
a pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk
2 tbsp cashews — broken
2 tbsp raisin
1 tsp ghee for finishing
Method
Roast the semolina in ghee: Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a heavy pan. Add the semolina. Roast on medium-low heat, stirring continuously, for 5 to 6 minutes until the semolina turns light golden and smells very nutty. The roasting must be thorough — under-roasted semolina tastes raw.
Fry cashews and raisins in the ghee: Before adding the liquid, add cashews and fry stirring for 1 minute until golden. Add raisins — they puff in 30 seconds.
Combine milk and water: In a separate pot or microwave, warm the milk and water together until hot but not boiling.
Add the hot liquid — stand back: Add the hot milk-water mixture to the roasted semolina all at once. It will splutter dramatically. Stir immediately and vigorously to prevent lumps.
Cook stirring continuously: Cook on medium heat, stirring without stopping, for 3 to 4 minutes. The semolina will absorb all the liquid rapidly and the halwa will thicken to a smooth, creamy, pulling-away-from-the-pan consistency.
Add sugar: Add sugar. Stir for 2 more minutes as the sugar dissolves and the halwa becomes slightly looser, then firms again.
Add cardamom and saffron: Add cardamom powder and saffron milk. Stir.
The halwa is done: When the halwa pulls away cleanly from the sides as you stir and holds its shape when scooped, it is ready.
Add finishing ghee: Add 1 tsp more ghee. Stir.
Serve warm: Serve in small bowls or on a banana leaf as prasad. The Bengali sujir halua is slightly softer than North Indian sooji halwa and is eaten with a spoon.
Note: Sujir Halua (Bengali pronunciation of suji halwa) is the prasad preparation made during home puja across Bengal — offered to the deity and then distributed among family members. Made for Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja and particularly for Sheetala Puja (the goddess of coolness). In Bengali homes, the smell of semolina roasting in ghee early in the morning signals that a puja is happening that day.