To make sooji halwa with ghee, roast sooji in ghee over a low to medium flame until it smells nutty, pour in hot water in a steady stream while stirring, add sugar, and cook until the halwa thickens and leaves the sides of the pan. Equal weights of sooji, ghee and sugar, with three times the sooji's weight in water, is the classic starting point. Half the ghee and three-quarters of the sugar makes our lighter one; neither is a standard.
At a glance
- Wikipedia's entry on suji ka halwa describes it as semolina toasted in a fat such as ghee or oil, with a sweetener added and sometimes milk.
- USDA FoodData Central lists semolina at 360 kcal per 100 g, ghee at 900 kcal and granulated sugar at 387 kcal.
- On those figures, an equal-parts batch of 100 g each is 1,647 kcal, about 412 kcal a serving over four; our lighter batch about 275.
- ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines define sugar above 25 g a day as high on a 2,000 kcal diet, and say to limit ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day.
What is sooji halwa, and what does the ghee do?
Sooji halwa is semolina roasted in fat, then cooked with a hot liquid and a sweetener until it thickens. Wikipedia's entry on suji ka halwa says it is made by toasting semolina, called suji, sooji or rawa, in a fat such as ghee or oil, and adding a sweetener like sugar syrup, honey or jaggery powder. The basic recipe, it says, is just semolina, sugar or honey, ghee and sometimes milk.
The ghee is the roasting medium, and in our kitchen it is what makes the finished halwa glossy and loose rather than a stiff porridge. The same entry notes that a semolina sweet called shali-anna appears in the Manasollasa, a 12th-century text.
What ratio of sooji, ghee and sugar should you use?
Our starting point is equal weights: 100 g of sooji, 100 g of ghee and 100 g of sugar, with 300 ml of water. Our lighter version keeps the sooji and water but halves the ghee to 50 g and cuts the sugar to 75 g. Both are our starting points; recipes differ widely.
For water, we use 3 ml for every gram of sooji. More water gives a softer halwa; less gives a firmer one that sets as it cools.
How do you roast the sooji in ghee?
Melt the ghee in a heavy pan over a low to medium flame, add the sooji and stir without stopping until it smells nutty and turns a shade darker. Go by smell and colour, not the clock.
At first the sooji soaks up the ghee and looks like wet sand. As it roasts it loosens, the ghee shows again around the grains, and the raw, floury smell gives way to a toasted one. That is the point to add the liquid.
How do you make sooji halwa with ghee step by step?
Heat the water, roast the sooji in the ghee, pour in the water while stirring, add the sugar, and cook until the halwa leaves the sides of the pan. The quantities are for the equal-parts version; for the lighter one, use 50 g of ghee and 75 g of sugar.
- Heat the water. Bring 300 ml of water to the boil and keep it hot. The 100 g of sugar can go into the water now.
- Melt the ghee. Put 100 g of ghee in a heavy, wide pan over a low to medium flame.
- Roast. Add 100 g of sooji and stir without stopping until it smells nutty and turns a shade darker.
- Pour. Lower the flame. Pour the hot water down the side of the pan in a steady stream, stirring all the time. Stand back: it will spit and steam.
- Add the sugar. If it did not go into the water, add it now and stir until it dissolves, with a pinch of crushed cardamom.
- Cook. Keep stirring over a low flame. The halwa thickens, the grains swell, and ghee starts to show at the edges.
- Finish. When the halwa comes away from the sides of the pan as one mass and the spoon leaves a clear track, take it off the heat. Cover for two minutes and serve warm.
Cooked on past that stage, more ghee separates and the halwa turns heavy. The mixture leaving the sides is the same test we use for ghee Mysore pak, where hot ghee goes in a ladleful at a time.
Why does the hot water spit, and how do you stay safe?
Because you are pouring hot liquid into a pan of hot ghee and sooji. It spits, hisses and throws up a cloud of steam at once, and drops of ghee and water can jump out. That is what happens at the stove; we offer no mechanism, because we have not opened a source that gives one.
Treat the pour as the dangerous moment. Lower the flame first, hold a long spoon, pour down the side of the pan rather than into the middle, keep your face back, and keep children away from the stove until the halwa is in the bowl.
If hot ghee or water reaches skin, the NHS page on burns and scalds says to hold it under cool running water for 20 minutes, as soon as possible and within 3 hours, then to lay cling film over it without wrapping it round. It says to remove clothing or jewellery near the burn unless stuck, not to put any creams, oils or butter on it, and not to burst blisters. Ghee is a fat, not a dressing: our article on whether to put ghee on a burn sets out what the NHS and the WHO say. The NHS says to get emergency help for a burn that is very large or deep, on the face, genitals or bottom, or caused by chemicals or electricity.
How many calories are in a serving of sooji halwa?
About 412 kcal a serving for the equal-parts version and about 275 kcal for the lighter one, when a 100 g sooji batch is split four ways. The figures use USDA FoodData Central's SR Legacy entries: semolina at 360 kcal per 100 g, ghee at 900 kcal and 60 g of saturated fat per 100 g, and granulated sugar at 387 kcal per 100 g. That is 3.60, 9.00 and 3.87 kcal per gram; water adds nothing.
USDA's semolina entry stands in for sooji, which may vary a little from it.
| Per batch | Classic, equal parts | Lighter |
|---|---|---|
| Sooji | 100 g: 100 × 3.60 = 360 kcal | 100 g: 360 kcal |
| Ghee | 100 g: 100 × 9.00 = 900 kcal | 50 g: 50 × 9.00 = 450 kcal |
| Sugar | 100 g: 100 × 3.87 = 387 kcal | 75 g: 75 × 3.87 = 290.25 kcal |
| Batch total (300 ml water, 0 kcal) | 360 + 900 + 387 = 1,647 kcal | 360 + 450 + 290.25 = 1,100.25 kcal |
| Per serving, 4 servings | 1,647 ÷ 4 = 411.75, about 412 kcal | 1,100.25 ÷ 4 = 275.06, about 275 kcal |
| Ghee per serving | 100 ÷ 4 = 25 g (5 teaspoons at 5 g) | 50 ÷ 4 = 12.5 g (2.5 teaspoons) |
| Sugar per serving | 100 ÷ 4 = 25 g | 75 ÷ 4 = 18.75 g |
If you measure ghee by the spoon, our guide to ghee spoon measures in grams explains why a tablespoon can weigh 12.8 g or 15 g.
How does a bowl of halwa fit the ICMR-NIN guidelines?
As an occasional sweet. The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) say: "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible." On their 5 g teaspoon, that is 5 to 10 g. A serving of the equal-parts halwa carries 25 g of ghee, five teaspoons; the lighter serving carries 12.5 g.
On saturated fat, the guidelines say its use "is considered high when more than 10g/day of visible saturated fats (for a 2000 Kcal diet/ day) is consumed in the form of ghee, butter" or through heavy use of palm or coconut oil in snacks and sweets. At USDA's 60 g per 100 g, the equal-parts serving's 25 g of ghee carries 25 × 0.6 = 15 g; the lighter serving's 12.5 g carries 7.5 g.
On sugar, they say: "Consumption of sugar in quantities that contribute over 5% of total energy intake per day or 25 g/day (based on average intake of 2000 Kcal/day) is defined as 'high' sugar." Added sugars, in their definition, include table sugar, jaggery and honey, so swapping sugar for jaggery does not change the count. The equal-parts serving carries exactly 25 g; the lighter one 18.75 g. If a doctor or dietitian has set your fat or sugar intake, follow their advice rather than our table.
Is sheera made as prasad?
Often, as custom: it is quick, needs only what a kitchen already holds, and is cooked fresh for the occasion. Wikipedia's entry on suji ka halwa says that in the Telugu states it is made as prasad on Ekadashi fasts and for the Satyanarayana puja, and lists "parsad" among the dish's names; that part of the entry is thinly referenced.
Whichever version you make, the ghee carries the flavour; ours is Himdhara's A2 bilona ghee, churned from curd on a wooden bilona and clarified slowly over a wood fire.
The short version
Sooji halwa is semolina roasted in ghee until it smells nutty, then cooked with hot water and sugar until it leaves the sides of the pan. Equal weights of sooji, ghee and sugar with three times the sooji's weight in water is our classic starting point; half the ghee and three-quarters of the sugar is our lighter one. On USDA figures, that is about 412 and 275 kcal a serving, split four ways. The hot water spits when it meets the hot ghee, so lower the flame and pour down the side. For a burn, the NHS says cool running water for 20 minutes and no creams, oils or butter.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Wikipedia contributors (2026). Suji ka halwa. Wikipedia.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Semolina, unenriched. FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Butter, Clarified butter (ghee). FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.
- NHS (2026). Burns and scalds. NHS, Health A to Z.