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Thermomix Indian

Saffron Semolina Halwa (Sooji ka Halwa)

Proud moment — I made perfect Sooji ka Halwa in my Thermomix today.

This dish takes me straight back to childhood — the aroma of ghee, the sound of semolina being roasted, and that first spoonful of warm, sweet comfort after Puja. Sooji ka Halwa has always been more than just a dessert in our home; it’s a symbol of offering, gratitude, and shared joy.

Growing up, I remember watching my mum patiently stirring the halwa, never leaving the pan for even a second — it needed constant attention and love to get that perfect texture. It was a true labour of devotion, just like the Puja itself.

Today, making it in my Thermomix felt like bridging tradition and technology. The same taste, the same warmth — but without the endless stirring! On auspicious days like Diwali, it feels extra special to prepare something so sacred with ease, knowing that the spirit behind it remains unchanged.

 

Ingredients

  • 625 g water (2 ½ cups)

  • 120 g milk (½ cup)

  • 250 g sugar (1 ¼ cups)

  • ½ tsp saffron strands

  • 140 g ghee

  • 260 g coarse semolina (1 ½ cups)

  • 50 g flaked almonds, toasted (½ cup)

  • 1 tsp ground cardamom

  • 50 g sultanas (⅓ cup)

Instructions

  1. Prepare the syrup

    • Add water (625 g), milk (120 g), and sugar (250 g) to the mixing bowl.

    • Heat 8 min / 100°C / speed 2, or use Kettle Mode (TM7) until the mixture reaches a rolling boil.

    • Carefully pour into a ThermoServer, add saffron strands and sultanas, stir, cover and set aside to infuse.

  2. Roast the semolina

    • Rinse and dry the mixing bowl thoroughly.

    • Add semolina (260 g). With the measuring cup (MC) off, roast 8 min / Varoma / speed 2.

    • Scrape down the sides and roast for a further 8 min / Varoma / reverse / speed 2 until aromatic and lightly golden.

  3. Add ghee

    • Add ghee (140 g) to the bowl and mix 20 sec / speed 7 to combine.

    • Continue roasting 20 min / Varoma / speed 2 until the mixture darkens slightly and releases a nutty aroma.

  4. Combine syrup and flavourings

    • Set the Thermomix to Varoma / reverse / speed 1 / 2 min.

    • Gradually pour the hot syrup with sultanas through the lid opening while mixing.

    • Add ground cardamom (1 tsp) and flaked almonds (50 g) during this step.

    • Continue mixing until the halwa thickens and comes together.

  5. Rest and serve

    • Transfer the halwa into a pre-warmed ThermoServer, cover and rest for 5 minutes to allow it to set.

    • Serve warm, garnished with extra nuts if desired.

Tips


Preheat your ThermoServer with boiling water to keep the syrup and halwa hot.
Adjust the sugar or ghee quantity to suit your taste.
You can substitute almonds with cashews or pistachios for variation.

Best Thermomix Blogs and Websites

Wow! I’m so honoured to let you know, I’ve just been voted one of the top 20 Best Thermomix Blogs and Websites, worldwide! The best Thermomix blogs as voted by Feedspot compile these lists from thousands of blogs on the web and ranked by traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness.

So don’t just take my word for it, check it out here:

Best Thermomix Blogs and Websites

To be ranked with blogs like Quirky Cooking (Jo Whitton), Skinnymixers (Nikalene Riddle), Thermobliss (Lauren and Lucy), Thermojo (Jo Reardon) and The Annoyed Thyroid (Sam) is mindboggling. I follow many of these wonderful ladies myself,  so ranking with and above many of them has blown me away.

The fact that all of these blogs are in Australia where Thermomix is more widely known and accepted by consumers means that my little blog in the UK is the only one in the UK or Europe on the list.

I’m also the only non-caucasian on the list. That is huge for me. There aren’t enough women of colour or from the Indian sub-continent, or Asian continent, who are Thermomix Ambassadors and Influencers. I mean, just the population of Indians in India alone is approximately 1.5 billion (2022) and if we take the Indian diasporas living outside the country, that’s another 32 million; 18.68 million are persons of Indian origin, whereas 13.45 million are non-resident Indians.

We could all do more to change the awareness of Thermomix in our own cultural and family backgrounds. More users from the sub-continent need to get on board with Thermomix. Our Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. We can use the Thermomix to heat the spices, blend the spices, makes the sauces for curries and chutneys, to knead the dough for chappatis, rotis to naans.

But the unique thing about me is that I am also a mix of my origin and my current environment.

Whilst I always joke,  a household is run how the ‘woman’ was brought up – read in my case, Indian – I married a British-born-Polish man, and have two racially mixed children, who are truly British. I bought my Thermomix when my daughter was just 4 months old, so as a new parent about to wean her first baby, the Thermomix helped me. As a parent, with a full-time job and two young kids, my Thermomix was a lifesaver saving time in the kitchen, yet creating delicious, healthy meals for myself and my family. Now that my kids are older, they have a love for cooking and have an incredible palate because of the variety of food we cooked. I do one meal for everyone; none of this one meal for adults and another for children; not in my household.  If you ask them what their favourite foods are one will say Mexican fajitas and the other will say sous-vide steak and fries. My death role meal would probably be a Japanese bento, whereas my husband when questioned would say Thai Tom Yum Gai.

I’m also a housewife. A mother. Someone who has weaned her kids using Thermomix. A full-time career woman, who needs to feed her family when I come home from work. A foodie, who loves fine dining. A home cook who loves her Thermomix.

So ‘My Story’, it’s a unique one and one that I gladly share with you all.

My name is Ankita Stopa and I am passionate about helping people cook more healthy and creative food. Life is busy enough and anything that can help us save time and money is something we all need in our lives.

I’m from India, which is one of the oldest and richest food cultures in the world. Indian cuisine is well known for being one of the world’s spiciest, influential, diverse and unique. As Indians differ from one another by religion, region, state, language and caste, our cuisine varies so much that we have positioned ourselves as one of world’s most diverse. The beauty of being an Indian living abroad is having both a great appreciation for different Indian cuisines, and a palate that enjoys all gastronomies.

Most of the recipes I make in my Thermomix are traditional family recipes handed down through generations. My mother and grandmother were both great cooks, and shared their knowledge with me. I grew up in Saudi Arabia and have travelled all over the world to many European and Asian countries; I worked and lived in Japan and now reside in the London, U.K. with my Polish husband. I have always enjoyed exploring the culture and food in each country. As a lover of food and brought up traditionally Indian, I have always cooked from scratch with delicious results but often time consuming. Before having my children, I enjoyed winding down and taking time to cook after I came home from work. It’s only when I had my daughter that I first heard about Thermomix and realised how easy home cooking could be.

I work so hard to provide honest independent reviews on Thermomix, my experience as an Advisor and Team Leader, as well as recipe conversions to keep it relevant and useful to new customers looking to buy a Thermomix, as well as owners and users for inspiration that I’m so pleased that the blog and website is well received.

And thank you to Anuj and her team for including me. If this has inspired anyone to learn more about Thermomix, and would like to see a demonstration, in person or virtually, drop me a line.
Please contact me for more information.

Ankita Stopa
Diamond Plus Team Leader & Advisor 800 000 0068
Ankita@onegirlandherthermie.co.uk
07977 563537

Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)

Butter chicken or murgh makhani is a dish, originating in India, of chicken in a mildly spiced tomato sauce.  This is one of the ultimate curry dishes. The secret is to marinate the chicken in the chicken tikka paste overnight before combining it with the rich, indulgent makhani sauce.

I’ve seen ‘skinny’ or diet versions of this on various Thermomix bloggers websites. I’m going to take a stand on this and say don’t go there. If you translate murgh makhani it literally translates to chicken butter. If the key ingredients weren’t chicken or butter, then it wouldn’t be called that. If you don’t want to indulge in these, then choose another dish. Something like chicken tikka masala which uses tomatoes as the base, not butter and cream. There is absolutely no point of even attempting this dish if you are not going to stay true to the dish.

Seriously though, if the ingredients give you cause for concern or you are following a particular diet, then use the tikka paste and make chicken tikka masala which uses tomatoes as a base instead of cream and butter. It’s another Punjabi dish and one of our family favourites.

N.b. I have a separate post for the tikka paste on the website.