Raw Papaya Halwa

Papaya Halwa is delicious, nutritious and easy to prepare!

Papaya is a fruit commonly available and has many health benefits. It is rich in vitamin A and is a good source of fiber. It helps in preventing constipation and aids in digestion. It is really good for intestine as it contains the digestive enzyme "papain" which helps in natural digestion. It is low in calories and high in nutritional values so helps in weight reduction. All together it is a very healthy and delicious option.

Here are numerous reasons to eat papaya atleast once in a week. As the enzymes in it help to break down and digest protiens, Papaya is an excelent fruit to have for dessert after any heavy meal. Papaya tastes so delicious just on its own, but also there are some great recipes to use it in. Many of my favorite as Raw Papaya relish, papaya Paratha and papaya halwa, etc.

Ingredients:

3 cup grated Raw Papaya

3 tablespoon ghee or butter

1 1/2 cup Milk

1/2 cup sugar (add it accordingly)

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

few saffron threads

1 tablespoon blanched almonds

2 tablespoon broken cashew nuts

15-20 raisins

few drops of orange food color (optional) (I did not use)

Method:

1. Heat the ghee or butter in a heavy bottom pan, add broken cashew nuts, fry it to golden brown, take out and keep aside.
2. In the same remaining ghee, add grated Papaya and sauté them for 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Then add milk, stir and cook on medium heat till the moisture almost dries up. (When milk starts to boil, it will curdle. Don't panic keep stirring) 
3. Add sugar and few drops of orange color, mix well and cook till it thickens again about 3-4 minutes.
4. Add saffron, cardamom powder, fried cashew nuts and raisins. Mix well.
5. Garnish it with blanched almond, cashew nuts and raisins.
6. Serve hot, or refrigerate it and serve chilled. Enjoy!

Notes:

• You can use pressure cooker as it is easy and faster to prepare.
• Add sugar according to your taste. I use less sugar so you can increase the amount of sugar as desired.
• The halwa gets curdle when milk starts to boil. it is fine and keep stirring halwa in between till it thickens.
• Papaya halwa can be prepared using ripe one but the method for that is slightly different from this.