This is one of the most favorite sweets of Indians no matter which part of India people belong to.
Carrot Pudding or (Gajar ka Halwa) has also been epitomized by our Bollywood film stars.
The hero will tell his mother, “Maa, mujhe tum apne haathon se banaya hua gajar ka halwa khilao na”.
The melodramatic Maa(mother) with tears in her eyes will say, “ Beta aaj maine tumhare liye gajar ka halwa banaya hai”.
So many movies have Nirupa Roy telling her reel sons, “beta gajar ka halwa tumhe pasand hai na? aaj maine tumhare liye gajar ka halwa banaya hai”
I used to wonder how come Dharamendra, Amitabh, Shatrughan and all the bollywood heroes like only Gajar ka halwa, when there are 1000’s of sweets to choose from….
I don’t know what’s the relation between mother’s and son’s and gajar ka halwa, but I guess gajar ka halwa or any dish made by your mother with love holds memories for every child.
Gajar ka halwa is not so easy to make as it involves a lot of back and shoulder breaking stirring until you see the moisture disappear. So every time we dunk into that bowl of homemade gajar ka halwa, we know that there is the biggest X-factor in it “LOVE”.
I will share with you 2 versions of the gajar ka halwa one made the traditional way and one much easier made in the microwave. The traditional version doesn’t have khoya but I have used khoya in the microwave version. My mom makes fantastic gajar ka halwa without using condensed milk or milk, only carrots in sugar syrup and that tastes awesome too, that could be considered as a third version.
I made a lot of gajar ka halwa as I was expecting guests at home. But you can reduce the quantity to ½ of the proportion that I have mentioned in my recipe.
Ingredients
Carrot -2 kgs grated
Milk -2 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Condensed milk -1 tin
Cardamom powder - 1tsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Cashews – 1 tbsp
Pistachios cut into thin slivers - 1tbsp
Silver leaves(Chandi ka warq)(optional)
Method
Peel, wash and grate the carrots. In a wok add the grated carrots, milk, sugar and cardamom powder and cook until the carrots are soft. Then add one tin of the condensed milk, mix well. Check for sweet, if less, then at this point you can add some more sugar. As Condensed milk is also sweet I added only 1 cup of coarse sugar, but if you are using Fine sugar or Castor sugar you may require more. Add sweet as per your choice, some like it very sweet, some like it just right and yet others like it less sweet.
In a small pan, melt 1tbsp of ghee and add the cashew nuts, fry until golden and pour into the halwa. Mix well. Keep stirring and stirring and stirring till you see that all the milk has been absorbed by the carrots.Be careful don’t let it catch the pan as it will become black and not taste good. So, there is no choice left but keep stirring. Once you see the mixture has become totally dry and left the sides of the pan, you know the gajar ka halwa is done.
Serve hot or cold garnished with Toasted pistachio cut into thin slivers and silver leaves.
GAJAR KA HALWA (Microwave version)
This is the easier version as it doesn’t involve too much of stirring. I have added almonds in this recipe instead of cashewnuts. You can add raisins, almonds, cashews and pistachios or all in gajar ka halwa . It is your choice.
Ingredients
Carrot -1 kg grated
Condensed milk -1 tin
Milk -1 cup
Almonds (peeled and cut into thin slivers)- 1tsp
Cardamom powder - 1tsp
Khoya grated - 1 cup
Method
Add the grated carrot, condensed milk and milk in a bowl and keep on high for 12–15 minutes.
Then add almonds (peeled and cut into thin slivers), Add cardamom powder and grated khoya. Put in the microwave for another 7 minutes. See if done else can keep for some more time.(depending on individual microwave). Your Gajar ka Halwa is done without much of back breaking and shoulder breaking stirring. Remove and Garnish with grated khoya and nuts.
I would like to send this for EC’s Colour in Food Event
For the orange color of the carrot halwa
I would like to send the Gajar ka Halwa also to Purva’s Krishna Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi Festive Food event as the halwa has milk and milk products
Yeh halwa toh pura filmi hai :)
ReplyDeleteGajar ka halwa looks mouth watering, aur kyun na ho Mummy ne baccho ke liye apne haatho se banaya hai :)
Thank you for the lovely entry
Your gajar halwa looks mouthwatering...just added you to my blog roll so that we can keep in touch :)
ReplyDeleteMan I won't visit you blog for one day and then there so much to catch up !! so I have added you in my blogroll for better !!...Coming back to gajar ka halwa...it's looking mouth watering and you made from 2kgs of carrots ..wow! So yaar abi mujhe kab bhula rahi hu ghar..hum to tho thoda halwa khaye na?? I can say...Didi mujhe aapne aaj gajar ka halwa bana hai na !! (filmy way ;) )
ReplyDeleteThanks Purva,Usha & Priti. Usha I have added you to my blogroll also.
ReplyDeleteMouthwaterin yaar..wish someone could grate the carrots for me :-) thanks for participating
ReplyDelete