Lite Gajar Halwa

Kal Sunday Tha...

The menu : Gajar Halwa made with whole milk, a bowl of grapes, Taher & Gucchi Olu !

With Dad in Mumbai yours truly lived on bread butter jam for an entire week for dinner and once even had bread dunked in coffee for lunch. After that need I say the Sunday meal was to die for.

I tried making Lite Gajar Halwa, lite because we always make the richer version with khava. In my family since ours was a large family we always made it that way, may be to reduce the cooking time. It has grainy texture. We love it.

Until one day my GM, Ved mentioned while we were lunching out that he loved the Gajar Halwa the way it is made in Allahabad-Varanasi, his native. He said it was always an all day family affair, taking turns to stir the Gajar Halwa as it simmered on the stove. He said it was made by frying shredded carrots in ghee and then simmering in whole milk with sugar till is formed a thick mass and left the sides of the pot. It was always made in large quantities and was a winter speciality. His narration was so vivid that it was etched in memory. On top of that he turned down half of the Gajar Halwa made with khava that he was eating at the restaraunt. I resolved to try the UP version. This was a year and a half ago.

Now I was alone at home and had 4-5 large Delhi carrots lying in my veggie stack. I was thinking of a salad but zoomed in on a treat.

Ingredients

4-5 large Delhi carrots
2 tablespoons ghee
1 glass milk
1/4 cup sugar
3-4 cardamom pods
1/4 cup mixed nuts and raisins

Shred the carrots to fine. It should give you about 3-4 cups.

In a large frying pan melt the ghee on heat. Fry the carrot shreds in the ghee to lend it a nice toasted aroma. Add the milk and sugar. Simmer on slow with intermittent stirring till it begins to thicken.

Once it starts thickening keep stirring till it leaves the sides of the frying pan. Put off the heat. Peel the pods and pound the cardamom seeds. Add this powder to the halwa along with the nuts and raisins. Mix into the halwa.

Scoop out the halwa in a serving bowl and serve. I decorated with the opened pod of cardamom and seeds.

Verdict:

This version is lite, creamy and the carrots are cooked to a softness that makes the halwa delectable. Yet again it decodes the mystery of why in all Bollywood films the hero's Maa feeds him with Gajar Halwa!

Delhi carrots are the best for Gajar Halwa. Though I use the other cultivars too. I love the juicy Delhi Carrots and did you know they are rare!