Tirunelveli Manoharam Recipe – Sweet Murukku Recipe - Manoharam Recipe

Manoharam is a traditional South Indian sweet dish kept in marriages, Seemandham and naming ceremony as seer bakshanam. It is popularly known as Paruppu thengai among Tamil Brahmins. Paruppu thengai koodu is very well decorated and kept for display in most of the occasions.Paruppu thengai koodu is basically a pair of conical shaped containers filled with a variety of nuts like ground nuts, cashew nuts or fried gram dal/ pottukadalai rolled in jaggery syrup or its filled with this Manoharam sweet. I still remember my MIL made this paruppu thengai with pottukadalai for my valaikaapu function. 

Manoharam is made with fried murukku/thenkuzhal rolled in thick jaggery syrup (Vella paagu) flavored with cardamom powder or Dry ginger powder (Sukku podi). Many people make it as manoharam balls during Karthigai deepam festival. In Tirunelveli, apart from Iruttukadai Halwa, Manoharam is also a very popular sweet dish. We call it as “Manavalam” colloquially. Last year a reader asked me to share Tirunelveli manoharam recipe during Diwali. As I had completely forgotten its taste, I couldn’t try and post it. 

Recently I told my Appa to get a pack of Manoharam from Tirunelveli. After tasting it, I got an idea about it and tried at home by watching the Youtube video by Ponna mami. It came out very well with a nice flavor of dry ginger powder. Its an addictive snack. I can much it all through the day !! I found varieties like Kerala Manoharam and Chettinad Manoharam recipes which are different in ingredients and procedure as well. Soon I must try them too. Today lets see how to make Tirunelveli Manoharam recipe with step by step photos !

Check out my other Tirunelveli special recipes HERE

Tirunelveli Manoharam recipe

How to make Tirunelveli Manoharam recipe - a most popular snack !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 1 cup

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

Besan flour - 1 cup Rice flour - 1/2 cup Hot oil - 1 tbsp Ghee or soft butter - 2 tsp Water & Salt - as needed Cooking oil - to deep fry For sugar syrup Grated jaggery - 1 cup Sugar - 2 tsp Water - 1/2 cup Dry ginger powder/sukku podi - 1 tsp Cardamom powder - If needed

METHOD

First lets prepare the murukku.For this, sieve besan and rice flour in a wide bowl. Add salt, hot oil and ghee to the flour. Mix well. Then add water little by little and make a dough. I made the dough very sticky as shown in the original recipe. So it was very easy to squeeze. Take the murukku press and use a single hole or three holed mould. Grease the press with oil. Fill the dough and set aside. Now heat oil to deep fry and drop a pinch of dough.If it rises to the top immediately, oil is hot. Now simmer the flame and squeeze the murukku either in a circular manner or as a straight line. Don’t worry about the shape because we are going to break them into pieces. Cook both the sides till bubbles cease. Do not fry in high flame, murukku will turn dark. So fry it patiently. Remove in a paper towel. Deep fry all the batches. Let it cool down completely. Take the powdered jaggery, sugar and water in a kadai. Mix & melt it. Strain the syrup if needed. Let the syrup roll boil and reaches soft ball consistency. To check this, take some syrup and pour it in a plate with water. Gather the syrup and try to make a soft ball. It is called soft ball consistency. Switch off the flame. Add dry ginger powder and mix well. Now break the cooled murukku into pieces ( make small pieces if you are making balls,else break them roughly) and add them to the jaggery syrup. Mix well. Make sure all murukku pieces are coated with the syrup. Make balls when it becomes warm enough Or Remove in a plate and let it cool. They look cluttered, remove them carefully and keep it in a plate. Serve & enjoy !

Note

The consistency of jaggery syrup is more important.It should be in soft ball consistency or even slight hard ball is fine else the syrup won’t coat well. Dry ginger powder adds a nice flavor. It aids digestion too. So don’t skip it. You can use soft butter instead of ghee.

Try this yummy, addictive Manoharam snack at home and enjoy !

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Tirunelveli Halwa Recipe - Wheat Flour Halwa - Godhumai Halwa - Easy Version

Tirunelveli halwa using wheat flour / Godhumai halwa with step by step photos and video. My mom & dad are basically from Tirunelveli, Tamil nadu but settled in Salem. But all our relatives are in & around Tirunelveli. Right from my childhood, we used to travel there at least once in 6 months to my thatha aachi’s house. Most of my summer vacations are spent there. My thatha used to buy the most popular Iruttukadai Halwa and Oma podi from Shanthi sweets for teatime without fail. Having tasted this Halwa for N number of times, I have never imagined myself trying it at home. 

In 2010, I watched few video recipes and tried Tirunelveli halwa recipe for the first time. Though it tasted the same like TVL halwa, I used food color to bring its brown color. At that time, I was not aware of certain tips and tricks to make a perfect Tirunelveli halwa without adding food color. And now after seeing so many websites and video recipes, I came to know its technique. So I wanted to make it again and post it in my blog for this Diwali.

Authentic Tirunelveli halwa calls for soaking and grinding Samba Godhumai ( Whole wheat grains), extracting the milk ( Godhumai paal) and fermenting it overnight. I followed this method for my earlier recipe. But this time, I simplified its procedure by combining the methods of easy wheat flour halwa recipe in Jeyashri's blog & traditional Tirunelveli halwa recipe from Dosa to pizza youtube video recipe. I altered the quantity of ingredients and changed the procedure accordingly. I made it using instant wheat flour( Godhumai maavu), used oil + Ghee to bring its texture and added caramelized sugar to bring its color naturally. Wow, You won’t believe me, it came out very close to original Tirunelveli halwa in both color & texture. There is no compromise in taste with the authentic halwa.

 Generally Thirunelveli halwa is not made into pieces.So you don’t need to look for any sugar syrup consistency. This halwa itself will show you the correct stage to remove it. So beginners can also dare to attempt this recipe at home. But the most important thing you need is “PATIENCE”. Yes, This halwa takes around one hour for preparation & cooking time but the end result will make you forget all the pain and get credits from your family members for sure. I got tempted by the pictures of Halwa kadai online website and clicked my halwa in a leaf. I am very happy to see the ghee dripping hot halwa in the picture as I wished. So here you go, the world famous Tirunelveli halwa recipe using wheat flour in an easy way with step by step photos and a detailed video tutorial just for you all.

If you are looking to try the traditional method, do check this post !

Tirunelveli halwa / Wheat flour Halwa

How to make Tirunelveli halwa with wheat flour/ Godhumai halwa

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 1/4-1/2 kg

Prep time: 120 Minutes

Cook time: 60 Minutes

Total time: 180 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Wheat flour - 1 cup ( I used Pillsburry atta) Water - To make dough + 5 cups for soaking Sugar – 2 to 2.25 cups + 1/4 cup to caramelize  Ghee – 1 cup + 1 tbsp Cooking oil - 1/3 cup  ( Use odourless oil) Cashews – few ** The quantity of oil & ghee mentioned is approximate. This halwa may take more or less. Don’t worry for adding more because we are going to collect all the fat at the end !

HOW TO MAK TIRUNELVELI HALWA - METHOD

Take 1 cup of wheat flour, add water little by little and knead a dough like chapathi dough. Let it be thick and no need to use oil or ghee while making the dough. Place the dough in a big bowl and add 5 cups of water to it.Let it soak for 2-4 hours. After 2 hours, take the dough with milk and mix it well with your hands. Dough dissolves in water and you will get white colored milk.Strain the milk through a cloth strainer and squeeze the fiber like part that comes from the wheat dough. Do not add more water.Use the soaked water to extract the milk. After taking all the milk, discard the residue.Set the milk aside. In a bowl, melt the required ghee and mix with oil. Set aside. In a wide, heavy bottomed kadai ( Non-stick kadai) , heat 1 tbsp of ghee and roast the cashews. After it turns golden brown, add the wheat milk.No need to remove the roasted cashews. Start stirring. Initially the mixture looks very watery. But If you keep stirring for 15 minutes, it becomes slightly thick. Keep the flame medium and stir it well.  If you want, you can keep the flame high to hasten this process. But stay nearby because it will burn at the bottom very soon. After it looks thick like porridge, add 2 cups (2.25 cups for more sweetness, I used 2.25) of sugar and keep mixing.  Keep the flame very low. Now you have to caramelize the sugar in the next step. Sugar Caramelization: In another gas burner, keep a small kadai and add 1 tbsp ghee. After its melted, add 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix well and caramelize it. Do the entire process in low flame because if the sugar is over caramelized, it turns bitter in taste and spoils the taste of halwa. So please be careful. Sugar will melt in ghee and its color changes to golden brown. Switch off the flame immediately and mix well in the heat. Please refer the video for clear understanding. Add the caramelized sugar to the halwa. It may splutter, so be careful while pouring it.   Again start mixing the halwa. Keep the flame medium. After the caramelized sugar is mixed well, color of the halwa will be changed to light brown.Check the taste and add more sugar if needed at this stage itself. Then add 1tbsp of melted ghee + oil and mix well.  Ghee+ oil will be absorbed by the halwa and turns glossy/shiny. Again add 1 tbsp of ghee and mix well. Continue this process at regular intervals. Color of the halwa becomes darker as it cooks. Now it resemble the original Tirunelveli halwa. Halwa will start to leave the sides and thickens. Do not remove at this point. Again add some ghee+Oil and keep mixing in low to medium flame. Never increase the flame because halwa may turn chewy. Halwa will become non-sticky and slide off the ladle. Keep adding ghee. It will be completely non-sticky, becomes soft & rotates with the ladle. Keep adding ghee + oil. Do not lose patience.  At one stage, it will stop taking ghee and starts to ooze out the ghee+ oil in the sides first.  It happens only during the last 5 minutes. Keep mixing. Now you can find ghee oozing out all over the halwa. Collect the ghee that oozes out from the halwa in a bowl. Slide the kadai slightly and take out the ghee. Flame should be low. I collected more than 3/4 of the ghee+oil I added in the halwa.  You can use this ghee for making other sweets or in your regular cooking. It won’t smell or taste sweetish. After collecting the ghee, transfer the halwa to a big bowl and allow it to become warm. Serve it hot or warm as you wish. The entire process took one hour for me. This halwa will release the ghee every time you reheat it.So you can reheat the halwa in microwave for 1 minute or keep it inside idli steamer till it gets heated. Remove the ghee from the halwa and serve hot. Don’t worry, the taste of this halwa will never be changed even after removing the ghee.  You can store this halwa in an airtight box and keep it for more than a week and enjoy. No need to refrigerate too. This halwa will be coated with frozen ghee after its cooled down. It tastes mildly chewy just like original Tirunelveli halwa. If you wish, reheat and serve every time or enjoy as it is !!

Note

If you want to follow the traditional method, wash and soak 1 cup of samba wheat for 5 hours. Grind in a mixie jar adding water and grind in batches. Strain and extract the milk. Let the milk ferment over night. The next day, remove the white layer that is formed on top of the milk. Make halwa as mentioned above. The sugar quantity I’ve mentioned gives the required sweetness to the halwa. It won’t taste too sweet as we are adding more ghee. If you like milk sweetness, add 2 cups of sugar. If you are calorie conscious, you can use ghee & oil in equal quantity OR you can use ghee alone to make super rich halwa. But in halwa kadai, they do use some oil. But never use kadalai ennai/ groundnut oil. It will spoil the flavor of halwa. You may not need to use all the ghee+ oil I’ve mentioned here. Sometimes, it may take lesser too.When the halwa starts to ooze out the ghee, stop adding it. Do not remove the halwa until ghee starts to come out. Do not mix in high flame at the end, halwa may become more chewy.

Try this simplified version of Tirunelveli halwa and do share your feedback with me

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Badam Burfi Recipe With Milk - Almond Burfi Recipe With Video

Yesterday I made badam burfi recipe with milk for Navratri neivedyam and distributed it to my guests. Everybody loved it very much. Badam burfi (Almond burfi in English) is an easy, healthy, melt in mouth burfi recipe. It is known as Badam katli in Hindi. Its Ingredients and the method of preparation is very similar to Kaju katli.  

Last year I had shared Kaju badam burfi ( Almond cashew burfi) during Diwali for beginners. Procedure of making this badam barfi is slightly different. But its a very easy and fool proof recipe just like kaju badam burfi. Even though it takes time to prepare this burfi, its really worthy. Mixing and stirring is the major work here. I have used milk for grinding badam. You can use water too. No need to worry about sugar syrup consistency and no need to use more ghee. Its totally a beginners recipe. However we should be conscious towards the end of cooking to avoid mistakes. 

I adapted this recipe from Nisha madhuilka ji's website and used more sugar and milk than the mentioned quantity.  Just follow the steps, video, tips & tricks I have shared in this post. I am sure you can make a perfect melt in mouth badam burfi. If you are a beginner, try half the quantity given in the recipe. 

For variations, you can use almond powder ( Almond flour/Almond meal), coconut, cashews and even carrot. Diwali is not too far. Do bookmark this easy sweet recipe and try it out. Ok, Lets see how to prepare badam barfi at home easily with step by step photos and a video !

Badam burfi - Full video !

Badam burfi recipe

Badam burfi recipe - Easy badam katli for beginners

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 20 

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 30 Minutes

Total time: 40 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Almond/Badam - 1 cup Sugar - 1.5 cups Boiled Milk - 3/4 cup ( at room temperature) Water - 3 cups ( to blanch almonds) Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Or saffron threads - few Ghee - 1 tbsp + few drops for greasing the plate

HOW TO MAKE BADAM BURFI - METHOD

Take a plate and grease it with ghee. To blanch badam quickly, boil 3 cups of water. When the water roll boils, add the badam. Let it boil for a minute. Switch off the flame and cover it with a lid.  Let it sit for 5 minutes. Drain the badam and add to the cold water. Skin will come off easily. Keep all the blanched badam in the plate. Grind Sugar to fine powder and set aside. In the same jar, grind badam to a coarse paste without adding milk. Wipe the sides of jar and add 1/2 cup of milk. Grind to a paste.Wipe the sides of mixer.  Check if the badam paste is smooth without any grits. If not, add 1/4 cup more milk and grind it well. Remember adding more milk while grinding takes ling time to make burfi. So add milk little by little while grinding. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a good non-stick kadai. Add the ground badam paste and powdered sugar. Mix well in medium flame. Stay nearby and keep mixing. Flame should be low to medium. Initially, the mixture will become thin as the sugar melts. Add the cardamom powder & keep stirring. The mixture will start to thicken. Mixture will bubble vigorously. It may splash. So please be careful. Keep the flame low if it splashes. Keep stirring because the bottom layer may burn quickly. Keep mixing till the mixture becomes thick.Wipe the sides of the pan every time while u mix.It will take nearly 10-20 minutes to start thickening. Small bubbles will appear in the corners. When you keep on mixing, mixture turns thicker and it will start to leave the sides of pan. Wipe the sides & again mix it. At one stage, the mixture will become really thick and resembles a soft dough. At that time, switch off the flame and mix for few seconds. Grease your fingers with ghee and take a pinch from the dough.Try to make a small ball. If you are able to make a soft, round ball, your burfi is done. Give a quick stir and make it even more slightly thick. The heat of kadai is sufficient to make your mixture thick. Do not stir for more time. Mixture will become crumbly and you will not be able to shape it properly. If you remove it before the correct stage, it will taste like halwa. So try to make a small ball and then remove it at the right time. Transfer the burfi mixture to the greased plate. If you wish, you can knead it using your hands after it turns slightly warm. But I directly made the shape by levelling it with rolling pin. For this, Cover the dough with a butter paper and level the mixture using a rolling pin.Roll it according to the thickness you need.  Remove the butter paper and cut the burfi into pieces using a ghee greased knife, when the mixture is warm. But do not try to remove the pieces when the mixture is warm. It may break. Take it after the burfi cools down completely. Store in a box. Stays good for 2 days at room temperature. Enjoy !

Note

To find out whether the burfi is well set, after You levelled the burfi in tray with butter paper,try to remove the butter paper after 5 minutes.If it comes out clean,your burfi is perfect and you can make pieces & enjoy .If the butter paper doesn’t come out clean or if it sticks to the burfi mixture, then the right consistency is not reached and it becomes halwa. So transfer the  mixture to the kadai, add little water, melt the mixture and again start mixing till you get it right !  Suppose if you over do the mixing and if burfi becomes crumbly, take the crumbled burfi in a mixie jar, add milk and make a smooth paste. Again keep it in flame and mix well till it reaches the right consistency... Color of this burfi will improve over time. Adding more sugar makes the burfi even more soft. I used 1:1.5 ratio of badam n sugar which is perfect for me.  U can use 1:2 ratio too. U can skip cardamom powder and use saffron soaked milk. But colour of burfi would change to yellow. This is known as kesar badam burfi.

Make & Enjoy this healthy, melt in mouth burfi at home !

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Bread Halwa Recipe – How To Make Bread Ka Halwa

Bread halwa came to my mind when I saw few leftover bread slices in my kitchen.I am making this easy halwa recipe for the second time. First time I tried bread halwa without milk by adding sugar syrup and ghee.It was good in taste but not so rich. Then I watched few bread halwa video recipes where they added khoya or condensed milk instead of milk. I felt that If I had added Khova/mawa, the taste would have been much better. But this time I prepared bread halwa with milk and followed a different procedure as Khoya is not easily available in my place. I will make a post adding khoya soon. 

For this recipe, I followed Tarla Dalal and used less milk & ghee when compared to other bread halwa recipes on net.It came out really well and satisfied my expectancy. Its process and making is so easy. I am sure its a rich, quick, Indian style dessert recipe made with easily available ingredients to serve your surprise guests and a good choice to use leftover dried bread slices. Kids would love it for sure. You should eat it hot or warm to enjoy its real taste. 

If you want to make a super rich and tasty bread halwa, you can deep fry the bread pieces in ghee just like double ka meetha or add ground cashew+ badam paste to the halwa. For variations, you can try this halwa with rusk and bread crumbs too. But adjust the quantity of milk and sugar. Ok, Lets see how to make bread halwa recipe with step by step images and a video.

Check out my Shahi tukda recipe – Low calorie version !

Bread halwa - Video recipe

Bread halwa recipe

How to make bread halwa - Easy version !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Dessert recipes

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 15 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Milk bread slices – 6 nos ( I used Spencers bread) Sugar – 4 tbsp Milk – 1/2 cup Cashews and badam - a fistful ( chopped) Melted Ghee – 1/4 cup Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp

METHOD

Take 6 slices of milk bread ( I used 3 days old bread) and chop into small pieces roughly. Grind to a fine powder. Set aside in a bowl. ( Do not use too soft n fresh bread. You can't powder it.In that case, microwave it for a minute and then powder it.) Heat 1/4 cup of ghee in a kadai. Roast sliced cashews and badam till golden brown. Remove in a plate. To the remaining ghee, add the powdered bread.Roast well for 2-3 minutes till you get roasted aroma. To this, add 1/2 cup of milk and 4 tbsp of sugar. Mix well till sugar melts and milk is absorbed by the bread. Mixture will become thick and wet. ( If you feel the mixture is too dry, add little more milk Say 2 tbsp) Cover and cook the mixture for 2 minutes. After 2-3 minutes, open the lid.Mix well and add cardamom powder, roasted nuts. Keep mixing till the mixture becomes thick, shiny and starts to leave traces of ghee in the sides of pan. It will be non-sticky to touch. Transfer to a bowl and serve hot OR press the halwa to make shape. Invert in a plate and serve warm or cold. Remember, this halwa tastes the best when served hot /warm. Enjoy !

Note

No need to remove the sides of bread.The color of this halwa looks brown as I din’t remove the sides. If you remove the sides, the color of halwa may slightly change. Add more sugar according to your taste buds. Do not reduce the quantity of ghee. It may change the flavor and consistency. Instead of adding roasted nuts, you can try adding cashew + badam paste along with sugar to get more richness.

Do try this easy, yummy bread halwa and enjoy !

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