We were in college, when I first introduced this dish to my husband. He immediately fell in love with it. It is a heavy, sweet and nutty dish that we usually make on special occasions at my parent’s house. There are many types of puddings that come from India. This one is the easiest and the first I had ever learned to make.
Rava, means wheat, Hulwa means pudding.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Cream of Wheat **See bottom of page for those with Gluten Sensitivity
1/2 cup of ground almonds
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup of golden raisins
1 tablespoon of butter
Almonds to decorate (optional)
Directions:
- Toast Almonds and cream of wheat in butter in a Nonstick pot.
- Reduce the heat to low and add remaining ingredients, stirring constantly.
- Keep stirring until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pot
- Pour in a decorative bowl and serve warm.
Normally for Hanukkah, you are supposed to make a lot of fried foods. Tomorrow, I have a plan in mind!
Gluten Free Suggestion:
A fellow blogger tried this recipe using polenta, which is ground cornmeal. I am thrilled at finding such a wonderful variation to this traditional dish.
Please check out her page for her take on this dish: Polenta Pudding By Three-Cookies
Samina Cooks 
This looks delicious, not much fat/butter. I will try it soon. Since there is no ground almond and no cream of wheat in my pantry, I will use twice the amount of finely ground polenta. I hope it works… I like your recipes.
Thank you so much Three-Cookies! That sound like an interesting substitute. I would love to hear how it turns out. I normally use skim milk with this recipe, although traditionally, it is made with whole milk and much more butter. I hope you enjoy it!
I made them today, and it turned out great. You can read more here: http://easilygoodeats.blogspot.com/2011/01/polenta-puddinghalva.html
Thanks for the inspiration.
THAT IS AWESOME! The substitution of Polenta makes this dish gluten free as well! I am going to edit this post, to include your blog. Thank you so much!