The story behind the making of this Strawberry Halwa goes as this..... we had a visiting guest a couple of weeks back who got us a big bag full of fruits completely forgetting that we are a family of three. My men are not so much of a fruit lover. To be precise, they love few specific kinds of fruits like mango, grapes, apple, pear. Our guest who is like a brother and his darling wife got us a box full of strawberry. For two days the box rested in the refrigerator and the Uncle Podger in me totally forgot about it. I usually offer any fruit brought home to God before consuming it. On the third day when I took out the box, I found that few of the strawberries already has spoiled. Strawberries even after refrigerating spoil quickly. I was sad because I do not like wastage and strawberries are a quite an expensive thing. I was wondering what can I do quickly with the rest of them.
The senior of my men still loves to have strawberry with cream but the junior will not have a bite. I do have them at times with a bowl of yogurt. To be frank, our taste buds are not adapted to having strawberry as a fruit. It is not commonly found at the place of our origin. So with the rest of the strawberries I wished to prepare something edible to the family, also very close family friends were to come that day. The idea of Strawberry Halwa popped up because I have seen a couple of such recipes with other fruits. So I landed up with this no fancy, simple, homemade Strawberry Halwa. Let us prepare this Strawberry Halwa..... a sweet made of strawberry paste and semolina together.
INGREDIENTS :
Semolina : 100-150gm
Strawberry : 10-12
Sugar : 1/3small cup
Green Cardamom : 2-3
Bayleaf : 1
Ghee[clarified butter] : 4tbsp
Pistachios [chopped] : for garnish [optional]
METHOD :
Wash and chop the strawberries, break and mash roughly with your right palm. Keep aside.
Heat ghee in a wok. Slightly tear open the green cardamoms and add to the wok along with the bayleaf.
As we get a nice aroma, add the semolina. We will keep on stirring for 5-8 minutes. We will see the semolina turning light brown and nicely roasted. Transfer to a bowl.
When the mixture comes to boil, add the roasted semolina. Fold in very well.
Let it cook for 3-4 minutes at low heat. If required add little more water. Mix well. We can add a spoonful of ghee at this stage.
Transfer the halwa to a serving bowl. Garnish with chopped pistachios.