Saturday, November 24, 2007

How to make AMAZING Gajar Halwa in minimum effort. ;)

You Need

1. Carrots ( A kilo maybe because the end result is really good)
2. 1 Can of Condensed Milk ( People in India SHOULD use Khoya/Khawa)
3. Sugar ( I have not worked out the exact quantity so keep the whole pack ready)
4. Nuts ( Almonds and Cashews pre-soaked in water for 20 minutes and sliced)
5. Ghee ( About 3-4 Table spoons for a kilo of carrots)
6. Cardamom ( 6-8 crushed)
7. A decent frying pan


How to do it?


1. Shred the carrots ( Not too fine because then you'll end up with carrot porridge)

2. Let the pan heat up and add Ghee to it ( watch the ghee and make sure you have shredded carrots and a wooden ladle ready before it gets all heated up)

3. Add the carrots and cook with constant stirring ( Please don't take phone calls during this time because even a slight relaxation can burn the whole thing. The Gossip can wait). This is a hydrophobic recipe. So by frying the carrots in ghee we are essentially removing the inherent water that all the vegetables have. :)

4. When the carrots shrivel up, look pale and dehydrated ( Oh Gosh! What a way to put it) remove the pan from flame and start adding sugar. Let it melt into the carrots. The ideal amount of sugar is till the time it soaks the poor dehydrated carrots and makes a sugary film around them ( Yes, it is fattening but when you are doing something wrong, you should do it right!)

5. Put the pan back on flame ( but reduce the intensity of the flame) and now it is time to add the condensed milk. Well,milk should go in last because it burns faster than sugar. Do not pour the whole can at once because then you will have to wait till the the vapor goes off, forms clouds and comes back as rain!! Let the carrots be hugged by sugar and blanketed by milk. You will see it boiling. The ideal "Gajar Halwa" aroma has a hint of syrup and a bit of carrot that gets you bewitched or sick if you stick your nose inside the pan for too long. However if you have your roomies leaving their "Saturday-afternoon-in-front-of-the-computer" positions and coming to see what is going on in the kitchen you are doing a good job. :)

6. Let the members of the pan mingle and make a homogeneous mixture. Then add the sliced nuts and cardamom. Let it cook for some more time. The time to get it down is when you feel really scared to leave it unattended. :D

How you serve it


There is only one way to serve Gajar Ka Halwa. Hot halwa with cold vanilla ice cream on the side. If you are really the "entertainer", put a leaf of mint on the ice cream.

Lines like, " Aao na!! Maine apne hathon se tumhare liya gajar ka halwa banaya hain"
and a bit of eyelid batting along with that go well with the dish and should be done without the fear of sounding stupid.

How you burn it

Around 60 laps in a 25 meter Pool
OR
6 KM of serious jogging

6 comments:

Zaphod Boozlebrox said...

Addendum:

OR
Chatting with someone important enough to forget the gajar ka halwa. :P

Saee said...

@ charu

I keep the impossibles out. :P :P

Ameya said...

hmmm... mouth waterin.. gajar ka halwa is my favorite! :)
I liked the interspersed comments comin like the badams and kajus in the halwa!
Thisis something that u have in the winters sayin "your body needs the fruis and vegetables that the season natually offers".
So I liked all of it,except the "how to burn it" part!!
If u r eatin somethin like this on a holiday,it should rather be followed by a nice nap than those exercises u mention!! :P

sam said...

well frankly speaking..just a mention of'GAJAR KA HALWA' wud have been mouth watering...but the long recipe has somehow made me feel exhausted ;)...anyways i liked the last para abt burning calories..hope u enjoyed ur own recipe..but wud like 2 c u serve me the same manner u've described it hehe luv ya:)

Saee said...

@ Ameya..
Thankoo..and I have been told that you made yummy halwa yourself a few days back. My mom and dad were singing your praises. :) So you dont need this recipe. :)
@ Sameer
Yes, you will get this kind of halwa when I come to India in July. My parents have invited you over for dinner havent they!? :)

शिरीष said...

Hay Sai,
This recipe is really good.It is tasty not because of the ingradients mentioned in it but rather the ingredients not mentioned in the recipe.These ingredients are your crispy comments
"Watch the Ghee.Make sure...."
"Please dont take the phone calls..Gossip can wait"
"Saturday-afternoon-in-front-of-computer"
Ameya rightly said that these comments are like badam and kaju.

The last filmi dialog reminds me of Hindi films of 1970s where Gajjar ka Halwa was the favorite dish for celebration.In fact I have a hunch that we Marathi people must have learnt this recipe from Hindi films.

You keep on writing such recipes.I think this is your second one. We enjoy(even)your recipes.