Monday, February 02, 2009

Gajar ka Halwa (Grated Carrot dessert)

A wintry day calls for something to warm up the cockles of the heart. How about juicy, red carrots in the market just calling out to be turned into a wholesome, gorgeous halwa, the dessert so natural, to beat all desserts. So simple to make and leaves a marvelous aroma throughout your home. Perfect example for why I name my blog so…

So that’s just what I set out to do this weekend. As you may note, I have been quite busy in the kitchen this weekend. The result of all this hard labour with a lot of love (as Lubna of Kitchen Flavours puts it http://kitchenflavours.blogspot.com/ ) the day ended on a happy note with the family satisfied and a great way to wrap up the weekend with a little left over to carry to office tomorrow so share with my lunch companions.

So here goes,

GAJAR ka HALWA or CARROT HALWA

This takes about 45 mins. so be prepared for some standing exercise.
I measured sugar and milk in those lovely red measuring cups I posted in an earlier post.
The basis of this recipe is from my fellow blogger and friend from Bombay, Harini (Tumyumtreats.blogspot.com) recipe for gajar ka halwa.


I made the following changes and used - powdered sugar, chopped up the cashews, used Amulya milk powder and extra ghee.
Ingredients :-
Carrots – 1 kilogram (grated)
Refined cow ghee – 2 tablespoons
Powdered / normal sugar – 1 cup
Milk – ½ cup (lukewarm)
Cashews – a handful
Cardamom (elaichi) powder – 1 teaspoon

Preparation : -

1) Put a large wok (kadai) on the stove. Warm up 1 tbsp of ghee. Fry cashews till light golden brown. Chop some finely. Set aside.

2) In the same ghee, add grated carrots along with the cardamom powder and sugar . As the sugar starts dissolving and the carrots softening, there will be a little water. Bring the carrot to the centre, leaving a little well in the centre of the entire lot. Wait till all this water dries up.
3) Add lukewarm milk and continue stirring on a low flame till the carrots are soft and the milk is evaporated. The whole mixture becomes sufficiently dry.
4) Add tbsp of ghee and chopped cashews and stir till the ghee is absorbed, there is no trace of moisture and the whole mixture tastes fried.
5) Serve out in a pretty dish and add the final touch by garnishing with the whole fried cashews.


Most Important - Call out to the family to relish your work of art. Soak in all the praises or indulge with a bowlful. Either way… its happiness all the way.
This recipe has been submitted to FIC - Orange, an event being hosted this month by Aparna - http://mydiversekitchen.blogspot.com/






The very first event announcement made by Sunshinemom - http://tumyumtreats.blogspot.com/2008/07/event-announcement.html

6 comments:

Rajani said...

lovely!! gajar ka halwa is my favoritest dessert!!!

Vanamala Hebbar said...

lovely ... one of my fav sweet

Neha said...

I love gajar ka halwa, but here we get orange ones, which don't have the taste ,as we get with red ones..really miss them..

Aparna said...

This is my favourite halwa too and I have also been making batches of it, right through the past 2 months!
Thanks for painting this post "Orange".

Bindiya said...

you got me craving some badly right now, the addition of extra ghee and milk powder must have made it yummier!

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow with a dash of love added to any recipe makes it yummy dear. Where is the pic of the recipe. I can't see it.... I always grate the carrots while watching my favourite tv soaps. It is the pleasure in Indian cooking...