Gajar ka halwa or carrot halwa is prepared by carrot and milk along with dry fruits. This is a recipe prepared mainly in Indian subcontinents. Though the dish takes long hours for preparation but it is easy to cook and can be served as dessert after dinner. This Indian cuisine has a lot of sugar in it, but you can adjust the sugar levels as per your requirement.
The Origin: India
The cuisine: Gajar ka Halwa
Gajar ka halwa is one of the sweets which is very popular in India especially during the winters. It is basically made up of milk, carrot and ghee. These are the main ingredients of this dish. Later you can add dry fruits to make it more decorative and nutritious. Each ingredient has its own role to enrich the dish in taste and flavor. This is very old Indian recipe which is popularly served now as dessert. Milk, carrots, ghee and carrots makes it highly nutritious. The more milk you add, the output will be richer in taste and smoothness.
This recipe is rated quite high on calorie meter. That’s why modern cooks use skimmed milk powders to minimize calorie intake. Ghee is the Indian type of a clarified mild. It has very high nutritious value and also fat. After adding ghee, halwa is cooked for like one hour under a low heat. So, the milk gets absorbed in the mixture of carrots and gives rich flavor and taste.
Ingredients:
1 kg Carrots
1 litre Milk
1 teaspoon Cardamom seeds
3/4 cup Water
3 tablespoons Ghee
2 tablespoons Raisins
2 tablespoons Almonds
2 tablespoons Pistachios
450 grams Sugar 3 or 4 threads of saffron
Process
1. The first step is to wash and grate carrots. Soak the raisins in water for approximately 30 minutes. Then blanch and shred the nuts.
2. Put a pot on the stove and add some water to boil. When it starts boiling, add grated carrots in it and cook this for 5-7 minutes.
3. Place a saucepan on the stove. Add milk and half boiled carrot into it. Cook this at a low simmer for about 45-50 minutes. Stir the mixture frequently with a spoon. During this period, milk reduces to the half of the original and becomes thick.
4. Now add ghee and sugar to the pot. You can use clarifies butter instead of ghee. Stir the mixture constantly for 10-15 minutes. The sugar dissolves in the mixture and milk has been absorbed by carrots. Do this until carrots and sugar form a stiff ball and come away from the sides of the pot.
5. Add ghee and simmer for more 2-3 minutes and remove the pot from heat. Add some cardamom and saffron leaves to the mixture. Add few nuts. Mix the mixture well.
6. Now, the halwa is ready for serving. Make a scoop and serve in the dish. Make sure that you are serving it in a round shape. Decorate the halwa by placing nuts on the top of it. You can serve it warm or cold (preferably warm).
Why you should try it?
Some may find it very high calorie dish but it is commonly made in India. This is considered as one of the healthy dishes in India. The combination of milk, carrots and dry fruit makes this dish high on a nutritious value. As said before, you can adjust the sugar as per your taste or requirements. This halwa is enriched in fiber and anti oxidant beta carotene. However, it is high in fats and calories too. But you can increase the nutritious value by adding skimmed milk or unsaturated lower fat spread instead of butter. Also, you can use skimmed milk powder or full cream milk powder to cut down the calorie intake. Halwa tastes really delicious and adds great elegance if served as a dessert after rich course of meal. This is considered as the royal cuisine in India.