Carrot Halwa | Gajar Ka Halwa

Here we are on the last day of the blogging marathon. I have been blogging under the theme “Winter Specials”. It was another fun experience. Thought of finishing off the marathon with a sweet note. So here is a classic winter special recipe: Gajar Ka Halwa.
This is a dish which my mom used to make every winter, especially when the Delhi Carrots start arriving in the markets. I too am following her footsteps and make this dish almost 3 to 4 times during these winter months. There are many variations to this simple recipe. Some people use the pressure cooker to cook the carrots, some make use of condensed milk for sweetening and a few others add khoya/khoa to give that extra richness. Here is my way of making this classic Indian dessert:

Makes 5 to 6 servings

What you’ll need

1. Grated Carrots – 5 Cups
2. Milk – 3 Cups
3. Sugar – 1 Cup to 1 ¼ cup
4. Cardamom – 4 to 5 crushed and powdered
5. Cashew Nuts – 6 to 7 broken
6. Raisins – 10 to 12
7. Ghee/Clarified Butter – 3 to 4 tbsp

Method

1. Heat a Kadai with 2 tbsp of ghee.
2. Add the grated carrots and sauté for a few minutes, on medium flame.
3. Now add the milk and allow to cook on medium flame, stirring once in a while till all the milk evaporates.
4. Keep stirring continuously once the milk has almost reduced else the carrots may stick to the bottom and burn.
5. Now add sugar and mix well. The carrot milk mixture will become liquid again.
6. Keep stirring continuously till the mixture starts thickening, add another tbsp of ghee and mix well.
7. Once the mixture is dry and starts leaving the sides, remove from flame.
8. Heat a small frying pan with a tbsp of ghee, fry cashews and raisins and add to the halwa.

That’s it tasty and yummy Gajar Ka Halwa is ready.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Linking this to the Winter Carnival happening at Tickling Palates.