Carrot Halwa

 

This is a sweet dish which is a real treat to the taste-buds. It is usually prepared during festive occasions. Carrot is my all time favorite and anything with carrot - sweet or spicy or even raw carrots invites my attention any time.My mom prepares very good Carrot Halwas and if this is read by my college mates , they will definitely second my opinion about its taste. It used to be a real celebration mood in class and sometimes in lab too, when I take this treat for them. In no time my halwa will be over! After marriage I came to know that my hubby is also a great fan of this sweet treat .So I learned it from amma and started making it . 

Usually it is prepared adding lot of sugar and lots and lots of ghee (Clarified butter). But I make it very simple and with less calories with less sugar and very less ghee, still for our taste-buds its satisfying .The only great problem regarding its making is the grating of carrots. If you have to make more you have to grate more which is a very tedious procedure. And if you are now thinking that a chopper would help make this job simpler then you are completely wrong. I can surely say so because even I have done that first and it turned out to be a very silly  decision , the carrots turn out as chunks which is not good in giving the halwa consistency. So you NEED to grate and I assure you the final outcome is worth the effort. For me, my hubby loves this dish so he grates the carrots for me. . I still remember , once when in my hubby's office there was a potluck and few of his clients who had  tasted my halwa wanted us to take this dish. I had to cook with almost 3lbs carrots .Both of us did the cooking together then starting in the evening , right from grating to the stirring we took turns and it was midnight when the dish was complete. Another time , I had also made it for one of my pregnant friend when we were visiting her and she too loved it. The second tedious process is the stirring part, but you can avoid that if you follow my measurements Its only recently I found this great ratio of mixing ingredients which in fact saved lot of time and effort for me.

To make it real simple I have heard of some of my friends doing this whole recipe in microwave which saves time and effort to a great extend. But somehow for me the stove-top cooking gives more satisfaction . Its just once in a while I make these special recipes so I make it the proper way. 

This is my simple recipe for Carrot halwa. As I mentioned it is a somewhat low calorie one, so if you want it to be more delicious that this you can increase the amount of sugar and ghee as your taste. I also have to mention that since I prepared it in a haste this time ,I could not take stepwise snaps to make it more clear, so when I make it next time (It would take some time gap) I will surely post the snaps.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

• Carrots- 1 lb
• Milk - 1 cup (I used the reduced fat milk but you can use whole milk for richer taste)
• Sugar - 1 cup ( you can increase the amount if you want it to be more sweet)
• Cardamom powder - 1 tablespoon
• Cashews and raisins - 1/4 cup 
• Almond shavings to garnish
• Ghee or butter - 3 tablespoons ( You can add more to suit your taste )

How to Prepare:

Step 1: Grate the carrots and keep aside

Step 2: Pressure the grated carrots with the milk for one whistle. 

Step 3: Heat one tablespoon ghee and saute the cashews and raisins till the raisins puffs up. Keep aside .

Step 4: Boil the pressure cooked carrots adding sugar stirring continuously. Add the cardamom powder and keep stirring till the halwa consistency is reached. Mix in the sauted cashews and raisins and stir well. Add the remaining ghee (2 tablespoons) and switch off flame. Keep it in the cooker for about 15 minutes . 

Step 5: Serve in a bowl or flat plate and garnish with almond shavings.