Kajoor ka Halwa (Date Halwa)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Date Halwa

This delicious gooey dessert is a wonderful treat after any meal, it is simple to make and no sugar is added as the dates and honey provide the natural sugars needed, which kind of makes this dessert rather healthy. Sounds good to me! Khoya is used a lot in Indian and Pakistani sweet desserts to add a creaminess to the dish, it is difficult to find khoya here in UK but you can easily make your own, there are different ways to make it. My cousin simply cooks milk with a little oil till it thickens into clumps, I however find the ricotta chesse method easiest and quickest. You can make the Khoya in advance to save time, any left over can be stores in an airtight container for up to a week. I added cocoa powder to this halwa to give it an even richer colour.
You can double or triple the ingredients I have given, when I made this I didn't realise it would make such a small amount, having said that it is a rather rich dessert so I would suggest small servings.

Ingredients

200 grms dates (I used Majool dates as they are soft and sticky)
3 tbsn fine Semolina
3 tbsn Ghee (you may use butter if you wish)
2 tbsn Khoya
1 tbsn cocoa powder (Unsweetened)
2 cups of Milk
2 tbsn honey
Half tspn of cardamom powder 

For Khoya you will need:

250gms of Ricotta cheese
2tspn of oil

Method

1. To make the khoya add oil to wide non stick frying pan and heat up, then add the ricotta cheese and on low heat cook for 25-30 minutes until all the water in cheese has dried up and becomes clumpy. Set aside to cool.

Khoya

2. Put dates into saucepan and add one cup of water, bring to boil until dates are softened. Mash them up to a paste and set aside.
3. Heat ghee in pan and add semolina, cook until there is no raw smell of semolina and ghee separates shown in picture below.

You can see the ghee separating and coming to surface.

3. Now add the date paste and mix well on medium high heat.

4. Add the cardamom and one tablespoon of the khoya, mix well for about 3 minutes.
5. Then pour in the milk a little at a time and stir well. Add as much milk to reach desired consistency.  

6. Sprinkle some khoya and chopped pistachios and serve warm.

Bil-hana wa as-shifa'a! :)