Sheera Recipe | Suji Halwa
Updated: June 20, 2022, By Swasthi
Sheera also known as suji halwa is a traditional Indian pudding made with semolina, ghee, sugar, cashews and raisins. This simple delicious dessert has a fluffy & soft texture with delicate flavors of cardamom & ghee. Suji halwa is made in many regions of India with more or less the same ingredients & similar method.
Sheera
It is known as Sheera in Maharashtra, Karnataka and some parts of Andhra Pradesh. The same is known as Suji halwa in North India. South Indian rava kesari or kesari bath is a variation of this which is made much the same way but with an addition of kesari color.
Sheera is most commonly offered to the deities/Gods as Prasad or Naivedya during festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Varalakshmi Pooja & Navratri. Some people even prepare this for their special weekly Pooja. Sheera is also distributed in temples as Prasad.
Most people make this often at home as it is very quick to prepare. It is eaten for breakfast, snack or as a dessert in a meal.
At home we usually make this for Pooja and then it is shared with friends & family. Sheera or suji halwa is the richer version of rava kesari.
For more halwa recipes, you may check
Carrot halwa
Moong dal halwa
Pineapple sheera
Photo Guide
How to Make Sheera (Stepwise Photos)
Preparation
1. Heat ghee in a kadai. I used half cup ghee. You can also reduce it to 6 tbsps if you prefer less ghee.
2. When the ghee melts, add 15 cashews (30 split) and fry until light golden. Add 15 raisins and fry all of them together until the raisins turn plump. I didn’t have raisins in stock so I used chopped apricots.
3. Remove them to a plate immediately.
4. Meanwhile pour two and half cups water to a pot and begin to heat.
5. Add 1 cup fine rava to the hot ghee.
6. On a medium flame fry the rava stirring constantly.
7. If you stop stirring even for a few seconds the rava can get burnt. So be cautious and fry until the rava turns golden in color. Some people like to deep roast it. If you like you can roast it further for 1 to 2 mins. But do this on a low flame.
8. Meanwhile the water should come to a rolling boil.
Make Sheera
9. Just be careful as the water splashes. Pour the hot water to the hot rava pan & keep stirring continuously until the water is absorbed completely.
10. Suji absorbs water and turns thick. Make sure there are no lumps of rava.
11. Lower the flame and cook covered for 1 to 2 mins.
12. You will see the rava is cooked to fluffy texture. Give a good stir and then add 1 cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cardamom powder.
13. Sheera turns gooey as the sugar dissolves. Continue stirring until the sheera leaves the sides of the pan.
14. Turn off and keep covered. Add the ghee fried dry fruits and nuts before serving.
When it cools down fluff up with a spatula or fork and transfer sheera to serving bowls.
Pro Tips
Ratio: The ratio of rava:ghee:water is very important to get fluffy and non-sticky sheera. For every cup of rava or suji we use half cup of ghee and 2 ½ cups water. If the sooji is not very fine then we increase the water to 2 ¾ to 3 cups.
Rava or Suji: There are different kinds of semolina or suji available in the stores. To get fluffy and soft sheera use fine rava.
Roasting suji is the key step to make non sticky sheera. Roast the suji on a medium flame stirring continuously until it reaches a light golden color. If you like your halwa to have a deep golden color, you can roast it further for 1 to 2 mins. This deep roasting will bring a nutty aroma to the suji halwa.
Ghee: Using good quality ghee is very important as it completely elevates the flavor of sheera. Traditionally desi cow ghee was used especially if made for naivedya or prashad.
Half cup ghee to 1 cup rava is the ratio we use for festive occasions. You can reduce the ghee to 5 to 6 tbsps.
Water or Milk: Sheera can be made even with milk for a richer taste. You can also use half milk & half water.
Sweetener: Sugar is the most common sweetener used to make this. But some temples use jaggery along with edible camphor (pacha karpuram).
This recipe can be directly doubled or tripled. You need to be careful when making sheera in larger quantities as it can splatter a lot while pouring hot water.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Sheera Recipe | Suji Halwa
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1 cup suji (fine rava / semolina)
- 1 cup sugar (prefer organic)
- ½ cup ghee (can reduce to 6 tbsps)
- 2½ cup water (or milk)
- ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder (elaichi powder)
- 15 cashew nuts (adjust as needed)
- 15 raisins (adjust as needed)
Instructions
Preparation
- Pour 2½ cups water to a pot & begin to heat it.
- Meanwhile on another burner heat ghee in a pot. When the ghee turns hot, add cashews and fry until light golden.
- Then add the raisins and fry until they swell. Remove to a plate.
- Now add rava to the ghee and begin to fry on a medium heat stirring constantly.
- Fry until the rava turns golden. If you prefer deep roasted suji halwa, then continue to fry for few more minutes.
- Bring the water to a rolling boil.
How to Make Sheera
- Pour the hot water to the hot rava pan stirring constantly. Be careful as it splatters.
- Keep the flame to medium and keep stirring until all the water is absorbed. Sheera is thick at this stage.
- Cover and cook on a low flame for 1 to 2 mins.
- Next add the sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well to dissolve the sugar. It dissolves & makes the entire sheera gooey.
- Within a minute the gooey sheera turns thick again. Keep stirring until it begins to leave the pan.
- When it cools down fluff up with the spatula. Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with cashews and raisins.
- You can also press it down in a small bowl and invert on serving plates.
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Sheera Recipe first published in August 2016. Updated and republished in August 2019.
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
I made a triple batch for a friends 91st birthday party. It was a huge hit!
I used jaggary and almond milk and it was perfect! Thank you! 🙏❤️
Delicious! Thank you!
I used the less ghee variation and replaced refined sugar with coconut blossom sugar. As this is less sweet, you might want to add more. The dish will turn brown from that but for me it had the perfect light sweetness!
I made sheera with my sister and it came out delicious. We also added 1 cup fruit chunks. Tasting very good
Love it??
I tried this recipe at home today and the result was awesome
Thanks a lot!
This is amazing, so sweet and pure tasting. I used jaggery for sugar and used a bit less. I did half milk/ half water. (I added a chopped banana, too.) Thank you!
I am going to make the carrot halva and will post you as to how i faired.
Sure! Let me know Doreen!
Whats an alternative for cardamom powder
a few drops of rose extract or any essence can be used. Or even vanilla extract or essence works
Hi Swasthi
I think your recipes are great and have tried a few as I didn’t have confidence in Asian/Indian cooking and your recipes have helped me a lot. Both me and my husband have enjoyed the dishes I have made so far so thank you very much for this website.
I don’t have ghee and not something I usually buy so can I use something else instead of Ghee in the recipes that you specify this has an ingredient? Thank you for your help.
I will repost with a recipe rating once I have made this beautiful looking dish.
Hi Sufiyya,
Thank you! Glad to hear that! Use 3 parts unsalted butter and 1 part neutral oil. Hope you enjoy sheera.
🙂
I tried this recipe today for first time and it turned out to be yummmmm
Tried it everyone loved it
Tried it, everyone loved it
What kind of cookware are you using here? I don’t want to use non stick for india sweets, n was looking for alternative
In this post I have used a le creuset enameled cookware. You can make most of the Indian sweets in a heavy bottom stain steel cookware too.
Great recipe with detailed instructions. Thanks so much! (I did reduce the ghee and sugar and it was still quite tasty)
Welcome Divya
Glad to know!
I’ve tried this recipe twice. Once with water and the 2nd time with a mix of milk and water. Both results were perfect. So easy and quick to make. One of my favorite sweets recipes. Thank you Swasthi
Hi Caroline
You are welcome! Glad to know it turned out good.
Thank you!
Very tasty recipe. I used coconut sugar instead of white sugar and still tasted great!
Thank you
Glad it turned out good
Simple and yummy recipe. I follow a lot of your recipes all of them turn out really delicious. Thank you.
Welcome Namrata
Glad to know. Thanks for following
🙂
Hi,
The halwa turned out fantastic, thank you.
I have a question… If I want to substitute jaggery for sugar, do I add the jaggery powder at the same time you have added the sugar? And do I use the same quantity too? I will be using the brown jaggery.
Thank you
Hi Zenobia
Glad to know! Add the jaggery to hot water and dissolve it. Filter it and bring it to a boil. Rest is the same. Hope this helps
Thanks for the recipe
I usually add sugar in water and boil and then add it to roasted suji, does it make any difference?
Hi Kausar,
No difference both are same.
Thank you ma’am for sharing the recipe. I tried making the halwa as described and it turned out a little more sweet than expected. It might be because I have used jaggery as sweetener. But the ratio was same 1:1 for suji:jaggery. Will try with less sweetener next time. Overall the halwa was very nice.
Hi,
You are welcome. Glad it came out good. Yes you can try reducing a bit.
Thank you!