Carrot Halwa

When my husband and I take our kids out grocery shopping we always divide into two teams: the girls team and the boys team. We each have a list of groceries and try to see who picks up all the groceries on the list first. During our last shopping trip, each team picked up a bag of organic carrots possibly because I might have written organic carrots on both lists. Since I had an extra bag of carrots for the week, I decided to make carrot halwa.

Carrot halwa is a popular Indian sweet, traditionally made by boiling grated carrots in a mixture of milk and sugar. In my version I use sweetened condensed milk rather than the milk and sugar combination. This cuts down on the cooking time which is wonderful as I don’t have the time or patience to stand at the stove for over an hour. My husband loves this stuff and will eat it warm by the bowl-full right after I make it. I prefer eating it chilled and cut into squares — it has an almost fudge-like texture and it tastes a lot sweeter once it has been chilled. I add a few tablespoons of sugar in addition to the condensed milk but if additional sweetness is not required, the sugar in this recipe can be easily left out or reduced to suit your taste.

Carrot Halwa RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 5 cups grated carrots
• 3 Tbsp good quality cow ghee
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 3 Tbsp mixture of cashews, almonds, pistachios
• 2 pinches of freshly ground cardamom

Instructions:

1. Heat ghee on medium heat on a pan (preferably a nonstick pan) and add carrots.
2. Sauté carrots, stirring every so often until carrots are soft and cooked, about 20 minutes.
3. Add condensed milk and sugar. Cook until the milk evaporates and the carrot mixture becomes thick (another 20 minutes or so).
4. Add raisins, nuts, and cardamom powder. Stir to combine.
5. Transfer to a greased dish. Serve warm in a dish or chilled and cut into squares.

NOTE:

• Stir the carrot mixture often to prevent burning.
• Top with chopped nuts before serving.
• An easy way to peel the skin off pistachios (if you buy them raw and shelled), is to blanch them or soak them in a little bit of boiling water for 2-3 mintues. The skins will peel right off.