Carrot Halwa
The first sweet I made as a 19 year old was Carrot Halwa. It is a funny memory because it turned out to be runny as I had added way to much milk to boil the carrots and did not have the patience to wait for the milk to evaporate. My brother was totally disappointed by the way it turned out, but still it was finished by the same night! I guess that's the magic of Carrot Halwa.
I have tried so many times since then and now here I have a version of it which uses condensed milk, and believe me it does considerably reduce the wait time;)
INGREDIENTS
Carrots - 1kg | roughly 10
Milk - 1 cup
Condensed milk - 1 can |354 ml|12oz
Crushed nuts - 1/4 cup
Elachi (cardamom) powder - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Preparation time - 20 mins
Cooking time - 40 to 60 mins
directions
Wash the carrots thoroughly to remove every bit of root hair and mud, pat dry and peel the carrots and get them ready to grate.
Chop and toss them into the food processor or grater to grate the carrots fine.
Take a pan and add 2tbsp of ghee, add the carrots and sauté slightly.
Add a cup of milk and cook covered for 13-15 mins on a low flame until carrots are tender . Stir in between to check for the evaporation of milk, add more milk if required.
Once the carrots are tender, add a can of condensed milk. Mix and cook while keeping it open until all the milk has evaporated and the carrots come together as a whole. A tbsp of ghee can be added at this point. Finally, add cardamom powder and chopped nuts of your choice. Stir and serve.
Our favorite way is to enjoy with vanilla ice cream!
NOTES
Make sure to use a heavy bottom pan to avoid burning the bottom. Optionally non stick pan can also be used.
Optionally ghee -1tbsp can be added at the end.
We used raw nuts, they could also be toasted the with ghee before adding to the halwa. Silvered almonds and pistachios are also great choices.
Traditionally carrots are grated for this recipe, we used a processor here. It would take some more time to grate it manually.
If condensed milk is not available add 1 more cups of milk while cooking the carrot and 1 cup of sugar instead of adding condensed milk.
Adjust sweetness based on the your likings.
