Modified method for preparation of Halubai-an Indian traditional sweet.

Halubai, a traditional Indian sweet is conventionally prepared by soaking and grinding whole cereals/millets to a fine paste, straining it through a cloth and cooking the resultant dispersion until it starts gelatinizing. Cooking is continued further with the addition of jaggery water, stirring constantly with intermittent addition of ghee. This process involves many unit operations, which are energy and time consuming. Hence a modified method was developed which is energy efficient and time saving without compromising the quality of the product. One fine fraction (200 mesh, BS) of cereal/millet flours were used in modified method instead of whole cereals. Sensory and instrumental analysis of the samples showed that quality of Halubai prepared using modified method was comparable to that of samples from conventional method. Correlation studies on sensory data of Halubai showed positive relation for the set (r = 0.94) and smoothness (r = 0.84); and negative relation for stickiness (r = -0.94) with the overall quality. Modified method of Halubai preparation which was simple and energy efficient, resulted in products with good sensory quality.