Carrot Halwa / Gajar Ka Halwa

Carrot Halwa. One of Inida's most adored traditional desserts despite being fairly ubiquitous. An easy and versatile dessert made practically in every home and restaurant. Effortlessly goes from homey to rich and richer to suit individual preferences. But hardly ever fails to please! Not surprisingly, even mothers in our Bollywood movies make Gajar Ka Halwa so often. Its a favorite comfort dessert during winter, a convenient make ahead sweet dish for guests. Grated carrots slowly cooked in milk, sugar and ghee, garnished liberally with nuts, fragrant with cardamom and saffron. What's not to love?  

Carrot halwa is one of those 'safe' desserts which requires very little by way of technique nor needs you to spend a great deal of time. So even if you are a reluctant cook, you can easily win a thumbs up for your first attempt at it. Unless of course you burn it while you are busy WhatsApping or Instagramming about the halwa during its last few minutes on the stove! With the festival of lights around the corner, how about trying this simple dessert if you haven't  tried your hand at it yet? I like it less rich, not very sweet. If you do not approve, tweak it every possible way and we will still remain friends. 

So what we do is cook the carrots in a lot of milk till it is reduced and absorbed quite a bit to make a creamy halwa. You could cook the carrots in a pressure cooker or microwave but then it would not taste quite the same. If you ask me that is.

Carrot Halwa 

Ingredients - To make about 6 servings, half cup each

Grated carrots - 4 cups ( 1/2 kg approximately)

Ghee - 4 tablespoons or more as desired (divided use)

Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup, broken or halved

Whole milk (3.5%) - 4 cups / 1 liter (no low fat please!) 

Sugar - 6-7 tablespoons 

Saffron - a generous pinch

Crushed cardamom - 1/2 teaspoon

Method : Peel and wash the carrots. Grate them using a grater with medium sized holes, measure. Soak the saffron in a teaspoon of warm milk. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. Fry the cashew nuts till golden, drain and keep aside. Add the carrots to the remaining ghee and saute for a couple of minutes on low heat. 

Add the milk and cook on medium heat. Stir occasionally. The carrots will soften and cook as the milk reduces slowly. Keep scraping back the milk solids which accumulate at the sides of the pan back into the halwa. This will give it more richness.

Cook about 20 minutes. When there is still about 1/4 cup of milk left, add the sugar. Start with 6 tablespoons, add more if needed. The mixture will turn more liquid. Continue to cook, stirring often till you don't see any more thin milk at the bottom of the pan. About 10-15 minutes. It will be homogeneous and will come together in a nice mass. You can either let it remain slightly pudding like or let the moisture evaporate some more. In the pictures here, the moisture has been absorbed quite a bit. No I wasn't Instagramming,  just another variation I did not quite relish. I like my halwa very moist and creamy.  

Stir in the soaked saffron, nuts, ghee and cardamom. Cook for a couple of minutes, turn off the heat. Best eaten warm.

Time to bring out the diyas, the fairy lights and candles.  Isn't it sheer joy just to behold the beauty of something as simple as light? Hope this Diwali brings you a lot of happiness, have a happy and safe one!

Creamy Carrot Kheer

Hubby, kids and I relish almost all kinds of desserts, but the rest of the clan can be a bit finicky at times. My sisters and sis-in-law are not as much in love with chocolate as I am, while my brother does enjoy the food of the Gods occasionally. When I wanted to take a dessert for him recently,  it had to be something which was neither a cake nor chocolate and without eggs (for my mother). I had little time on my hands to search and make something which would meet all criteria. Yet it had to be something delicious and new. Aren't good old Indian desserts best at times like this?

Carrot halwa is a familiar dessert and one I profoundly love, but carrot kheer? I had my first taste of this at a friend's place and it was so good! Incidentally, this friend of mine is not a desserts person at all but this pudding has the honor of being among the 2 sweets she loves... but then you have to try really hard not to love this dessert. Creamy, rich, aromatic with saffron and cardamom...and so easy to make!  A must have recipe in your books!

The recipe is friendly, and like most desserts of this ilk, can be tweaked to suit your taste and availability of ingredients. I have made this based on  Pratibha's recipe and it was an absolute delight! The taste of the carrots is almost indistinguishable allowing the creamy, nutty, milky richness to take center stage. Depending on the kind of milk and the presence or absence of condensed milk or cream and the quantity of nuts you would add, this can be made more rich or less rich.

I wouldn't recommend attempting a really low fat version of this kheer though, as you run the risk of it tasting more like baby food than the amazing kheer it is meant to be! But of course, making it rich translates to keeping the serving size on the stingy side.

Ingredients

Grated carrots - 1 1/4 cup, packed ( from about 3-4 carrots, I used the regular orange-ish ones)
Whole milk - 1 liter
Low fat cream (or sweetened condensed milk) - 1/4 cup
Sugar - heaping 1/2 cup or to taste (you may need very little or none if using condensed milk)
Ghee - 2 teaspoons
Almonds - 10
Cashew - 8-10
Saffron - a generous pinch
cardamom powder - about 1/4 teaspoon or to taste

Procedure:

• Soak the almonds and cashews for about 2 hours or more. Take the milk in a heavy bottomed pan. Once it boils, turn the heat to low, allow the milk to simmer till it reduces to almost 3/4 liter. Stir occasionally. Once reduced turn off the heat. 
• Soak the saffron in about a tablespoon of warm milk. 
• In the meantime, heat the ghee in another medium sized heavy bottomed pan. On low heat, toast the cashews (meant for garnish) till light golden in color, drain, keep aside. 
• In the same pan, keeping the heat low, saute the grated carrots for 3-4 minutes or till the raw smell is gone. Take about 1/4 cup of the hot milk and add it to the carrots. ( If you haven't had more time to soak the nuts, you can add them with the carrots and steam, says Pratibha) Cover and cook on low heat, till the carrots are soft. Turn off the heat.
• In the smallest jar of your mixie, process the cooked carrots along with any milk left with them, the soaked almonds and cashew till very smooth. Take about a cup of the reduced milk in a medium sized bowl, whisk in the cream (or condensed milk) and the ground paste. Ensure there are no lumps. 
• Mix this into the remaining milk, add the sugar (if using). Stir in the soaked saffron. Simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Check and adjust the sugar if needed. Turn off the heat. 
• Once cool, add the cardamom and the toasted chopped nuts.
• Serve warm or at room temperature or chilled. Check the consistency before serving, adding a bit of milk if needed. I prefer this at room temperature or chilled.

Thanks for this delectable recipe Pratibha, carrots will henceforth tempt me even more!

And do tell me what's your favorite, fail proof dessert which is no chocolate, no bake, egg-less and quick to make?