Gajar ka halwa (carrot halwa)

After eight years of break during which I was pushed away from blogging by the double duties of a mother and a teacher, the lock down induced by COVID-19 pandemic pulled me back to my passion of writing about cooking food that I like to eat and serve.    
"Carrots are excellent source of vitamin A; they are good for your eyes". I remember my amma saying this whenever I hesitated to have them. She tried various recipes with it to make me eat carrots. I was still a little resistant, except I was happy to have it when it was part of mixed vegetable curry and masala gravy. 'Gajar ka halwa' caught my attention when I watched a few Hindi movies on Doordarshan at that time.I thought, hmm..a sweet treat with carrots need to be tried, but it again took many years when I first tried and had it for the first time. It was the perfect sweet dish which satisfied my sweet tooth. Do try it out! 

Ingredients:

• Carrots (grated) - 1/2 kg 
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Whole milk - 2 cups 
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Condensed Milk - 2 tbsp (optional)
• Cardamom powder - 1-2 tsp
• Mixed Nuts (Pistachios, Cashews, Almonds) - 2 tsp (sliced)

Method:

• Heat a pan and add 1/2 tsp ghee to it.
• When it is hot, add mixed nuts. 
• Once nuts are roasted, remove them to a plate 
• In the same pan, add remaining ghee. When it is hot, add grated carrots and fry for a few minutes till it softens 
• Add milk to the carrots in the pan and bring the milk to boil 
• Keep the stove on a medium flame and stir the contents in the pan constantly 
• Add sugar and condensed milk and continue to stir well 
• Continue to heat the mixture on a medium flame for about 20 minutes or until all the milk has been absorbed 
• Keep stirring until halwa leaves the sides of the pan 
• Add cardamom powder and mix well. Add half of the roasted nuts and mix. 
• Garnish with the remaining nuts 
• Serve hot or chilled with a scoop of vanilla ice cream