• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Mamas Secret Recipes
  • About Me
    • Food Info
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • Contact Me
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • Food Info
  • Contact Me
×

Zafrani Halwa Pies

March 23, 2017 by Fouzia Husainy 1 Comment

FacebookTweetPinYummlyShare
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe


I grew up eating these baked pies filled with a halwa (a sweet confection) made with almonds and chick pea lentils flavoured with saffron. It was always accompanied with rice kheer (porridge) which went so well with these pies. I have been craving for these for a long time and wanted to bake them like my mom but smaller in size. They turned out better than I had imagined. My mom used to make the pie crust with ghee (clarified butter) but I wanted something light and healthy so I followed a different recipe for the pie crust which was light, flaky and good.  For the halwa I followed my mom’s recipe.

For the pie dough I followed this recipe from Simple Bites. I cut down the recipe by half and  I made the halwa using the exact ingredients listed below and it was just enough to use up all the dough.

Ingredients:
Refrigerated Pie dough enough for making one 9 inch pie crust.
For the Halwa:
1/4 cup Channa dal (split chick pea lentil)
1/4 cup Almonds (peeled)
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tbs Ghee
Saffron a pinch

Method:
1. Soak the channa dal for 30 minutes after rinsing in water 3 or 4 times till the water is clear. Soak the almonds in warm water or microwave them with a little water for 30 seconds. The peels will easily come off.

2. Boil the channa dal till it gets cooked, let it cool, then grind it to a smooth paste. Grind the almonds separately to a fine paste.

3. Take a sauce pan and on medium heat add one or two cloves and 2 green cardamoms then add the ground dal and almond paste.

4. Add the sugar and keep stirring till it thickens then dd the saffron dissolved in warm milk. Stir till the milk gets absorbed and the halwa starts leaving the sides of the pan. Remove and set aside to cool.

5. Take the refrigerated pie dough and start rolling it into a fairly thick circle on a pastry board dusted with flour. Cut round shapes with a cookie cutter or a steel tumbler with a sharp rim.

6. Place some halwa in each of them, brush the edge lightly with water or egg white and close it in the shape of a half moon or turnover.

7. Press the edges with a fork to seal them then brush them with saffron water (soak a few threads of saffron in a tsp of water) to give them a coloured decorative edge.

8. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 25 – 30 minutes. When they turn lightly golden at the bottom they are done. Remove and cool on a wire wrack and enjoy with rice kheer.

Recipe

Zafrani Halwa Pies

Author: Fouzia Husainy
Course Traditional
Cuisine Indian Moghulai

Ingredients
  

  • Ingredients:
  • Refrigerated Pie dough enough for making one 9 inch pie crust. 
  • For the Halwa:
  • 1/4 cup  Channa dal split chick pea lentil
  • 1/4 cup Almonds peeled
  • 1/2 cup Sugar
  • 2 tbs Ghee
  • Saffron a pinch

Instructions
 

  • Soak the channa dal for 30 minutes after rinsing in water 3 or 4 times till the water is clear. Soak the almonds in warm water or microwave them with a little water for 30 seconds. The peels will easily come off.
  • Boil the channa dal till it gets cooked, let it cool, then grind it to a smooth paste. Grind the almonds separately to a fine paste.
  • Take a sauce pan and on medium heat add one or two cloves and 2 green cardamoms then add the ground dal and almond paste.
  • Add the sugar and keep stirring till it thickens then dd the saffron dissolved in warm milk. Stir till the milk gets absorbed and the halwa starts leaving the sides of the pan. Remove and set aside to cool.
  • Take the refrigerated pie dough and start rolling it into a fairly thick circle on a pastry board dusted with flour. Cut round shapes with a cookie cutter or a steel tumbler with a sharp rim.
  • Place some halwa in each of them, brush the edge lightly with water or egg white and close it in the shape of a half moon or turnover.
  • Press the edges with a fork to seal them then brush them with saffron water (soak a few threads of saffron in a tsp of water) to give them a coloured decorative edge.
  • Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 25 - 30 minutes. When they turn lightly golden at the bottom they are done. Remove and cool on a wire wrack and enjoy with Rice Kheer.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Share on Twitter Share on Facebook
Tried this recipe?Then tag @mamasecretrecipes on Instagram
FacebookTweetPinYummlyShare

Filed Under: Baked Treats, Cakes and pastries, Desserts, Indian Cuisine, Milk, Nuts, Party food, Pies, Ramadan meals, Sweet Treats, Traditional Recipes

Subscribe

for your weekly recipe fix.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Eyecandypopper

    March 29, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    I've never tried this, but it sounds delicious! I can just imagine the flaky texture and the delicious almond paste. Well done!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hello

Welcome to my world of cooking at Mama's Secret Recipes. My great passion for food opened the door to blogging so I could share my recipes... [Continue …]

Recent Posts

  • Coconut Shrimp Pulao Recipe
  • Vegetable egg khorma
  • Malai Masti Shahi Paneer
  • Traditional Korma Aloo Gosht
  • Sweet Almond Ragi Harira

Popular Posts

haleem

Easy Haleem (with lamb/beef)

Thai black rice pudding

Mango Coconut Sticky Black Rice Porridge

shrimp biryani

Easy Shrimp Biryani, Nawabi Style!

chickpea mango sundal salad

Chickpea ‘Sundal’ Salad

cauliflower pepper fry

Cauliflower Pepper Fry

Persian rice

Persian Style Saffron Rice

FBC Member Badge

Subscribe

Sign up to get the latest updates from Mama's Secret Recipes.

ARCHIVES

Recipes

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact me

COPYRIGHT © 2021 MAMA’S SECRET RECIPES