Haalbai | Akki Haalbai | How to make haalbai?
Author: 
Recipe type: Sweet
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 18 2" haalbai barfis
 
Soft, fudgy rice and coconut milk barfis
Ingredients
  • ¾ Cup fat grained rice/dosa rice/idli rice
  • ½ Cup grated or chopped jaggery/gur/bella
  • 1 Cup thin coconut milk
  • 1 small pinch of salt
  • 2 Tbsp desi ghee
  • 8-10 powdered elaichi
Method
  1. Wash and soak rice for at least 4 hours
  2. Drain water from rice, add into a mixer jar
  3. Add ¼ Cup coconut milk and grind into a paste
  4. Add further ¼ Cup of coconut milk and thin the rice paste a little
  5. In a heavy bottomed pan, add 1½ Tbsp ghee
  6. As soon as it melts add grated/chopped jaggery and allow it to melt
  7. As soon as jaggery melts, add rice-coconut milk batter in a steady stream and keep mixing as you add it otherwise it will lump up
  8. Add ½ Cup coconut milk and mix well
  9. Mix evenly till rice batter starts to thicken
  10. Add a pinch of salt
  11. Add elaichi powder
  12. Keep stirring, rice paste will start to thicken and absorb all the moisture
  13. When it starts to thicken more add ½ Tbsp ghee and mix well
  14. When the mixture starts leaving the pan and feels soft to the touch, pour into a greased pan
  15. Press with the back of a spoon into an even layer
  16. Allow it cool for a few minutes. Cut into barfis
  17. Garnish with cashews or almonds if you want. Serve at room temperature
Notes
Add only water if you want instead of coconut milk

Soaking rice is very important to get a smooth, melt-in-the-mouth texture

Adding salt cuts through the sweetness and richness of coconut milk

Always keep stirring, do not allow it to lump up

If you want to keep this vegan use vegetable oil in place of desi ghee

To extract coconut milk, grind freshly grated coconut with little water, squeeze and extract coconut milk, repeat till all coconut milk gets extracted, Sieve and store in refrigerator till it needs to used. Or you can use store bought organic coconut milk
Recipe by Food Of Interest at https://foodofinterest.com/haalbai/