Khoyo~AlifBe~37
Khoyo is a Sindhi style halwa made with milk, khaskhas, nuts and ghee. It is a winter special and is often sent to married daughters and sisters in our community.
Ingredients
  • 2 lit full fat milk
  • 150 gm Khaskhas
  • 15- 20 Chuhaara (dried dates/ kharik)
  • 100 gm Almonds
  • 80 - 100 gm unsalted pistachios
  • 100 gm Cashews
  • Few walnuts (optional)
  • 10 Green cardamoms
  • 2 black cardamoms
  • 75 gm of Dhaniya magaz
  • 400 - 500 gm of sugar ( I actually used around 250 gm but you can adjust as per your taste)
  • 1 Cup ( at room temperature) of Ghee (Ideally around 400 gms of Ghee should be used)
  • 1 gm Mace
  • A pinch of nutmeg powder
  • 2 gm of Moonh Lalai (Brown colored powder available at Pasari shops) or you can use some brown food color. I didn't use any.
Method
There are two approaches for making this khoyo.
First approach: Simply boil the milk with dried dates and add blended khaskhas and ghee. Slow cook and allow the milk to reduce, add nuts, spices and sugar towards the end. Cook till the mix is dry. This is how my mom used to make.
The other approach is to cook khaskhas paste in the ghee along with Dhaniya magaz and then add it to the boiling milk along with the rest of the ingredients. I find the flavors to be better by following this method. So I am sharing this method here, in detail.
  1. Soak the poppy seeds in water for 5 - 6 hours.
  2. In another bowl, soak the almonds in water for 5 hours. Later peel the almonds and cut open each into 2.
  3. Soak dried dates in lukewarm water for an hour or so, to soften it. Later, deseed and slice each into large chunks (can cut into 4-6 pieces each).
  4. Roughly chop pistachios, cashew nuts and walnuts.
  5. Strain the poppy seeds and rinse a few times, using the tea strainer to catch the seeds.
  6. The process of soaking poppy seeds and rinsing few times with water is believed to reduce the concentration of morphine or opium alkaloids, if present, in the poppy seeds.
  7. Strain well so as to get rid of as much of water as possible.
  8. Now using 2-3 tbsp of Ghee (from 1 cup of the Ghee set aside for the recipe) blend the poppy seeds till coarse. You can use milk to blend poppy seeds but then it tends to splutter a lot when you start cooking it.
  9. In a thick bottom pan add 2 lit of milk and add green cardamoms.
  10. Add chuhara (dried dates) and continue cooking the mix on moderate heat. Keep stirring at frequent intervals.
  11. In another pan, heat the remaining ghee and add the blended khaskhas paste.
  12. Keep stirring and continue cooking at medium heat. When the color of the khaskhas changes to light pink, add cashews, almonds, pistachios and stir nicely. The khaskhas should be cooked till faint brown. Add dhaniya magaz and mix well. After half a minute switch off the flame and pour this mix in the milk and dates mixture. (Beware of the spluttering).
  13. Add black cardamom, mace and nutmeg and allow the mix to simmer. Add color powder, if using. Keep stirring at intervals.
  14. The dried dates are to be cooked till soft. So if needed, add some more milk.
  15. When the dates turn soft and the milk is almost completely reduced, add sugar. Continue cooking on low flame.
  16. Cook till sugar is absorbed and the mix is dry.
  17. Some prefer the consistency of the khoyo to be little loose while others like to cook till it is dry (as in the picture).
  18. If refrigerated, the Khoyo has a shelf life of 10-15 days.
  19. Before serving, take out the required portion from the refrigerator and heat on low flame with a tbsp or so of milk. Can garnish with more nuts while serving.
Note:
  1. Traditionally the quantity oh the Ghee used in Khoyo is almost the double that I have used here but I don't like overpowering flavors of ghee in any dish hence less amount of fat is used here.
  2. If using low fat milk, please do increase the quantities of ghee for better flavors and texture.
  3. Buffalo milk is preferred for making Khoyo.
  4. If after soaking in water, the dried dates are not soft enough to cut, then just gently pound the dates using a mortar pestle. The dates will open up and could be de seeded easily. Roughly chop these or use a food processor but make sure to keep the dates chunkier.
  5. You can use green cardamom powder instead of whole pods. Add ¼ tsp of powder to the boiling milk and later add ¼ tsp when you add sugar.
Recipe by Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes at https://test.sindhirasoi.com/2021/09/khoyoalifbe37/