‘’SWEET NOTHINGS’’ -DODOL OR DHOL DHOL (BLACK RICE HALWA)/KAVANI ARSI HALWA
The fame of a Halwa ,its contribution, playing cupid, to an illustrious love story ‘and the couple who created ,one of the finest tennis players Mahesh Bhupathi.
Love stories are an eternal source of joy. There is something about a great love story, a good book, a delicious dish, a good deed or warm family and friends which touch the soul. In my varied career and assignments across the world, I have met so many celebrities, great personalities, warm human beings that I feel like one of the richest human beings on earth. Most of the successful people, I met, were and are, so humble and grounded that one, has nothing, but respect and admiration for them.
This is a love story which started with a dish called Dodol or DHOL DHOL Halwa, involving two great souls, responsible for, producing, one of India’s ,greatest sportsman, Mahesh Bhupathi.
I was studying in Stella Maris College and as hostelites; we were perpetually hungry for food and attention. Living in a hostel our only aim is food. All actions were, based, on how to lay our hands, on something edible. Eating horlicks, out of the bottle, or cooking stolen eggs over candles was a regular feature. A lot of times, the day scholars, Tiffin’s ,were ransacked and their home made food relished.Thair Sadam was considered a hot favourite.Christmas time ,at college was special, for you got to drink, hot chocolate, eat khul khuls and Dhol Dhol halwa.
My friend Mira, now Mira Bhupathi was the food secretary of our hostel. A Srilankan, who brought with her the richness of Sri Lankan culture and food. She came; she saw she conquered the heart of Krishna Bhupathi, an upcoming tennis player. . Every day there would be a packet of, her favourite, special Dhol Dhol halwa waiting in the parlor for her. Wednesdays were visiting days and all of us would hide behind bushes and watch the meeting of Mira and Krishna. Our interest was simple; it was the packet of dhol dhol halwa made by his grandmother. An accident changed it all and Krishna’s tennis career came to an end, but only to later pursue it through his son Mahesh Bhupathi. Mira and Bhupathis’s love affair was as famous and as popular in and out of college as a film stars’. .Mira and Krishna Bhupathi not only had a son who made them proud, but they, became his partners in his tennis academy. Mira dedicated her life to spiritually uplifting people. Love and food has a strong connection whether it is a candlelit dinner, a family feast or loves offering of dhol dhol halwa.
Dodol or Black Rice Halwa is a delicious Sweet purported to be another legacy of the Portuguese to Indian Cuisine. The Main ingredients in Dodol are) Black Rice (Burmese Puttu Rice) powder, Almonds or cashew nuts, Coconut Milk and lots of ghee or clarified butter. This Delicacy takes hours to prepare and requires many hands for stirring it. The whole family, are usually roped in, to help stir the black bubbling mass ,till it turns into a delicious and mouth watering Halwa. However, Dodol is also very popular in other countries such as Srilanka, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines etc.
RECIPE ---“SWEET NOTHINGS’-- DHOL Dhol halwa.
Prep
-- 3.60 M
Cooks
in-- 60 M
Total
in--. 4.20 M
Makes:
4 Servings
Calories
----420cl per serving of 3 pieces.
Ingredients
o
Black Rice ---1cup.
·
Fresh coconut ---1 cup grated
o
Jaggery ----1 cup. powdered
o
Cows ghee----1 cup.
o
Cardamom ----powdered ½ teaspoon.
o
Almonds---1/4 cup diced.
METHOD.
1. To begin making
Kavuni Arisi Halwa, wash and soak black rice overnight.
2. Drain water and add the
soaked rice to mixer along with little water and grind into paste.
- In a separate
mixer jar add grated coconut along with a little water and extract thick
coconut milk from this pulp.
- Add the coconut back to the mixer and add
some more water. Grind for a minute and now extract the thin coconut milk.
Keep aside.
- Heat a heavy
bottomed pan, add the powdered jaggery and thin coconut milk to it. Stir
until jaggery dissolves.
- Once it starts
boiling, reduce the flame and add black rice paste.
- Keep stirring until it thickens like porridge.
- Once it
thickens, add the thick coconut milk and cook on a medium flame stirring
continuously until it starts coming together like halwa.
- Add the cardamom
powder and diced almonds.
- Add ghee little
by little and keep cooking until the ghee incorporates into the halwa and
comes out leaving sides of the pan.
- The halwa becomes darker as it gets
thicker.
- Once the halwa
comes together like a whole mass, remove the pan from the flame and pour
into greased plate.
- Allow it to cool
and cut into squares.
- Serve Kavuni
Arisi Halwa/Dhol dhol as a dessert or gift of love.
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