GAJAR HALWA

Today is an auspicious day for us. The much sought after thing for a nation..... FREEDOM....was achieved.... years back. However / Where ever we are today, we must remember and respect there had been  a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice to achieve it. Hence this particular day calls for a lot of celebration, remembering that life was too miserable in those days and we are in a far better position today. Being positive only helps to proceed further.

It is indeed quite soothing to see the food world celebrating Independence Day in their own way, presenting colorful recipes. I was planning for a tri-colour rice pilaf and discovered one much loved Master Chef already came up with it. I thought if I am posting something today, it has to be colourful! I decided on this GAJAR HALWA....the photo feature has all the regular colours in use.

Earlier, Gajar Halwa was not a Bengali thing. Somehow, our mother learnt it from somewhere and prepared it, I picked it up that way. In the process, I learnt to prepare instant Khoya kheer at home. Using khoya adds richness to the dish I feel. But in this recipe, I used boiled milk at room temperature, a bit of milk powder! Diary products are not friendly towards me unless I have them chilled!

INGREDIENTS : [for the halwa]

Carrot : 1 kg
Milk : 1coffee mug

Milk Powder : 2-3 tbsp
Sugar : 1/2  small tea cup [you may need more]
Green Cardamom : 4-5
Ghee : 3 tbsp + 2 tbsp
To garnish  I used roasted pistachio, cashew nuts, raisins!

METHOD :

Wash, peel and shred the carrots.

Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a pan, add the crushed green cardamoms. Add the shredded carrots. Stir till the raw smell goes away.

Once, the carrots get softer, add the milk & milk powder! Stir and cover cook at medium to low heat till the milk almost dries up. Stir occasionally.

Now add the sugar & 2 tbsp ghee when the moisture quite dried up!  Cover cook until all the sugar melts and are incorporated well.

As the carrot dessert gets sticky, garnish with the dry fruits, mix well! Serve & have when it's still warm!