Pacha Kapplanga(Omakka) Halwa | Raw Papaya Halwa (Step by Step Pics)

How fast is time flying? We have crossed half a month since New Year and I had been quite busy since Christmas vacations. If you ask me what kept me busy, I don't have one particular task to list down but ever since we visited families at both homes and then last week we visited home again which was like an unexpected visit in a short time. All these with a few things here kept me busy and so hardly found any time to pen down my thoughts. Drafts are pending to be posted but I hardly get time these days with both kids online classes. Most of the time the laptop is with them so I keep ignoring my space due to time constraints. Anyways these are a few lame excuses but still when it comes to prioritizing, I do shift my blog as the last one to update. 

Coming back to today's post is a special halwa made with raw papaya. Sounds strange? Then how about a lauki or doodhi halwa. It tastes almost the same like the lauki halwa. The natural color of this halwa is a light sea green color and to your surprise none will guess the veggie used in this halwa. Back home in our backyard, there are plenty of papaya trees and I have made it a habit of plucking a few each time I go home. Few goes in making papaya thoran or raw papaya pullisery or ripened ones are had as fruit. This time I thought to give a change to the usual preparations with raw papaya as kids don't like this veggie much. So making halwa was a good way to finish the raw papaya however I wouldn't recommend making halwa is a good choice to get the nutritious benefits of papaya as there is use of granulated white sugar. And as I just said my family couldn't guess the veggie and they happily devoured this halwa. I made half portion of a big papaya and that halwa just finished in minutes. The grated papaya is cooked and reduced considerably so you hardly get a cup of halwa after cooking. The strands are cooked nice and are coated with sweetness, milk adds to the taste as well. Cardamom adds a nice flavor to get the desi feel. Adding khoya(mava) will make the halwa more delicious. So if you are looking around for some sweet raw papaya recipes then go ahead and give this a try. Am sure you will love this halwa too.

Preparation time ~ 10 minutes

Cooking time ~ 30 minutes

Serves ~ a small bowl of halwa

Author ~ Julie

Ingredients 

raw papaya half of one or 3 cups grated

granulated sugar 1 cup

cardamom powder 3/4 tsp 

almonds and cashews chopped 2 tbsp each

whole milk 2 cups

ghee 3 tbsp + 1 tbsp

                                                  

                                                           

Method

• Wash, peel the skin of the raw papaya and scoop out the seeds with the help of a spoon and the white strands like thing which may taste bitter. Then grate the papaya pieces using a grater, keep aside.

• Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and add the grated papaya. Saute the grated papaya on low flame till it’s half cooked. 

• Then add boiled milk to this sauteed papaya. Keep cooking, may take 7-8 minutes to reduce completely and the moisture to get absorbed(you may find the milk gets curdled and whey separating but don't worry as this is like making kalakand). Then, add sugar and mix well which will in turn watery. Cook again to reduce and the moisture to get absorbed for 7-8 mins. (If you are using khoya/ mava add at this point crumbled with sugar).

•  Finally fry the chopped almonds and cashews add to the halwa along with cardamom powder.

NOTES

* Adding khoya or mava adds to the taste of the halwa, so feel free to add crumbled or grated khoya (1/2 cup) along with sugar. I haven't used khoya in this recipe.

RELATED POSTS
* Raw papaya Paratha

* Raw Papaya Pulisery

* Raw Papaya Thoran (stir fry)

* Kaplanga(raw papaya) Erissery