Gajar Ka Kheer ~ Carrot Payasam

When Nupur invited the fellow bloggers to participate in the A - Z Vegetable event, I wanted to utilize this opportunity to showcase at least a glimpse of the versatility of Indian cuisine using vegetables. We Indians, known to the world as curry loving brigade use vegetables not only to prepare curries but countless varieties of other delicacies in our kitchens.
Today for the 'G' event, I am using the vegetable Gajar (Hindi) / Gajjari (Kannada). I am posting a recipe for Gajar ka kheer or Carrot payasam. Recipe source is my mom as usual. This delicious dessert is prepared using the juicy, orange carrots as the name suggests. It's flavor is enhanced by the nuts added to the carrots and is just delectable. This is very popular in our family as gajar ka halwa in Hindi movies.

Ingredients:
Carrots, peeled and chopped into medium sized pieces - 1 & 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 2 cups
Almonds - 20
Cashews - 20
Raisins - 20
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Cook carrots till tender either in a pressure cooker or microwave with a cup of milk. Let it cool.
Grind the carrots and milk mixture with almonds, cashews and raisins in a blender till smooth.
(My mom usually prepares this mixture with less milk and stores in refrigerator. She adds milk and sugar whenever needed).
Dissolve the sugar in the remaining milk. Add this and the cardamom powder to the ground mixture. Adjust the milk and sugar to suit your taste.
Serve chilled.

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