Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa is a very popular Indian dessert. It is also popular as "Gajar Ka Halwa", in northern part of India. This halwa is very rich, as the carrot is cooked in full fat milk and then loads of ghee is added. Making this halwa is easy just that it is little time consuming. But I assure that the final product is yum!! 

I learnt this recipe from my mother. There are so many variations of Carrot halwa but I always liked my mother's version. This is one of the few desserts that I used to make in my college days. This halwa is very commonly made for parties, get together etc. Many people like to serve hot carrot halwa with cold Vanilla ice cream. Personally I don't like it as the ice cream will over power the halwa or the other way.

Ingredients:

• Carrot, grated- 4 cups
• Evaporated Milk (low fat)*- 1 can (354 ml, nearly 1 1/2 cups)
• Sugar- 1/2 cup (increase as per your taste)
• Ghee/ Clarified butter- 4 Tbsp+ 1 tsp (you can add more)
• Dry fruits, chopped**- of your choice
• Cloves- 4
• Cardamom Powder- 1/2 tsp

*You can substitute evaporated milk with low fat or full fat milk. 

**I used a mixture of cashew nut, almond, pistachios and raisins. You can add any of these or omit it completely.

Procedure:

Wash the carrots and trim its ends. Then remove its outer skin and then grate it ( I used a grater with large holes, as I wanted to give a nice texture to halwa).

Now take a wide pan (I used a cooker pan) and heat 1 tsp of ghee. Then add the chopped dry fruits and fry until they turn light brown. Then transfer them to a small bowl.

Now in the same pan add 3 Tbsp of ghee and add cloves. Once you get the aroma, add the grated carrots. Fry it for 2-3 minutes or until you start getting a nice aroma.

Then add the evaporated milk (or milk) and give a good mix. 

Cook the carrots until the milk is reduced completely (I gave 1 whistle in the cooker and then again cooked until the milk was reduced completely).

Then add sugar, remaining 1 Tbsp of ghee and the roasted dry fruits (save some of the roasted dry fruits for garnishing). Mix well and allow it to cook further until all the moisture goes away and a halwa consistency is got. Turn off the heat and add cardamom powder. Mix well and transfer it to a bowl and garnish it with remaining roasted dry fruits. Carrot Halwa is ready!!

Serve it hot or cold. Above measurement serves four people.