Carrot halwa

This is one sweet that I never get bored of eating. Gajar ka halwa with vanilla icecream is the coolest combo ever.

Recipe is pretty simple, but the method of preparation can either be effortless or painful depending on how you choose to grate the carrots. Doing it manually does impart additional taste to the dish but trust me, it isn't really worth the effort. The first time when I made this halwa, I grated the carrots manually and ended up with swollen hands. The next time, I chopped the carrot into inch long pieces and fed them into the mixer. The end result wasn't much different from the mechanical version. However, when you use the mixer, be careful not to over grind the carrots. Remember, you want halwa, not carrot juice.

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 1lb
2. Sugar - slightly less that half cup
3. Ghee - 4 tbsp
4. Milk - about 3/4th cup
5. Cardamom powder
6. Nuts and raisins to garnish

Method:

1. Keep the grated carrot ready - either using a mixer or the hand tool
2. Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a wide bottomed pan
3. Add the grated carrot and fry till the carrot turns from bright orange to paler yellowish orange
4. Now add the milk and cook covered on low flame for about 10min. Keep checking in between so as to avoid burning the carrots. Add little more milk if necessary. Again, its carrot halwa that you want to make, not carrot payasam. So, don't add too much milk. Just sufficient to cook the carrots.
5. Once the carrots look cooked, remove the lid and leave the flame on until all the milk gets absorbed by the carrots. If you end up with a pool of milk in step 4, don't you worry. Carrot payasam tastes as good as the halwa.
6. Whether you choose to have payasam or halwa, you need to add the sugar and cardamom powder now. Mix well until the sugar dissolves.
7. Ghee roast the nuts (cashew pieces and almond slices) with raisins and garnish the halwa. Carrot halwa tastes yummy whether served hot or cold or at room temperature.