Gajar ka halwa

The quintessential winter dessert - the classic Gajar ka halwa made with red carrots available only in winter is rich and decadent . I have given the traditional recipe below and you might find it time consuming but believe me it tastes divine. Needs  good amount of hand workout😅This recipe calls for simple ingredients and if you aren't a big fan of khoya like me, then this recipe is just perfect for you.

Prep time : 20 mins

Cook time : 1 hr 30 mins

Servings : 6

Ingredients 

Red carrots 1 kg

Milk 1.25 litres 

Ghee 3 tablespoons

Sugar 1- 1.5 cups

Cardamom powder - 3/4 teaspoon

Cashew nuts 2 tablespoon

Method

Peel and grate the carrots using a hand grater (the thicker side of the grater). Add the grated carrots to a pan on a medium heat. Stirring often, sauté the carrots until all the moisture dries out. Once the color changes from orang to red, remove the pan from heat and keep it aside.

Add milk to a heavy bottom pan on medium - high heat and stirring occasionally , let it come to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat and let it reduce to t least half or little more than half. Remember to stir very often else milk might get stuck to the bottom of the pan and burn.

After say around 30 - 35 minutes, the milk would have reduced and at this point add the sautéed grated carrots and give it a good stir( scraping the sides of the pot). From this point, the halwa will demand your complete attention and you cant leave it unattended. Keep stirring the halwa often on medium heat and cook until all the milk is absorbed by the halwa and it reduces to milk solids. This will easily take another 20 - 25 minutes. You will see small particles of milk solids in the halwa. This is when u add in the sugar. Once the sugar starts to melt, the halwa will become very liquidly again. Continue cooking until the sugar liquid is all soaked up . Be careful not to let the halwa dry out completely as it will start to thicken as it cools down.

Finally, add the cardamom powder and the cashew nuts (fried in ghee) and give a stir.

Serve warm or chilled.