How is Thiruvananthapuram’s signature halwa made?
Do you know that Thiruvananthapuram has a signature halwa?
Meet a household from Kadakkavoor, Thiruvananthapuram, who’ve been carrying ahead a cherished legacy of constructing signature home made halwa for over 4 a long time
At Chekkalavilakom junction, nestled behind the now-defunct Kadakkavoor market is “Sheeja Nivas,” generally known as “Halwa Veedu,” the place Shibu Sudevan and his household craft this beautiful halwa.
How is the halwa made?
The method begins round 5 am, as Shibu and his staff begin making ready the primary batch of halwa.
It takes a minimum of 5 hours to get the halwa in the proper consistency.
The important thing ingredient is damaged wheat, which is soaked for 2 hours within the night.
Later, it’s floor and strained to extract its nourishing milk, which is put aside for six hours.
It’s then blended with rice flour and both jaggery or sugar syrup and cooked within the uruli (massive vessel).
It’s stirred and not using a break to stop it from sticking to the underside of the uruli.
Coconut oil, ghee and nuts are added at completely different phases of the preparation.
And simply earlier than it’s taken off the range, a last contact of aromatic cardamom is added
The halwa is available in two variants – a wealthy, darkish chocolate-coloured one made with jaggery, and a light-weight brown selection made with white sugar.
The opposite substances, equivalent to rice flour, cashew nuts, ghee, oil, and cardamom, stay the identical in each.
Whereas they put together 50 to 100 kilograms of halwa day by day, throughout festive seasons like Onam, the demand skyrockets, with as much as 1,000 kilograms of halwa being made.
The jaggery-based halwa prices ₹180 per kilogram and the sugar-based one is priced at ₹170 per kilogram.
Common orders come from these travelling to West Asia, or from households in and round Kadakkavoor and the close by Anchuthengu village
‘Halwa Veedu’
The story of Halwa Veedu dates again to 1995 when Shibu’s mom and his sister determined to proceed the household’s halwa-making custom after the passing of Shibu’s grandfather, Gopalan Natarajan.
Shibu, who had been observing his grandfather’s craft since he was simply 12 years outdated, felt a robust connection to the artwork.
So, after working in Dubai, he made the heartfelt resolution to return residence and hold the legacy alive.
Reporting: Athira M
Voiceover: Gopika Ok P
Manufacturing: Reenu Cyriac
Movies: Sreejith R. Kumar