Carrot Halwa

I had a huge bag of carrots that had been sitting in the refrigerator for a good 2 weeks before I decided that something needed to be done with it. I decided to make one of my favorite Indian sweets- Gajar Ka Halwa.

This dessert is a bit time-consuming and takes a little over an hour to prepare, but it is a delicious treat that is well worth the time spent making it.

I followed the basic steps in Manjula's recipe video while making the halwa.

Ingredients:
4 cups grated carrots
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk (I used 2 %)
3 Tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp powdered cardamom
A handful of raisins
A pinch of saffron

Method:
Heat the ghee in a large saucepan. Toss in the raisins and fry them. They will absorb the ghee and plump up. Remove and set aside. Next, add the grated carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes till the carrots are coated well with the ghee.

Pour the heavy cream and milk into the saucepan, add the saffron strands and cook till the milk-cream mixture comes to a boil, about 3-5 minutes. Turn down the heat, add the raisins back and continue to cook, stirring constantly, till the carrots absorb all the liquid, about 45-50 minutes.

Add the powdered cardamom and sugar. Mix well, stir continuously and continue cooking till all the sugar melts and the carrot mixture is almost dry, 5-7 minutes.

Serve hot or cold. I like to have this warm with a good scoop of vanilla ice cream.