Wheat Halwa, Lapsi, Kadah Prasad

I lovingly remember the wheat halwa or as she called it "lapsi", that my mom used to make for us when I was a young child and I remember relishing it. She used to make this especially if we were hurt because of the simple and nourishing ingredients. I also recently got to know that the same is also offered as "kadah prasad" in gurudwaras. 

I hadn’t made it because it felt too much of a guilty indulgence given the amount of ghee and sugar/jaggery that are needed. However, I finally caved into my craving and made it. My mom used to make it using jaggery, but I didn't have the time to grate jaggery, so I added blackstrap molasses to the sugar to get a similar taste. The fragrance and the taste catapulted me back to childhood. A delicious and satiating dessert.

Ingredients
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup ghee
1/2 cup minus 1tbsp sugar
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1.5 cups water

Method
Heat ghee and wheat flour together and roast the flour till golden brown and fragrant. In another saucepan, add the sugar, water and molasses and stir and warm till sugar is dissolved.
Now slowly add the water solution to the browned flour and stir it in, taking care to protect yourself from any spluttering of the ingredients that occurs.

Stir well till thickened and you can see the ghee staring to separate. At this point the halwa will easily move away from the edges of the pan and will freely move in the pan. The halwa is ready. Enjoy warm.

Tips

When water is added to the fried wheat flour, it will splutter, so make sure you are far away from the pan and if possible hold a cover over the pan so that it doesn't spoil the cooking surface.