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When I think of desi desserts, the first thing that pops into my mind is ‘Halwa’. The pudding-like dessert is filled with the goodness of dry fruits like almonds, cashews, raisins and not to forget that it is cooked in dollops of ghee. The sinful richness of Halwa can win over anyone. Halwa is believed to be a gift of Central Asia to the world, its earliest references can be found in 12th century texts of Istanbul. Over the years, of course, Halwa has been modified in many ways, Indians have also given it their own tadka.
Muscoth Halwa is a decadent dessert hailing from the Southern parts of the subcontinent. This traditional dessert is mainly prepared with wheat, coconut milk, sugar and jaggery. Muscoth halwa has a rich layer of flavours and the use of coconut milk gives it a luscious touch. In fact, the key ingredient in Muscoth Halwa is coconut milk. Muscoth means coconut milk in Sinhala.
The original recipe of the sweet treat is believed to be brought by Joseph Abraham, who stumbled upon this unique dessert during his travels to Sri Lanka in the 1950s. He was so fascinated by the sweet that he began asking the recipe for the same and eventually got his hand on the traditional recipe from one of the shops there. When Joseph travelled back to his native village in Mudalur, Tamil Nadu, he immediately began to experiment with the recipe. And finally replicated a perfect Muscoth Halwa. Unlike the traditional Sri Lankan dessert, Joseph replaced the all-purpose flour with wheat and also added coconut milk, sugar and cashew nut powder for a distinct flavour.
Joseph’s son J Jeyaseelan, was very impressed by his father’s arduous effort and decided to open a sweet shop dedicated to Muscoth Halwa only. Hence, in 1969, Jeyaseelan set up a small production unit with a modest shop called AJJ Sweets. It is said that with the given time the dessert was developed further and sales of the same flourished. The production of the Muscoth Halwa was so overwhelming that they had to stop the manual production and bring in machines to make the same in the year 2001. The recipe of the Muscoth Halwa can be a family secret and can have various delicate layers of flavours, but it doesn’t need to stop you from making this unique dessert. You can also try to make a delicious version of Muscoth Halwa at home with this recipe.
