Carrot Halwa / Gajar Ka Halwa

This is one of my favourite sweets / desserts. I enjoy making this and love the bright colour of the carrots, and the taste of carrots cooked in milk.... hmmmm.... It is so easy to make. The only sad part is the while making it may seem like you are making a lot but it gets over in less than two days... :-(

Preparation Time : 20 minutes
Cooking Time : 40 minutes to 1 hour
Serves : 4

Ingredients

Delhi Carrots - 7 to 8
Milk - as required (approximately 1.5 cups)
Sugar - 3/4th cup (increase / decrease to taste)
Cardamom - 5 to 6 powdered
Ghee - 2 tbsp

For garnishing

Ghee - 3/4 tbsp
Raisins - 2 tbsp
Slivered Almonds - 2 tbsp
Slivered Pista (Optional) - 1 tbsp

Procedure

1. Peel and grate all the carrots.
2. In a wide bottomed thick vessel, add the grated carrots and milk.
3. Set it on a low-medium flame uncovered and cook till most of the milk is absorbed and the carrots are cooked.
4. Add the sugar and increase the flame to medium and stir in between to ensure the carrots don't stick to the bottom.
5. When all the sugar is absorbed and the mixture start getting dry, increase the flame to a high and stir continuously till the mixture becomes completely dry with no traces of water.
6. At this stage add some ghee and continue to stir
7. Meanwhile heat the ghee to prepare the garnishing, add the raisins, when they puff up, switch off the flame and add the almonds and pista and immediately pour on the halwa and give a quick mix for a minute
8. Add the cardamom powder and mix to blend all the flavours.
9. Make sure there is no water, allow to cool and transfer to a container and store it in the refrigerator.
10. Serve hot / cold with / without vanilla ice cream

Note:

1. Non-availability of Delhi carrots should not deter you from trying this dish. Go ahead and try this with your regular carrots too.
2. The grating of carrots is the only TASK here. Otherwise this dish is a breeze through dessert which can never go wrong
3. You can add a few slivered almonds and pista at the end on the top for that classy look.:-)