Kozhikode is known for its mesmerizing beaches, unique composite culture and delicious cuisine. One of the quintessential delicacies adorning its culinary landscape is the Kozhikodan Halwa that is believed to be a contribution of Arab settlers who came here ages ago. Unlike the soft, luscious and mushy North Indian style whole wheat flour or semolina halwa, Kozhikode halwa has a soft, chewy and gelatinous texture. And the most famous place to get it in Kozhikode is SM Street which is an acronym for sweet meat street.
In today’s episode we are joining Mazan to unravel the culinary secret behind this classic sweets. What started with just a black coloured and banana flavoured halwa, has now grown into a fascinating range of unique flavours like chilli, passion fruit, chocolate and many more.
First we went to a halwa factory that was filled with mesmerizing flavours. People are so fond of this sweet that just this place churns out 700 kg of Halwa in 52 varieties almost daily. That’s some insane statistics.
Here we witnessed the making of the classic Kozhikode halwa. Although it is made with just 3-4 ingredients, the process is painstaking. First the refined flour is soaked in water. Then the sedimentation is extracted by repeatedly adding water to it. Next it is mixed with sugar and coconut oil and cooked thoroughly by constant stirring. It’s this oil that gives it the unique flavour. Over a period the whole mixture turns into a gelatinous mass. These are then set in rectangular trays where they coagulate and turn firm.
After witnessing the making process we went to try it at the iconic Sankaran Bakery which is nearly century old. The colourful display of different flavours of halwa made us feel like a kid in the candy shop. Finally we ended up trying small portions of 7-8 varieties among which the banana, classic and the chilli ones were our favourites.
About the host:
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Text by Swetaleena Nayak