Sohan halwa is the most famous sweet of Multan, a city in southern Punjab, where it is said to have been made for well over a century. The recipe is deceptively simple — milk, sugar, ghee, cornflour and nuts — but the execution requires 2 to 3 hours of constant stirring over an open flame, the cook reducing a large pot of milk and sugar to a dense, chewy mass. Nuts (almonds, pistachios, walnuts) and cardamom are added toward the end, and the hot mixture is spread on a tray and cut into squares when cool. The texture is unique: dense, chewy, almost like a caramel crossed with nougat, each bite releasing butter and sugar and nuts. The Multani sohan halwa is sold in shops across Pakistan, packaged in tins for gifts, and it keeps for weeks at room temperature. Its best-known maker, Hafiz Sohan Halwa, has been selling it since the mid-20th century.
Dense, chewy and intensely sweet, each piece packed with nuts and cardamom, the texture halfway between caramel and nougat. Eaten in small squares with tea, it is one of the most distinctive sweets in Pakistan.
The technique is a very long reduction with constant stirring. Milk (about 2 litres) is brought to a boil with sugar (about 500g) and a slurry of cornflour in water. The mixture is stirred constantly over medium heat for 2 to 3 hours, the water evaporating, the sugars caramelising, the cornflour thickening, until the mass pulls away from the sides of the pot and becomes dense and glossy. Ghee (about 200g) is added in stages during cooking, giving the halwa its rich, chewy texture. Nuts and cardamom are stirred in toward the end. The hot mass is spread on a greased tray, cooled, and cut into squares. The constant stirring prevents burning at the bottom, which would ruin the entire batch. The texture should be dense and chewy when cool, not soft or runny.
Variations
Some add saffron or food colouring. A version with khoya is richer.
On the Palate
Where Sohan Halwa Multani sits in the Pakistani flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
5 steps · 30 min
- 15 min
Bring 2 litres full-cream milk and 500g sugar to a boil in a large heavy pot.
- 28 min
Whisk 100g cornflour with 200ml water; stir into the boiling milk.
- 38 min
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 2 hours, adding 200g ghee in 4 stages.
Watch outStir constantly the whole two hours and add the ghee in stages — stop stirring and the milk scorches on the bottom and the sugars catch bitter.
- 45 min
When the mass is dense, glossy and pulls from the sides, stir in 200g mixed nuts and 1 tsp cardamom.
Watch outCook until the mass pulls cleanly from the sides and turns glossy — that's the set point; stop short and it won't firm up to cut.
- 54 min
Spread on a greased tray; cool completely; cut into squares.
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