Gift From Pakistan: Try Your Hands On This Karachi Halwa Recipe
Image Credit: Karachi Halwa/ Bombay Halwa/ Cornflour Halwa

Karachi Halwa is one of the easiest sweets originated in Karachi, Pakistan. The delicious Karachi halwa is prepared with some easy handful ingredients such as corn flour, ghee, refined sugar, nuts, and especially the bright red, orange, yellow, or green food colors. It's a unique sweet with minimal ingredients, and you need 30-45 minutes to prepare this entirely. The traditional Karachi halwa is chewy in texture, but you can also make it soft. So here is the recipe for Karachi Halwa. 

Ingredients you need:

  • For cornflour solution:
  • 1 cup cornflour 
  • 1 cup water 
  • For sugar solution:
  • 1 cup sugar 
  • ½ cup water 
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice 
  • 5-6 drops of food color (orange/green/red)

Other Ingredients:

  • 1 cup ghee 
  • ½ tsp cardamom powder 
  • 1 tsp rose water 
  • 2 tbsp almond (sliced)
  • 2 tbsp cashews (chopped)

For garnishing:

  • 1 tbsp almonds (sliced)
  • 1 tbsp Pistachio (sliced)

How To Prepare Karachi Halwa?

Instructions you need to follow:

  • Take a bowl, add one cup of cornflour and mix with one cup of water. Whisk well and clear all the lumps. 
  • Take a tray or pan with butter or parchment paper on the bottom. Grease the bottom and sides with some ghee and keep this aside. 

To prepare sugar solution:

  • In a kadhai, add one cup sugar, ½ water, and natural food color drops. 
  • Now add one teaspoon lemon juice to the Kadai mixture. Mix well and keep stirring on medium-low flame. 
  • When the sugar solution completely dissolves. Reduce the flame to low or sim. Let the solution boil for another more minute. 

To prepare Karachi Halwa:

  1. Now take the corn starch solution and mix it with sugar syrup. Whisk the answer so well. 
  2. Keep on the stove, continue to mix, and stir the solution on low flame with the help of a spatula or spoon. 
  3. In this stage, the cornflour becomes sticky and starts to thicken. And keep stirring. 
  4. Once the entire mixture thickens, add 1 cup of ghee into quarter time. 
  5. Stir till the ghee mixed in the corn scratch. At the same time, adding the last portion of ghee.
  6. Cook and stir the mixture for 4-6 minutes. By this time, the mix has already left the sides of the pan or Kadai. Quickly add chopped dry nuts and cardamom powder to it. 
  7. Now gather the mixture in one mass. In this, add 1 teaspoon of rose water in the last. 
  8. After it's cooked, quickly transfer the halwa mixture to the lined greased tray or plate. 
  9. Begin to spread the halwa in the tray, using a spatula for neat spreading. 
  10. Sprinkle sliced almonds, cashews, and pistachio and press the nuts with the help of a spatula to stick them on the mixture. 
  11. Allow this to cool at room temperature, or keep it in the refrigerator for 10-12 minutes. 
  12. Once it is cooled, slice this into square pieces. 

Your Karachi halwa is ready.