Gajar Halwa

Winters are the season to eat. Eat some yummy delicacies. 

I'm talking about gajar ka halwa here. 

Although carrots are found in the market all round the year now, but the orange carrots are not the preferred ones. The much awaited red carrots are only available around December - January. 

Now December is the time for road trip, for vacation. 

My younger one keeps track of all things of her interest.

While the vacation was nearing is end, her demand for the halwa started and kept increasing by the day. We went for the weekly veggies shopping yesterday and got beautiful red carrots and thus the traditional process for the halwa commenced.

Ingredients:

Red carrots - 2 kg

Full cream milk - 4 litres

Ghee - 3 service spoons 

Sugar - 4 service spoons 

Cardamom powder 

Bits of cashews 

Bits of soaked almonds 

Raisins

Method: 

Soak the almonds and keep them over night. 

Thoroughly wash the carrots, peel then and grate them through the biggest side of the grater. In a large kadhai, pour the entire milk and light the stove. Once the milk warms up ,add the crushed cardamom powder and stir. This will give a nice flavour to the milk. 

Slowly add the grated carrots to the milk and stir the mixture very well. Let it cook on high flame while intermittently stirring up the mix. 

This will take a few hours. When the milk is about to dry up, add the pieces of cashews and almonds and mix it up. By now the liquid mixture would have started to turn solid and crumbly. Reduce the flame, still stirring intermittently but more frequently now. 

Once all the milk dries up, roast the mixture for another few minutes. Add ghee to the mix and mix well. Let it roast while continuing to stir. 

Add sugar and raisins and fold in the mixture for the sugar to mix in properly and evenly. Roast the halwa for another 10 mins for the sugar to mix and absorb properly.