This dates recipe can be used to make halwa or a soft set burfi or even a ladoo. It tastes very much like a mawa peda but with all the goodness of natural sweetener and no refined sugar. The taste of dates go unnoticed due to the fragrance of mawa. Mawa also known as khoya or khova are milk solids widely used to make desserts in Indian subcontinent. Due to its unique aroma & rich taste it is often used to make burfi, gulab jamun, peda and many sweets. Dates halwa or dates burfi make a wonderful dessert to share with family and friends on any festive occasion or parties. This recipe can also be used to make dates mawa ladoo. Just roll the mixture to make the balls, then roll them in coarsely ground nuts or desiccated coconut. These ladoos can also be stuffed with sweetened mawa and nuts. I have used a tsp of ghee since it is not good to heat a nonstick without ghee or oil. You can skip that or use any other kind of fats. For this recipe, I have used medjool dates. They are soft and yield a good texture to any dessert. Please note that hard variety of dates, need to be soaked first and then used. More Sweets Recipes, Gulab jamun Rasgulla Kaju katli Rasmalai
Preparation
- Chop 300 grams of dates and mash or blend them in a blender until smooth. If you are using hard variety dates, you may need to soak them in hot milk or water for a while to soften them.
- Bring 200 grams mawa to room temperature. Do not cook very cold mawa as it tastes bitter sometimes. If you do not have a powerful blender, then blend them in 3 different batches or mashing would be sufficient.
Substitute to mawa (almond meal)
You can also substitute mawa with almond meal. To make almond meal, just place 1.5 cups almonds in hot water for a minute. Drain and put them in cold water for a minute. Remove and drain completely. Peel the skin and dry the almonds completely. Pulse them in a blender. Do not run the blender for long. Almonds should not release oil.
How to make dates halwa
- Add ghee to a pan and heat it on a low flame.
- Add the mashed dates.
- Then add mawa / khoya. If adding almond meal, add it in batches as it is hard to incorporate all at one time.
- Keep the flame to low, keep mixing both until well combined.
- With in 2 to 3 minutes, mawa melts and blends well with dates. Under 4 minutes, the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Turns to a mass.
- Add it to a greased foil or parchment paper. Level it well with greased hands or spatula. Tuck in chopped pista and almonds.Allow it to cool down completely.
- Cut to desired shapes and sizes. You can also cool this mixture and roll to balls. You can also stuff mawa, sugar and nuts in the ladoo. To stuff, Mix 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar and 2 tbsp mawa. Set this aside. Take small portions of this mixture, make a round ball, flatten them. Place little mawa mixture, nuts. Cover it up and roll the ladoo. Refrigerate and consume within 3 days.
How to make this vegan?
I have made this a few times with homemade almond meal. You can replace mawa with almond meal and ghee with refined coconut oil. If almond meal is not available in your place, just make it at home following my step by step instructions below after the recipe card. For more halwa varieties, You can check this collection of halwa recipes. For more diwali recipes, you can also check this collection of 100 + diwali sweets and snacks. Related Recipes
