For Day 6 of BM, I made the most widely made and liked dessert in India, Gajar Halwa aka Carrot Halwa. I read somewhere that carrot halwa is generally made in winters because the sweet carrots or gajar is widely available in winters. My MIL makes the best Carrot halwa and she makes hers with khoya, but I took the short cut and made mine with condensed milk.
For best results, this dessert has to be cooked low and slow, on a low flame stirring occasionally in the beginning and more frequently at the end when the halwa is coming together.
Here's how I made it:
Ingredients:
Carrots - 6 medium, grated (I took another short cut and used the food processor, but if you have the time, patience and the bicep strength, go ahead and grate your carrots by hand)
Milk - 1½ cups (I used 2% Milk)
Condensed milk - 1 12oz. can
Sugar - 1/2 cup (or as per taste)
Ground cardamom (elaichi) - 1/2 tsp
Cashews - 2tbsp
Raisins - 2tbsp
Method:
- In a wide saute pan, heat 1tbsp ghee (clarified butter) and roast the cashews and raisins. Once the cashews are golden and raisins plump up, remove and set aside.
- In the same pan, add 2tbsp ghee and the grated carrots. Saute on low flame until the carrots don't smell raw anymore, this takes about 20-30 minutes.
- Slowly add the milk and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered until the milk starts to thicken and the carrots are completely tender, this will take about 15 minutes.
- Next add condensed milk and sugar. As the sugar melts the mixture will become liquidy, but as it cooks it thickens again. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture becomes thick, takes about 20-25 minutes. Add the ground cardamom and cook for couple of minutes.
- Garnish with the roasted cashews and raisins.
Enjoy hot, cold or at room temperature. Tastes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you are anything like me, you will have raisins and cashews left behind for the final bite :-). If you are not, you will have below as your last bite.
very decadent dessert. I take more shortcuts than you I guess, :)I cook it in a MW.
ReplyDeletelove all those shortcuts..the few times i made them, i actually grated them and used whole milk to reduce it to the right consistency. Maybe that is why I have not made it more than just a few times! thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeletelovely dish, i like to have mine warm or hot with a scoop of vanilla icecream to make it even more decadent
ReplyDeleteI want to lick that bowl clean!
ReplyDeleteLove that halwa!..looks awesome..
ReplyDeleteDelicious!!! Tempting clicks!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy Pavani .. food processor is so useful for grating.
ReplyDeleteVardhini
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Wow delicious looking halwa and luv the clicks too
ReplyDeleteHalwa looks awesome. Beautiful snaps...
ReplyDeleteWow wonderful feel like grabbing it
ReplyDeleteAll time fav. looks very nice.
ReplyDeleteyummy halwa looks tempting
ReplyDeleteWhat a yummy dessert!Tasty clicks :). I usually prepare this in a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time...
ReplyDeleteYum yum,feel like having tat super delicious halwa,my fav anytime.
ReplyDeleteYummy Halwa, truly a winter special..I have posted it today at my space.
ReplyDeleteDelicious looking halwa and delicious pics too!!
ReplyDeleteWow,this looks absolutely awesome!I believe grating by hand definitely yields much much better results than using the food processor - the one time I had tried using the FP,it turned mushy and did not have the right consistency.So making Gajar ka Halwa could well be a synonym for the patience test;)Lovely looking Halwa here!
ReplyDeletelove it anytime
ReplyDeletedelicious halwa,my fav.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty pics!
ReplyDeleteWow!!!!!!!!!!!love these pics........drooling
ReplyDelete