Gajar Ka Halwa /Carrot Pudding

A popular and traditional Indian dessert made with carrot and milk.

Gajar halwa/Gajrela is a very delicious dessert /sweeet of North India especially popular in Punjab.Grated carrots are cooked in milk and sugar and then pure ghee and nuts are added to give a nice taste and crunch,addition of khoya is optional as you can make this only with milk,or can add some condensed milk.

Prep time- 10 min
cooking time 20 min
Difficulty level-easy
Cuisine-Indian
Type-dessert

INGREDIENTS-

• Carrot-1 kg
• Full fat milk-1 liter
• Sugar-250 gms
• Khoya/solidified milk-1 cup*
• Cashew pieces /Kaju-1/2 cup
• Cardamom powder-1/2 tsp
• Ghee-5 tbsp
• Pistachio -to garnish

PROCEDURE-

1. Scrape the carrots and grate them .
2. Heat  2 tbsp ghee in a heavy bottom pan,add the grated carrots and saute for a minute on medium heat.
3. Now add milk and cook on medium heat till the moisture almost dries up .
4. Add sugar and cook till it thickens again.
5. Add grated mawa ,cashew pieces and cardamom powder.
6. Mix and add 2-3 tbsp of ghee and stir fry for few seconds.
7. Serve hot .

Instant khoya/Mawa Recipe:

Take 2 cups of full cream milk powder in a glass bowl, add 2 tbsp of ghee or butter in it and mix well. Add some water and make a soft dough. Cover and microwave for 1 minute or steam in a closed container for 3-4 minutes. You may now mash or grate it and use it as required.

Note-

1-Use red Indian carrots for a nice and bright red colour,I used the American orange carrots,hence it has a orange red colour..
2-In U.P we use a good amount of ghee to fry the carrots(approx. 1 cup) and that truly enhance the taste:)

Instant Badam Halwa / Instant Almond Halwa

Quick and easy Almond dessert

On Diwali or any festive occasions we make many sweets and savory items to enjoy with our family and friends. Many sweets are made fresh, while some can be planned and made ahead of time.

Badam ka halwa is a sweet which can be made and stored in the refrigerator and easily remain good for about 15 days.you can just heat it in the microwave and serve to your guests.

Traditionally, almonds are soaked overnight, peeled and then made into a paste. Then the paste is stir fried in ghee and this process takes quite a bit of time and effort. I have learnt this instant type of quick recipe from my mother who is an awesome cook.

You have to grind raw almonds to make a slightly coarse powder and then stir fry in ghee and then sugar and water is added and cooked on medium heat till it thicken .You can also use milk instead of water or use half half both.

Prep time-5 min
Cooking time-20 min
Difficulty level - easy
Cuisine-Indian
Type-dessert
Serve-5

Badam halwa

INGREDIENTS

• 100 gms /1 cup - Almonds/badam
• 1.5 tbsp - Semolina/sooji
• 5 tbsp - Ghee /Clarified butter 
• 1/2 cup - Sugar/chini
• A pinch of - Saffron/kesar
• 1/2 tsp - Cardamom powder/elaichi
• 1/2 cup - Milk
• 1/2 cup - Water

COOKING DIRECTIONS-

1. Grind dry almonds in a mixer to make a powder.
2. Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan.
3. Add semolina and fry it it become pink in color.
4. Now add almond powder and stir on low heat till it start giving a nice aroma.
5. Add milk and water and cook ,keep stirring to avoid lumps
6. When water start boiling add sugar and saffron.
7. Cook it started to thicken and almost dries up.
8. Now add cardamom powder and mix.
9. Serve hot.