Indian sweets: kaju katli, halwa, soan papdi and a sooji halwa recipe

Indian sweets, mithai in Hindi, are very sweet desserts made from milk, ghee, sugar, gram flour, semolina or nuts, often with cardamom and saffron. Among the best known are kaju katli made from cashews, halwa, and the flaky, thread-like soan papdi. In India they are offered to guests, given at festivals such as Diwali and served at family occasions. In a Polish shop they are labelled "słodycze indyjskie" or "indyjski deser", usually with the Indian name as well.

Kaju katli: cashew fudge

Kaju means cashew in Hindi, and katli is a small flat piece. Kaju katli are thin diamonds of a paste of ground cashews, sugar and a little ghee. The texture is smooth and firm, somewhere between marzipan and fudge, and the taste is mild, buttery and nutty.

The top is often covered with a very thin edible silver leaf (varak). It is decoration only and does not change the taste. Kaju katli is a common Diwali gift.

Halwa: one name, many desserts

In India the word halwa covers a whole family of desserts. What they share is that the main ingredient is fried or cooked for a long time with ghee and sugar until it turns into a thick, sweet mass.

• Sooji halwa (semolina halwa). The simplest, made at home in about a quarter of an hour. The recipe is below.
• Gajar halwa. Grated carrot cooked in milk. A winter dish in North India.
• Moong dal halwa. Made from ground mung beans and fried for a long time in ghee; very rich.
• Bombay halwa (Karachi halwa). Quite different: translucent, chewy, cut into cubes, coloured and with nuts. Shops sell it in ready blocks, often with extras such as dried fruit, dates or pineapple.

Indian halwa is not the same as the sesame halva sold in Poland as "chałwa", although the two names share a root.

Soan papdi: sweets made of threads

Soan papdi (soan papri) are cubes of thin, crisp threads of sugar and roasted flour, usually with gram flour, ghee and cardamom. They melt in the mouth and are as light as candyfloss pressed into a block. The top is sometimes sprinkled with chopped pistachios or almonds.

Soan papdi is hard to make at home, because the mass is pulled by hand until it forms threads. So almost everyone buys it ready-made, in cardboard boxes. A cake-shaped version is called soan cake.

Recipe: semolina halwa (sooji halwa)

Ingredients (4 portions):

• 100 g fine semolina (sooji, rava; Polish: kasza manna)
• 80 g ghee
• 100 g sugar
• 400 ml water or milk (or half and half)
• 4 green cardamom pods, seeds ground
• a handful of cashews, almonds and raisins

Method:

1. In a small pan, bring the water or milk to the boil with the sugar until the sugar dissolves. Keep it on a low heat.
2. In a second, heavy-based pan, melt the ghee. Fry the nuts until golden and set them aside on a plate.
3. Add the semolina to the ghee. Fry on a low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring all the time, until it turns a light nut brown and smells toasted.
4. Carefully pour in the hot syrup. The mixture will foam and spit, so keep your hand away.
5. Stir until the semolina absorbs the liquid and the mass starts to come away from the sides, about 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Add the cardamom, the raisins and most of the nuts. Stir.
7. Serve warm, topped with the rest of the nuts.

Where to buy Indian sweets in Poland

Little India sells ready-made Indian sweets, for example GRB dry fruits halwa, GRB kaju katli and GRB pineapple soan papdi. There are more in the festival sweets category. Little India has shops in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław and Gdańsk and ships orders across Poland.

For another dessert, read what jalebi is, and before the festival season, Diwali 2026 in Poland.