Papaya Halwa

It is a sweet dish made of the vitamin rich papaya.I am always eager to know about the health benefits of food.Papaya is an all-time available fruit everywhere.Because of the ignorance we are not giving much importance to this fruit.Papaya is a healthy food especially for our skin.It’s always to good to eat the fruit as it is but children always deny 

Papaya because of the special taste. So I planned for a dessert this time. Anyhow, I decided to experiment with Papaya to make some dessert. I started off with my papaya halwa which finally turn my kids into a papaya lover.It is a delicious and easy sweet recipe.This halwa is one dessert that I love to prepare using the ripe ones.It tastes yummy and you would not guess it was made using the fruit.The deep red colored papaya pulp gives a naurally bright color to the dish.

Prep time:10 mins|cook time:20 mins

Cuisine:Indian,Kerala Recipes

Ingredients	Quantity
Ripe papaya fruit	4 cups
Rice flour roasted	1 tbsp.(optional)
Sugar	2 tbsp
Mawa/Khoya	50 gms
Ghee	2 tbsp+2 tsp
Cashew nuts	2 tbsp.
Raisins	1 tbsp.
Cardamom powder	pinch

Method

1. Peel the skin of the ripe papaya fruit and discard the seeds. Scoop out the papaya flesh. Mash the papaya to a pulp by ladle.Heat the ghee in a pan and add the mashed papaya pulp to it.Cook the papaya for 10-12 minutes Keep on stirring while cooking the fruit until it releases all its juices and changes color.

2. When the pulp dries ups, add sugar and keep stirring till the pulp thickens. Now add 2 tbsp. ghee and mix. Stir on low heat till the mixture collects in a soft ball or the ghee oozes out.

3. Then add condensed milk and cardamom powder to this and cook it for 5 more minutes until the entire mixture binds together. In a small pan, heat 1 tsp ghee. Add the cashew nuts and raisins,fry till they turn golden brown in color. Remove from heat.

4. Add the fried nuts to the halwa and mix well. Papaya halwa is ready to be served.You can refrigerate to serve as a cold dessert.

 Some nutritional benefits of Papaya

• Rich with VitaminC, folate and Potassium
• Good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin E
•  It contains anti-oxidants which give protection against heart diseases
• Digestive Aid
• 13 times more Vitamin C than Apples
• 33 times more Vitamin C than Oranges