Moriyo No Sheero | Sama Chawal Halwa
Recipe: Moriyo No Sheero | Sama Chawal Halwa
Moriyo No Sheero | Sama Chawal Halwa is a farali sweet dish that can be made during Navratri, Ekadashi, Janmashtami, Ram Navmi or Shivratri. Make this simple gluten free halwa, offer it to God and enjoy as prasadam. I sometimes make Moriyo No Sheero during Ekadashi. Also known as samo shiro, sama rice sheero, sama halwa. Whatever you call it, it has an earthy, delicious flavour. And I don’t skimp on the amount of ghee required for the sama chawal to cook well.
What Is Moriyo?
Moriyo, moraiyo is the Gujarati name for sama chawal. Sama chawal. samo, barnyard millet, bhagar, varai, kudiraivali are some of the names used for scientific Echinochloa esculenta. Many people confuse it with little millet. Little millet is known as kutki, samak, gindi, mutaki. Although they appear almost the same sama chawal and samak are different. Samo or moriyo is widely used to prepare farali or fasting food. My standard dish with this grass seed is Moriyo Khichdi/Sama Khichdi. Occasionally with the leftover moriyo khichdi I prepare Samo Tikki for the evening.
Memories
9th June 2014 was Nirjala Ekadashi. Nirjala means without water. The legend goes that Bheem, the second Pandava son could not fast during Ekadashi (there are 24 Ekadashi days in a year) while the rest of the family did. He could not control his hunger pangs. Feeling desolate, he was advised by Maharishi Vyas that he could fast for one Ekadashi day without food or water. So he would fast only on one Ekadashi day in a year. Read more about it here. While I don’t do Nirjala Ekadashi, I try and fast for most of the Ekadashis. I made some Moriyo no sheero to offer to Lord Krishna.
How much blogging has taught me and it still teaches me a lot. The other day I was questioned by a young follower of mine. “Aunty, how can you do all this, preparing food, taking photos, writing recipes, making videos, etc. Don’t you get tired?” I replied “yes I do get physically tired, as you forgot after I am done with the cooking, I have to clear up everything, right from washing to getting the kitchen clean. But I do it because it is my passion.” Her reply ” Aunty, I pray to Lord Krishna that He gives you more strength to keep posting recipes and making videos.” That itself is a booster for me.
Sharing This Recipe With Foodies_Redoing Old Recipes
The recipe for Moriyo No Sheero was first posted on 22/06/2014. The only photo that I had used for this recipe was simply pathetic. But at that time I didn’t think so! Redoing the old post with better photos and sharing on 30/03/2025.
Some More Farali Recipes You May Like
Ingredients Required For Moriyo No Sheero | Sama Chawal Ka Halwa
Moriyo
Known as sama, sama chawal, samo, barnyard millet, bhagar, varai, kudiraivali. We need
Milk
If possible, use full fat milk as it makes the halwa nice and creamy. Heat the milk till it is hot.
Sugar
Add according to your taste.
Ghee
Need enough ghee to roast the moriyo or samo. Raw moriyo will not taste good in the sheero.
Cardamom Powder
Add according to your taste.
Saffron
Optional. I love the aroma, flavour of saffron so I add it. Allow it to infuse in the hot milk for 5-10 minutes before adding it to the sheero.
Nuts
I usually cut slivers of almonds and pistachios. You can roughly chop them using a knife. If you like can replace them with cashew nuts.
Raisins
I cannot make a sheero without some raisins. However, it is an optional ingredient. When you add them to the hot sheero, they will become soft and plump.
MORIYO NO SHEERO |SAMA CHAWAL KA HALWA
Ingredients
- ½ cup moriyo
- ¼ cup ghee
- 2 cups hot milk
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup almond pistachio chopped
- 1 tbsp raisins
- 4-6 strands of saffron
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tbsp raisins
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a pan till it becomes hot. Lower the heat to keep the milk hot.
- Take 2 tbsp of the hot milk and transfer to a small bowl.
- Add saffron and allow it to infuse in the milk.
- Heat ghee in a pan over low heat.
- Add the samo|moriyo and stir it constantly till it turns light golden brown in colour. This will take about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Add milk while stirring. Make sure there are no lumps. If there are, break them using the spoon or spatula. Also be careful as a lot of steam will be generated.
- Keep stirring the mixture till there are no lumps
- Cover the pan with a lid. Allow the moriyo to cook. Occasionally stir the mixture. It will become thick.This will take about 12-15 minutes.
- Do not cook the samo with milk over high heat.
- Add the sugar and mix.
- The mixture will again become a bit liquid as the sugar melts.
- Keep stirring the mixture till it becomes thick and comes away from the pan. This will take about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the saffron milk, cardamom powder, raisins and nuts. Save some chopped nuts for garnishing.
- Mix well. Take the pan off the heat.
- Garnish with some chopped nuts and serve hot sheero.
Notes
When you pour the milk into the pan, pour it from the side as the steam created may scald your hand. Make sure you roast the moriyo or samo well. You don't want it to taste raw.
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A Small Request
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or comment on Pinterest @mayuri62
7 Comments
Gloria
June 24, 2014 at 9:42 am
healthy & yummy halwa…
Priya Srinivasan
March 31, 2025 at 3:54 pm
Samo chawal halwa looks delish! I once made kheer with it. Halwa sounds brilliant. Excellent choice for fasting days and a great gluten free dessert.
mayurisjikoni
April 2, 2025 at 11:33 am
Thank you so much Priya. Please do try out the recipe. I often make sama kheer but for a change love making the halwa.
Seema
April 6, 2025 at 2:37 am
I made this sheero for Ramnavami and shared it with friends. Huge congratulations to you as the recipe was brilliant, measurements spot on and we loved it.
mayurisjikoni
April 16, 2025 at 5:21 pm
Thank you so much Seema. Am so happy that you and your friends enjoyed moriyo no sheero.
Priya Vj
April 15, 2025 at 9:39 am
Samo halwa looks so yummy with all the garnish of dryfruits..I can totally relate to what you said about cleaning and clearing post photo/video shoot.
I have some samo Chawal in my pantry, I will make it for the next ekadashi .
mayurisjikoni
April 16, 2025 at 4:49 pm
Thank you so much Priya. Enjoy moriyo no sheero.