Gajar ka halwa / Carrot sweet

There is something about this seasonal sweet......

When I think back to my childhood , my North Indian friends talked so much about this sweet after their Christmas vacation in Delhi / North India. In those days, these carrots were not available in south India. Gajar Ka halwa - what was that? And my friends swore that 'carrot halwa' was NOT tasting as yum as it's north Indian cousin.I waited long to taste this sweet.

But now there has been an over-kill. All restaurants and wedding receptions have it at their buffet counter!!

So why make it at home?

I really don't know! Probably because when I went to the market, I saw two North Indian ladies, bent over the 'Dilli gajar' and nit picking juicy ones while talking excitedly. 

So I too chose 1/2 a kilo of this carrot variant much against my husband's wishes!!

Must say that this sweet takes a long time to stew and cook , but the end result is worth the 1 hour effort!

(I would strongly recommend you make this sweet while doing some other cooking on the side, as it is really boring to stand and stir ever so often.)

I have used the same quantity of milk as the amount of grated carrot (1:1), but my neighbor Mrs.Lakshmi Agarrwal was saying that she adds double the quantity of milk. So you can choose whatever quantity you want 1:1 or 1:2 or 1:1and 1/2....The more milk you add, the more time it will take to cook.

Ingredients:

Delhi Carrot - 1/2 kg 

Milk - same quantity as grated carrot

Sugar - 1 cup

(optional) Khoya (unsweetened reduced milk) - 3/4 cup

Ghee - 3 and 1/2 tbsp

Garnish:

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Almonds - 12

(soaked, peeled and chopped into slivers)

Method:

Wash, peel and grate the carrots.

(Psst: I used my chopper! Sacrilege!! But my triceps thanked me!)

I got 3 and 1/2 cups of finely minced carrot.
Take a heavy bottomed vessel and tip in the milk ( I used 3 1/2 cups, same amount as grated carrots) and carrot.

Start cooking. Stir occasionally. Scrape the sides of the vessel each time you stir.

When the milk has reduced to barely coat the carrot, add in the sugar and khoya (if using).

Suddenly you will notice that the quantity has increased. Cook this down again.

Then add the ghee.

Mix well and cook till there is no liquid oozes out of the carrot halwa.

Garnish with cardamom powder and almonds.

Once cooled, transfer to a closed container and refridgerate.

Serve warm. (Microwave portions before serving.)