White Poppy Seeds Halva (கசகசா அல்வா)

About halva:

The term halva, meaning “sweet”, refers to many types of dense, sweet confections that usually fall under two categories:

• Flour-based – This type of halva is slightly gelatinous and made from grain flour, typically semolina. The primary ingredients are clarified butter, flour, and sugar.
• Nut-butter-based – This type of halva is crumbly and usually made from tahini (sesame paste) or other nut butters, such as sunflower seed butter. The primary ingredients are nut butter and sugar.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Ingredients:

White poppy seeds	1 cup	Soaked in water overnight
Milk	2 cups	–
Khoa or condensed milk	1 cup	unsweetened
Dry coconut	1/2 cup	Powdered
Ghee	1/2 cup	–
Green cardamom	8-10 numbers	Remove the pods and powder the seeds. You can store the pods and use them later while brewing tea.

Procedure:

• Soak the poppy seeds overnight in water (atleast 8 hours).
• Drain the water and grind the soaked seeds using a blender into a thick paste. You may add a few tablespoons of milk while grinding as required.
• Take a deep, wide mouthed, and heavy bottomed pan and heat it in medium flame.
• Now add the ghee to it. Once melted, add the ground paste to it.
• Use a long flat spatula, preferably wooden, and continuously stir it until the raw smell of the ground paste is no more. At this stage, the paste should start changing its color from white to light golden brown.
• Add 2 cups of milk and continuously stir the mixture till most of the milk is condensed.
• Add the khoa/condensed milk, coconut powder, and sugar. If you’re using sweetened khoa/condensed milk, please adjust the sugar accordingly. The measurements given here are for unsweetened khoa/condensed milk.
• Continuously stir till the mixture comes to a even soft dough like consistency.
  • This step takes time – anywhere between 40 minutes to 60 minutes.
  • Make sure you keep cleaning the sides of the pan as you stir.
  • Keep altering the heat between medium and low. After sometime, the mixture will start boiling. Be careful as to not let it burst on your hands (hence the long spatula).
  • You must keep stirring atleast once every 30 seconds else the mixture will stick to the pan and start burning.
• Once this consistency is achieved, add the powdered cardamom seeds and mix well.
• Take it off the heat and let it cool on a serving bowl for atleast 3 hours.

Please note:

• This dish requires time and a lot of patience. So try it on a day when you have ample time.
• This is a very rich dessert. It is very high in calories and fat.
• Poppy seeds contain small quantities of opium alkaloids, especially morphine and codeine. This means that eating foods that contain poppy seeds can result in a false positive for opiates in a drug test. So if you’re about to take a drug test, please be warned. Also, food items containing poppy seeds are banned in certain countries. So if you’re carrying them during international travel, check the necessary guidelines.
• Poppy seeds are very nutritious. In India, this dish is prepared and given to pregnant women to aid in better sleep. Also, poppy seeds are made as a paste with milk and applied on the belly as a natural moisturizer that helps reducing stretch marks in pregnant women.
• This dish is usually taken as a dessert after dinner. People who have trouble sleeping through the night benefit from it since it acts a mild and natural sedative.