Gajar (Carrot) ka Halwa – Winter Delight

When hubby N brought in a box of gajar halwa from the best sweets shop in the town – I was really excited! However, I was a bit taken aback when I opened the box – it was not red or anywhere near – but all nearly white with an overload of khoya/ mawa. Still, I put in a spoonful in my mouth and could not believe it qualified to be called ‘gajar’ ka halwa. There was ghee, khoya, sugar, cardamom and whole pieces of dryfruits. Looked like they did not even bother to grate the carrots – there were chunks which still had a bite to them. I don’t think I ate more than a spoon of this – what a huge disappointment. No wonder mom always believed in making her own soft and creamy version – even if it was five kilos for a birthday party. Nostalgic with memories of the entire house filled with the aroma of carrots cooking in bubbling milk with a hint of cardamom – I decided to make my own and could not help swelling in pride when hubby N and baby A kept asking for more.

Gajar ka Halwa in its glory!

Ingredients –
Carrots – 1 kg, red thick ones
Ghee – 3 tbsp or more if you like
Milk – 2.5 cups or more if you like it creamier
Cardamom powder – 2 tsp
Sugar – 4 tbsp or more if you like things sweeter/ the carrots are not sweet
Dryfruits like cashews and almonds – a handful, chopped

Lets enjoy it together

Method –
1. Wash and peel the carrots. Grate them. I use my hand grater as I don’t deal with large quantities. It is done in 15 minutes. However, you can use the grating blade of your food processor.
2. Add 2 tbsp of ghee in a wide thick bottomed kadhai and put it on low-medium heat.
3. Add the grated carrots and cook, turning around every few minutes. We want the carrots to go soft and pale – that happens in 15 minutes.
4. Add the milk and let this cook on a low flame. Keep stirring at regular intervals.
5. Now, the liquid released by the carrots and milk will start to boil and evaporate. Once most of it is gone, add in the sugar and cardamom powder.
6. Let this cook till the carrots get glossy and all of the liquid evaporates. This will take nearly 30 more minutes.
7. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of ghee and mix.
8. Cool and store in the refrigerator.
9. When ready to serve, re-heat and add in chopped dry fruits for garnishing.

Notes –
1. You can add as much of ghee, milk, sugar as you want – to make things richer and creamier. The amount of sugar I have added is very less, I like the taste of carrots to prevail.
2. It is a notion that this is a tiresome job, but it is not true. Once you are done with the grating, there is not much active cooking involved. Give it a shot!

Kesar Badam Laddu – a bite of heaven

I am so tired of waiting for winter to arrive in Delhi. It is so sunny during the days that it is impossible to venture out till 6PM and so humid during the nights that you cant sleep without the air conditioning on. Summer is not getting over and I get up every morning hoping that I may feel some chill in the morning air – but am disappointed every day. Now, I am so desperate for winters not because I love wearing layers and hiding behind sweaters and jackets, but for the wonderful food options it brings along. I love going to the weekly vegetable market in winters – there are rows and rows of fresh greens, heaps of peas, carrots and cauliflower that I can never have enough of. I am also able to cook dishes which are on the richer side, in the name of ‘foods that keep you warm’ :). They say that our digestive system goes lethargic in summers and gets more agile and accepting in winters – and hence most rich halwa(s) and other sweet treats are usually prepared in winters.

A plate full of yellow glossy delights..

I had been eyeing so many almond halwa/ burfi and laddu recipes on the food blogosphere and was longing to try them. As evident from my rant, I was waiting for a hint of winter to get to it, but totally gave in the temptation and went ahead with these kesar badam laddus this weekend. And how I loved myself for my decision! It was an absolute delight and these bright, yellow balls of almond joy filled our mouths and hearts with their delicate flavors. The mild hint of cardamom along with the saffron pushed the entire thing to a new level. I could not help notice the articles about eating healthy in the newspapers as it was ‘World Heart Day’, but overcame my guilt by reminding myself that this did not contain a single drop of fat/ ghee. The natural oil within the almonds was enough for these to get soft and glossy. This recipe is what I evolved during the cooking process and is an amalgamation of all the recipes I went through. Another reason why I wanted to record this on my blog.

No one can eat just one – my challenge!

Ingredients –
Almonds/ Badam – 2 cups
Milk – Half cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Cardamom / Ilaichi powder – Half tsp
Saffron/ Kesar strands – 3 pinches
Almonds – 10 – 12 for garnishing (optional)

Method –
1. Blanch the almonds. For this, put the almonds in a wide bowl with water. Keep the bowl on the flame for 5-7 minutes, the water will start to boil. Switch off the gas, and cover the bowl. After 10 minutes or so of waiting you should be able to pick the almonds and remove the peels easily. Alternatively, soak almonds overnight and peel them in the morning.
2. Spread the peeled almonds on a kitchen towel so that they dry up a bit.
3. Put the almonds along with one-fourth cup of milk in a blender jar and blend to a smooth paste.
4. Put a thick bottomed wok on the gas, on low-medium heat.
5. Pour in rest of the milk in the wok and let it come to a boil (1 minute).
6. Add the almond paste, sugar, cardamom powder and saffron strands.
7. Now, let this mixture cook for a good 20-25 minutes, stirring continuously.
8. Meanwhile, chop the almonds for garnishing to small bits and spread them on a plate.
9. Once the mixture reaches a soft dough consistency, switch off the gas and let it cool. It will get all glossy due to the almond oil.
10. While still warm, pull out small portions of the mixture and roll it into a small ball/ laddu with your palms. Roll this laddu on the plate containing the almond bits so that they stick to the surface of the laddu.
11. Repeat for the entire mixture. Keep the laddus in the refrigerator.
12. Pick one whenever you want and bite into the chewy soft ball. You will feel transformed to paradise, as the texture of almonds and flavors of saffron and cardamom fill your mouth and soul. Repeat with the rest of them! 🙂

Pineapple Halwa

While I come across n number of inviting recipes and food pictures while I blog –hop, there are certain ones which I am totally tempted to try as soon as the same evening or maybe the nearest weekend. The simple ones, I just make a mental note of, and do not bookmark them – assuming I would remember the steps in the short term. However, so it happens that weekends come and go – and I get so busy in cooking what I already have in my to-cook-queue, that these experimental one’s get pushed behind in my memory. Now, one of these is pineapple halwa, or rather sooji halwa flavored with pineapple – which I admired for its simplicity and a great way to incorporate the fiber and vitamin C rich fruit in baby A’s diet. Since she makes weird faces on tasting a pineapple slice (before rejecting it), she loves pineapple jam – so I deduced she would like this halwa. This was like 3 months ago. The idea came rushing back to my mind – when I saw hubby N coaxing baby A to have a piece of fresh pineapple, which he had acquired in the weekend vegetable shopping. I left whatever I was doing and dashed towards the laptop – to search for the recipe. Futile attempt! There was no way I could reach the exact same page, same blog that I read 3 months ago, in the ever expanding food blogosphere. Not ready to give up, I recalled and recreated the recipe in my mind and entered the kitchen with full resolve. Twenty minutes gone, and I was beaming with a bowl of glossy, melt-in-your-mouth soft halwa – flavored with pineapple. I thought of noting the recipe down ASAP – at least I will have it on my own blog to look up , next time :).

pineapple halwa

Ingredients – (I don’t use teaspoons and tablespoons for this one, just the same cup for measuring everything proportionately)
Sooji/ Rava/ Semolina – 1 cup
Ghee – ½ cup
Sugar – ¾ cup
Water – 1.5 cup
Fresh pineapple chunks – enough to make 1 cup of puree. Li’l bit less or more won’t hurt.

Method –
1. First thing, cut the pineapple to obtain chunks that are free from the hard, middle stock. Dunk these in some water and put on the stove on a low flame. We are trying to soften up the fruit, so as to obtain a smooth puree. Let this boil for 10 minutes. Discard the water. Blend the chunks in a blender/ mixer/ food processor to a smooth puree.
2. In a heavy bottomed kadhai/ wok, heat half cup of ghee.
3. Add the rava and roast on a sim flame, stirring continuously. Do this till the rava looks light, fluffy and gives out a roasted aroma.
4. Meanwhile, heat the 1.5 cups of water in a pan and dissolve sugar in it. It would be better if the pan has a long handle, I use the tea pan. Why? See next step.
5. Slowly add the hot liquid to the rava, stirring so that lumps are not formed. Add slowly and let the rava absorb all the liquid. Be very careful in this step – the gas is on, the rava is hot, the liquid is hot and things will spurt as you stir.
6. Keep cooking and stirring. When half of the water is absorbed, add in the pineapple puree.
7. More stirring, till the puree is incorporated well and the halwa looks glossy and fluffy.
8. Serve hot, with an optional garnishing of pineapple chunks.

Note –
1. Some people like the halwa with pineapple chunks. In that case, you can just roughly blend the boiled chunks rather than a smooth puree.
2. I think I also came across a similar mango sheera recipe too, which used mango puree instead of pineapple. Maybe that would be my next project.

Sending this across to Nupur’s blog, for the ‘Kids Delight – Fruits’ event, as this is how I hide fruits in baby A’s food.
Linking it to Srivalli’s page too.

Sending this to Srav’s Culinary Concepts blog for the ‘Spring Seasonal Food’ event, as pineapple is a spring fruit.