Karachi Halwa | Corn Flour Halwa | Bombay Halwa

Karachi halwa – a delicious Indian sweet prepared with corn starch/corn flour, sugar, and ghee, also known as corn flour halwa or Bombay Halwa!

It’s time for another sweet recipe, a distant cousin of Turkish delight – the Karachi halwa. I am not sure why it is called Karachi halwa or Bombay (present Mumbai) halwa, but the name corn flour halwa fits it as we prepare the sweet with corn flour or corn starch. It’s a pretty straightforward recipe with minimal ingredients.

My mom makes similar halwa with maida (she makes both maida cake/burfi and halwa, I am yet to share those, probably next year) but not with corn flour. Corn flour was not a common ingredient used in my household while growing up.

Being a food blogger, you explore and experiment a lot, and that’s how I started making this halwa as well. I adapted this recipe from one of my Instagram friends, but I reduced the sugar and ghee amount and slightly adjusted the other measures. So here is my version of the Bombay halwa.

Corn flour or corn starch

You can see me using both the terms here. Let me explain. We call the super fine corn flour in the US, which is used as the thickening agent as corn starch. Whereas in the other parts of the world, it is called corn flour. (read more here) We need the fine variety, not the yellow cornmeal or the coarse cornmeal. I used the Argo brand corn starch for this recipe. 

Ingredients

Corn starch: It’s the key ingredient that makes this halwa glossy. I have used ½ cup for this recipe.

Sugar: I used raw sugar for this, and I used 1.25 cups. You can increase the sugar amount to 1.5 cups. 

Ghee: We can’t imagine Indian sweets without ghee, and this sweet is no exception. I used ⅓ cup of homemade ghee. While I have reduced the ghee amount from the original recipe, you can further reduce it to ¼ cup.

Rose syrup: I didn’t use any food color; instead, I used rose syrup, which added flavor and color.

Lemon juice: We need a small amount of lemon juice, and we add it to the sugar syrup to prevent it from crystallizing. 

Water: I used two cups of water and used 1 cup of water to make the corn flour slurry and one cup of water to make the sugar syrup. And this is where my recipe differs. Most of the recipes use more water for the slurry, I went with a little less amount while testing, and I stuck to that measure, which I am sharing here. 

Dietary specifications and storing suggestions

It’s a gluten-free sweet dish. Skip the nuts for a nut-free version. After slicing, let it cool before refrigerating. I have tried storing it in the fridge for up to a week. 

How to make Karachi halwa

• Mix ½ cup of corn starch and 1 cup of water without any lumps and set aside. Grease a plate generously with ghee and set it aside. 

• Meanwhile, mix the remaining one cup of water and sugar in a heavy bottom pan.

• Bring it to a nice boil and add the lemon juice. We don’t need to check for any consistency here. 

• Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the corn starch slurry. Make sure to mix the slurry before adding it to the sugar syrup.

• Add the rose syrup as well and mix.

• As the mixture slowly starts to thicken and bubble up, start adding the ghee. Add a little over 1 tbsp of ghee every three minutes. Keep stirring, and do not leave it unattended. 

• The halwa will become glossy and transparent slowly. Add the nuts after about 5 minutes and mix. 

• When we have used up all the ghee, the halwa will be shiny, and you will see ghee slowly oozing on the sides. When you drop a blob of this halwa from the spatula, it should fall without sticking in the spatula, and that’s the right stage. It took approx 12~13 minutes for me to reach this consistency.

• Now transfer the halwa to the greased plate and spread it evenly. Let it cool for one hour atleast before slicing. 

Recipe notes

• The above measure works perfectly for me, and we love the texture of the halwa this way. 
• For a sweeter version of halwa, increase the sugar to 1.5 cups.
• You can use the preferred flavoring of your choices, like ground cardamom or fruit essence. You can also use the food color of your choice. Traditionally orange food color is used.
• Before adding the corn starch slurry to the sugar mix, mix well again as the corn starch gets deposited in the bottom. You can add the rose syrup or the food color to this slurry too. 

More halwa recipes from my blog

As part of this Deepavali 2021 recipes, earlier I had sharing paan cake, thirupagam, milk powder burfi. But I have few other halwa recipes that you will love. Check them out here.

Loved this recipe?

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