Apple Halwa

Today we are celebrating Ugadi, an auspicious beginning of a Telugu New Year. Ugadi is also celebrated in Karnataka and Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra. Every Telugu New Year is given a different name. This year it’s named as “Sarvadhari”. As we all know the special for today is the preparation of Ugadi Pachadi, a fusion of six tastes (Shadruchulu) such as, sour, bitter, sweet, salt, spicy, pungent. I also prepared Ugadi Pachadi today with available ingredients like: Tamarind (sour), Fenugreek Seeds (bitter), Sugar (sweet), Salt (salt), Red Chili Powder (spicy) and finally raw mango pieces (pungent).

Another special treat I prepared today is APPLE HALWA. This is my first time making it, but it turned out so well. So I want to share that with you all. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 Apples (I used Gala Apples)
• ¼ cup Milk
• ½ cup Sugar
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Seeds (Elaichi, Elakulu)
• ½ tsp Raisins
• 1 tsp broken Cashews
• ¼ tsp Red Food Color (optional)
• 1 tsp Ghee

Preparation:

Peel the skin of apples and grate them. Keep aside.

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat ghee and roast the cashew pieces until they turn golden brown in color. Add the milk to this along with sugar, grated apple, cardamom seeds, raisins and the food color. Keep the flame on medium. Leave it for some time, but keep stirring it now and then.

When the mixture thickens switch off the flame and transfer to a serving plate. Let it cool and serve. This is really a delicious dessert for festive days.

Thank you so much for your wishes. Happy Ugadi to you all too. Have a wonderful year ahead.