Atta ka Sheera/Halwa – Whole Wheat Flour Pudding

What a crazy few days it has been.  It is almost like September arrives and so that a quicker pace of things. The pandemic has helped me veer away from crazy mindless shopping. All the cooking has honed my already good meal planning skills. This said, I am cooking a lot more and when house guests visit, it is a challenge to keep up. It makes me realize how simple the general fare in our house is. And speaking of simple, if you are looking for a super simple dessert think Atta ka sheera or Halwa. 3 ingredients plus some raisins and almonds if you so wish and we are in the sheera business.

In Indian homes, combining a wholegrain with ghee and a sweetener to make a halwa is a very common affair. The beauty of these desserts rest in their sheer simplicity.

My Story about Atta Ka Sheera

Now interestingly enough, this is a very common halwa in North Indian households as the ingredients are always readily available.  Whole wheat flour, sugar or jaggery and ghee. That is the baseline. You do want good quality ghee, preferably homemade ghee.  As an alternative you can use the coarse whole wheat laddu flour, found in Indian markets. I happened to have some on hand.  Using this gives the halwa a lovely texture but does take a little longer to brown. This technique is also used for making ladoos with the flour.

Given that I am almost always used to making the semolina halwa or mohon bhog, this is a nice change. And I managed to add another dessert to my repertoire. A simple and easy to make one to boot.  Warm, fragrant, simple and soothing. It is just the kind of warming dessert that you want on your table.

Some tips and tricks

A few things to note:

• It is important to dry roast the whole wheat flour stirring consistently to get the nice brown color and flavor needed for a good sheera. You will need to plan about 20 minutes for this.
• The halwa gets its color from the roasting, so do not skip or shortchange this step.
• I turn off the fire during the final 4 minutes of cooking, and feel that this prevents extra browning or burning.

• If you are not using the coarse whole wheat flour, stir constantly and consistently to prevent any lumps.
• Leave the halwa a little looser than what you actually want to serve as it will thicken a little when you are ready to serve.
• Jaggery if you have it really complements the rustic flavors of this halwa or Sheera.

Other Halwa recipes on this site include a carrot halwa, beetroot halwa and sweet potato halwa.