A beautiful fall-to-winter dessert that will add the right amount of color and indulgence to your table, this captures the natural sweetness of the sweet potato and accentuates it with brown sugar and raisins. A halwa is the Indian equivalent of a pudding, and this recipe is from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
SERVES 8 to 10
TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Pressure Cook: 7 minutes
Sauté Time: 10 minutes
DIETARY: GF, V
INGREDIENTS
6 medium sweet potatoes (about 1½ pounds; I use the orange North Carolina variety)
1 cup whole milk (or half and half if you are feeling indulgent)
½ cup brown sugar
4 green cardamom pods, gently bruised
½ cup green or golden raisins
¼ cup ghee (page 27)
¼ cup sliced or slivered almonds
1 teaspoon crushed dried rose petals (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Peel and halve the sweet potatoes and place in the Instant Pot® with the milk, brown sugar, and cardamom pods. Close the lid, and set the Instant Pot® on Manual Pressure for 7 minutes.
2. When the cooking time is complete, use Quick Pressure Release. Once the pressure is released, open the lid, remove the whole cardamom pods, then mash the sweet potatoes with the milk. Stir in the raisins.
3. Set the Instant Pot® on the Sauté mode and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently. At this point, the mixture should form a smooth, fairly thick mass and move with the direction of the spoon. Stir in the ghee and cook for another 4 minutes.
4. Place sweet potato mixture in a serving bowl and garnish with slivered almonds and the rose petals, if using. Serve the halwa warm.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rinku Bhattacharya is a Gourmand Award-winning cookbook author, blogger and cooking instructor. She is the author of Bengali Five Spices Chronicles and Spices & Seasons: Simple, Sustainable Indian Flavors. Rinku was born in Kolkata, India and has a natural passion and love for regional Indian cuisine and uses it to share and connect with her cultural heritage. She has travelled extensively and specializes in adapting Indian cuisine in global environments and kitchens. Her deep commitment to using seasonal ingredients for Indian cooking is reflected in her recipes. Rinku teaches very popular Indian cooking classes in the Hudson Valley area of New York and has been featured in newspapers, magazines and on radio. She and her family reside in the Hudson Valley area of New York. Visit her at www.SpiceChronicles.com
Recipes and photos from Instant Indian by Rinku Bhattacharya Hippocrene Books/October 2018
