Sweet Potato Halva Recipe

What You'll Learn

Sweet Potato Halva: Grated sweet potato cooked with milk, ghee, raisins, and nuts, flavored with cardamom and saffron, baked until milk is absorbed, then pressed, sweetened, and served.
Halva Recipe Tips: Grind nuts to a powder, sauté grated sweet potato in ghee, add milk and raisins, bake 40–55 minutes, uncover last ten minutes to dry and finish.
Ingredient Variations: This Indian dessert can be made with butternut squash, buttercup squash, or pumpkin instead of sweet potato; add brown rice syrup if extra sweetness is desired.

R Amadea Morningstar, MA, RPE, RYT June 20, 2013

Ingredients:

(Serves 2-3)

2 ½ cups sweet potato, grated (about 2 large sweet potatoes)
2 cups whole milk or soy milk
½ cup raisins
½ cup blanched almonds or almonds and pecans
4 tablespoons ghee
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
15 to 20 threads of saffron

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Grind the nuts in a blender into a fine powder. Wash and grate the sweet potato.

Saute the sweet potato in 2 tablespoons of ghee, just enough to coat it. Stir in the milk and raisins.

Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking pan or iron skillet and transfer the mixture to it. Cover and bake for 40 to 55 minutes or until all the milk is absorbed. If you need to, uncover the halva in the last 10 minutes of baking to allow the milk to dry.

When all the milk is absorbed, stir in the rest of the ghee, nutmeal, cardamom, and saffron. Press back into a flattened shape. Add sweetener (such as brown rice syrup) if desired. Cut in small pieces and serve.