Gazar ka Halwa(Carrot milk Pudding/dessert)...............without khoya

Today in my Dinner menu is a popular Indian dessert Carrot Milk pudding
What?......pudding?

I mean Gazar Ka Halwa or u can say Carrot Milk Pudding if u are not Indian.
Whatever! name hardly matters when u love this delicious dessert.

 

Come winter,the market is flooded with Reddish pink Carrots.

 

Whenever I look at  these beautiful,sweet and juicy red carrots in market,only one thing comes to my mind and that is this dessert.And this winters i made it so many times that my family & friends are
quite overwhelmed with it.Why not I enjoy it now,soon these pink carrots won't be available and come the orange one
Though orange carrots are equally good for the dessert but not that appealing  as red one.

OK enough chit chat from me.
Well most of my readers are familiar with its recipe,its one of the most popular deserts in India and almost cooked in every home here.
I just want to share my adventure cooking this carrot dessert in my way.

So ,lets begin
with Ingredients first -well,l one of the best thing is that u don't have to run to market before cooking this dessert.
All u need is Carrot and milk and rest is up to u.

Ingredients
Carrots- 1 kg(yes, i was cooking for my family and friends) otherwise 1/2 kg
full cream milk/or toned milk- 6 cups or more (i used one 1/2 L packet and extra one cup,forget to measure the quantity in cups)
                            if u r making 1/2 kg ,then milk 3 cups
Ghee(oil)- 2-4 tbsp (don't want more fat use less)
Sugar -1 cup less or more (it all depends on how much sweet tooth u have )
Cardamom powder-1 tsp
Almonds,Cashew nuts -As much as u want, i like cashew nuts more than almonds in desserts ,so usually add it more.
Raisins -10 -20 raisins or more if u r going to add less sugar in it.

over all my dessert is overloaded with nuts.i used nuts as whole not sliced them.it wud be easy for me to separate them from dessert easily when serving it to my baby.

Now i am ready for cooking ,but before that i want to tell u that this dessert takes a lot of time.Some people claims that it is cooked in 1/2 hour but i can't promise that.In fact i cook it in two days mostly.don't laugh at me.
I love cooking but staying in kitchen is not a passion of my life.
so to ease myself and enjoy my life also, i do this way

• Wash and peel  carrots

• Then grate carrots.Grating in old style is a tedious task

old style grater still in use

thanks for living in 21st century,i use my mini food processor for this



carrots got grated in 5 minutes

•  Put grated carrots in pressure cooker and pressure cook till one whistle(5 minutes)

•  now Carrots are cooked and soft

if u don't have pressure cooker then , heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan. add grated carrots, cook on a medium heat for eight to ten minutes until carrots are soft.(in pressure cooking method u don't have to add that extra ghee for cooking)

I usually do this much in one day after preparing my dinner and enjoy rest of my evening.do rest of cooking next day.but u don't have do my way if u want dessert in ur dinner menu.

• If u have pressure cooked carrots then follow step below otherwise skip it.Take a thick bottom pan,heat one tbsp (or less) of ghee,add grated cooked carrots and saute for 1/2 min.(Even u cud make it without ghee also,if u don't want to put on weight)

• Add milk and green cardamom powder.

 

• Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat Cook on a low heat until milk is almost reduced to half.

This step takes a lot of time,about 40 min or more, but u have nothing to do ,watch ur fav tv serial and keep on checking in between.



still cooking,i tell u it takes a lot of time

• now when milk is reduced to half ,add sugar, and raisins,almonds and cashew nuts and keep cooking while stirring constantly.add nuts while cooking,as they get soft and easy to chew,even my Lil girl can eat them(at least raisins, if mashed a bit)

 

otherwise u can roast raisins in one tbsp of ghee and add it in end
u can add extra ghee at stage if u want ur halwa to have a nice shiny glaze.(i skip this step,i want my dessert to be more healthy less shiny)

• keep cooking until it gets dry.(it means till milk get evaporated completely and it is a single mass without any runny form)

Ha,finally my dessert(Gazar Ka Halwa) is ready.I easily remove the almonds and cashew nuts from it before giving it to my lo.though she knows very well herself what to take in and what to spit out

It can be relished hot as well as cold.
i like it hot in chilly winters evening.
looking delicious !