Suji is a type of

halvah Halva (also halvah, halwa, and other spellings, Persian : حلوا) is a type of confectionery originating from Persia and widely spread throughout the Middle East. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made f ...

made by toasting

semolina Semolina is coarsely milled durum wheat mainly used in making couscous, and sweet puddings. The term semolina is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or corn) as well. Etym ...

(called सूजी, suji, sooji or रवा, rawa in India) in a fat like

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned fro ...

or oil, and adding a sweetener like sugar syrup or honey. It can be served for breakfast or as a dessert item. The basic recipe is made with just

, sugar or honey,

, and sometimes

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

. Variations on this include dried or fresh fruits, nuts, shredded coconut, and other toppings.

History

In Medieval Arabic cuisine semolina halvah was made by roasting the milled wheat in butter and adding honey or sugar syrup to moisten the dessert. One recipe for ''hulwa a'jamiyya'' is made by boiling honey to create the syrup (diluted with water if needed) and garnished with pistachio and poppyseed. Milk can be added, as well as toppings like almonds, pistachios and pine nuts.

Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq ( ar, أبو محمد المظفر بن نصر ابن سيار الوراق) was an Arab author from Baghdad. He was the compiler of a tenth-century cookbook, the ( ar, links=no, كتاب الطبيخ, ''The Book of Dishes''). This is the earlies ...

's 10th-century cookbook includes varieties made with carrots, apple and dates. According to some scholars, this dish was introduced to India by the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, but it is already listed as ''shali-anna'', present-day

Kesari bat Kesari bat or kesari baat ( kn, ಕೇಸರಿ ಬಾತ್) is a sweet Indian food that is common throughout the country. The classic ingredients used for its preparation are semolina, sugar, ghee (usually), water, and milk. The sweet is more com ...

, in

Manasollasa The ' also known as ''Abhilashitartha Chintamani'', is an early 12th-century Sanskrit text composed by the Kalyani Chalukya king Someshvara III, who ruled in present-day Karnataka . It is an encyclopedic work covering topics such as polity, gov ...

, a 12th-century work by a south Indian Chalukyan king,

Someshvara III Someshvara III (; ) was a Western Chalukya king (also known as the Kalyani Chalukyas), the son and successor of Vikramaditya VI. He ascended the throne of the Western Chalukya Kingdom in 1126 CE, or 1127 CE. Someshvara III, the third king in ...

. In 14th-century Spain, semolina was cooked with

almond milk Almond milk is a plant-based milk with a watery texture and nutty flavor manufactured from almonds, although some types or brands are flavored in imitation of cow's milk. It does not contain cholesterol or lactose and is low in saturated fat. A ...

, oil and optionally saffron for coloring. In India, sheera is made from semolina, ghee, and sugar; cardamom and milk, almonds and cashew-nuts are added. Suuji ka halwa2

Terminology

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

, the halwa made with semolina is called rawa sheera (रवा शीरा). When the similar halwa is prepared with wheat flour it's called ''gavhacya pithaca sheera'' (गव्हाच्या पीठाचा शीरा). In

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

, it is ''sooji ka halwa'' (सूजी का हलवा). In south India, the dish is currently called

Kesari Bat Kesari bat or kesari baat ( kn, ಕೇಸರಿ ಬಾತ್) is a sweet Indian food that is common throughout the country. The classic ingredients used for its preparation are semolina, sugar, ghee (usually), water, and milk. The sweet is more com ...

. In Myanmar (Burma), the dish is called ''

sanwin makin Sanwin makin ( my, ; , also spelt sa-nwin-ma-kin) is a traditional Burmese dessert or ''mont'', popularly served during traditional donation feasts, satuditha feasts, and as a street snack. The dessert bears resemblance to desserts in neighborin ...

''. In the Caribbean, it is known by

Indo-Caribbeans Indo-Caribbeans or Indian-Caribbeans are Indian people in the Caribbean who are descendants of the Jahaji Indian indentured laborers brought by the British, Dutch, and French during the colonial era from the mid-19th century to the early 20t ...

as ''Mohan bhog'' or simply just as parsad, as it is a common sweet that Hindu Indo-Caribbeans ''charhaway'' or offer as

prasad 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most often ''Prasada'' is vegetarian food ...

in pujas. It is called Sajjige in parts of

Tulunadu Tulunad or Tulu Nadu, also called Bermere sristi or Parashurama Srishti, is a region and a proposed state on the southwestern coast of India. The Tulu people, known as 'Tuluva' (plural 'Tuluver'), speakers of Tulu, a Dravidian language, are ...

References

{{Cuisine of India Vegetarian dishes of India Indian desserts South Indian cuisine Halva