15th Blogging Anniversary ~ Gajar Ka Halwa / Carrot Halwa Without Grating

Time sure flies by. The idea of an online recipe journal gave birth to this blog, 15 years ago. I would never have believed then that I would either be actively blogging after over a decade or I would still retain my enthusiasm and energy towards it. This virtual kitchen has helped me along the way in nurturing my love for cooking, exploring new cuisines and developing new friendships. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my readers who invest their time in going through my blog and drop an encouraging line.  

Here is some yummy halwa to celebrate the occasion. Carrot halwa which is called gajar ka halwa in Hindi and gajrela in Punjab is a popular sweet dish from the Indian sub continent, with it's origins in northern parts of India. This popular dessert is prepared especially during winter months as the red carrots which are the most preferred variety to prepare this halwa are available during the time. 

Carrot halwa tastes super delicious, even though it is made with only basic ingredients like carrots, milk, sugar, ghee and flavored with cardamom. Red carrots are preferable for the preparation if available but halwa is prepared with orange ones mostly as red carrots are not available everywhere. Forget about calories and use full fat milk for this halwa preparation. The grated carrots are simmered in milk until the milk is completely reduced, which takes time and patience if preparing in large quantities. There are versions made with khoya (milk solids), condensed milk etc. which are richer. Here are some versions I posted previously.

Carrot - Almond Halwa
Carrot - Raisin - Dates Halwa

Carrot Halwa

Low Cal, Microwave Carrot Halwa

I have come across versions which involved no grating carrots and decided to try a small portion this time. The carrots are cut into chunks instead of grating and sautéed in ghee and then pressure cooked and slightly mashed in this method. I did not miss the taste but surely missed the texture of the grated carrots which I am more used to but this method definitely saves the time and work.

Ingredients: 2 - 3 servings
1 pound carrots / 2 cups, peeled carrots cut into chunks

1 cup full fat milk

2 to 3 tbsp. ghee

1/2 cup sugar (I used about 2 tbsp. less sugar)

1/8 tsp. ground cardamom 

Directions:

* Heat ghee in a pan, preferably a non-stick one. Add carrot chunks to it and sauté for a couple of minutes.

* Add the sautéed carrot chunks and milk to a steel vessel and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

* When the valve pressure is gone, remove the carrots and mash them with a masher or back of a wooden spoon.

* Add the mashed carrots along with the milk back to the pan and cook, stirring now and then. Mash if any big chunks of carrots are seen. 

* The mixture begins to thicken as the milk  starts to reduce in quantity.

* Add sugar and cardamom when carrot-milk mixture begins one big mass or only a lit bit of milk is left in the pan.

* Keep cooking as the mixture again becomes loose because of the addition of sugar. Cook until the mixture slightly thickens and turn off the stove. 

* Garnish with nuts. Halwa can be served either chilled or warm. 

This is going to be my contribution to this week's Blogging marathon, with the theme 'Winter Produce'. Check the page link to see what other marathoners are cooking.

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'Indian Sweets and Snacks' - A Recap

Readers who follow my blog might me aware that I am a part of blogging marathon group where we sign up to post recipes each month. April and September months are meant for month long marathons where we post recipes each day with set themes, barring Sundays. I have been part of these mega marathons since it started excepting a few owing to my India trips. I posted some traditional sweets and snacks from India this September. Before posting round up of those recipes, below are links for my previous mega marathons with the mentioned themes. If interested, click on those links and you will find about 26 to 30 dishes in each category.

Apr 2019 A - Z Indian Biryani / Pulao / Khichdi Series
Apr 2018 A - Z Indian Street Food
Sep 2016 A - Z Indian Rice Dishes
Apr 2016 A - Z Andhra Cuisine
Sep 2015 Buffet on the Table
Apr 2015 Fire up Your Oven (Baking Recipes)
Sep 2014 Around the World in 30 Days (International Recipes)
Apr 2014 Indian Food Odyssey - Recipes from 30 States
Sep 2013 A - Z Event with 4 Set Themes
Apr 2013 Event with 4 Different themes


This September's marathon was based on Indian sweets and snacks, divided between four themes. This marathon was a learning curve with some surprises thrown in, indeed. I would have never thought that I would even try making the tricky khandvi or the tedious khakras from Gujarat, at home. For a person who doesn't even make urad dal vadas to avoid deep frying, Uttar Pradesh's dahi gujiyas were a revelation. I had no idea such a recipe even existed where a batter would act as an outer covering for stuffing a gujiya instead of a flour based dough and more surprising was that I enjoyed it with full gusto. Neither I had an inkling that I get to try and enjoy a delicious treat sitting in my home, that was originally created for the officers of British Raj in Ooty, a hill station in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. There was this snack from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, a spicy sev that was created to satiate the Mughal emperors and now boasts a GI tag to it's name. What was new and extremely pleasing in the sweets category was a simple yet flavorful kheer made with coconut water, coconut milk and the tender coconut meat which has become now my 'favorite' kheer. The black eyed peas based dumpling, pandoli was an interesting addition to my idli repertoire. Apart from these, if you are interested to see what other delicious Indian snacks I got to try this marathon, check out the below links.


The first week was meant for sweets and I went ahead with simple yet festive treats keeping in mind Navratri and Diwali festivals. What conjures up in my mind when I think about an Indian sweet is a laddu / burfi / kheer / halwa, or a stuffed sweet rather than dairy based sweets. My mind automatically associates the latter category or the deep fried varieties like jalebis / jhangri kind to a sweet shop / bakery somehow. I included a recipe from each of the above categories along with the ever popular jamun recipe, a dry one this time. 

Malaadu / Hurigadale Unde (South India)

Dry Gulab Jamun (North India)

Coconut Burfi / Kobbari Mithai 

Almond Halwa / Badam Halwa

Elaneer Payasam (Tamil Nadu)

Godhuma Sojjappalu (Andhra Pradesh)

The second week's theme was to pick some traditional snacks from one particular state. I did not have to think much and blindly picked Gujarat, a state in the western part of India that happens to be the land of farsans aka snacks. The local cuisine not only has a wide range of deep fried snacks that have become popular among the Indian diaspora but also can boast about guilt free ones. I went ahead with the latter category picking the healthy, traditional snacks that can be enjoyed by everyone, including diabetics. Five of those dishes are steamed snacks and most of them can be enjoyed as a mini meal too. 

Damni Dhokla (Gujarat)

Doodhi Muthia / Lauki Muthia (Gujarat)

Dal Pandoli (Gujarat)

Sev Khamani (Gujarat)

Methi Khakhra (Gujarat)

Pressure Cooker Khandvi (Gujarat)

The third week was a free choice and we could pick whatever we preferred. I went ahead with some more guilt free, regional snacks that were mostly quick fix ones as well. None were deep fried except the kalmi vada chaat, where I used the vadas that were fried as part of the final week theme.

Bafauri (Chattisgarh / Madhya Pradesh)

Soy Beans Guggillu / Sundal (South India)

Jhal Muri (West Bengal)

Roasted Phool Makhana

Kalmi Vada Chaat

Spicy Corn Chaat

The fourth week was meant for eight traditional Indian snacks that were agreed upon beforehand by the participating team. The snacks chosen were from four corners of the country and a few proved to be new and delectable surprises to me.

'Aakukoora' Pappu Chekkalu (Andhra Pradesh)

Baked 'Millet' Handvo (Gujarat)

Ratlami Sev (Madhya Pradesh)

'Jowar' Kothimbir Vadi (Maharasthra)

Kalmi Vada (Rajasthan)

Ooty Varkey (Tamil Nadu)

Dahi Gujiya (Uttar Pradesh)

Vegetable Chop / Bhejetebil Chop (West Bengal)

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#104.

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Almond Halwa / Badam Halwa

So far in the series,
Malaadu / Hurigadale Unde
Dry Gulab Jamun
Coconut Burfi / Kobbari Mithai

There was a time when I didn't have to bother about what I was putting into my mouth or worry about calories, which sounds like a bygone era when I put it like that. Almond halwa and burfis seem to belong to that period, considering that I haven't prepared either of them in the past 16 years. Yes, you read that right. I somehow remember the last time I made badam burfi in my kitchen, though I cannot tell you what I cooked for my lunch, a couple of days ago. 

These almond based sweets made a regular appearance in my home during the early years of my cooking and I kinda had become an expert in making almond burfis. That was the first sweet I learned on my own after moving to US without my mother in the picture and it was kind an accomplishment for me who hadn't done cooking in a real sense up until then. Somehow over the years I have stopped preparing them as I mentioned earlier and recently my husband was mentioning about my badam burfi / halwa to the kids who seemed to not remember ever eating those. 

And so I thought of including this badam halwa aka Indian version almond pudding, which is a super delicious treat in this week's sweet series. There is no need for any occasion to enjoy this yummy halwa though it makes a great addition to any festive platter. It is also a common item sold in Indian sweet shops. This is a quite easy, straight forward recipe for even newbie cooks since it tests only one's stirring skills. Blanched almonds are ground to a paste and cooked along with ghee and sugar until it thickens and leaves the sides of the pan, resulting in a literally melt in mouth halwa. All one needs to do is to not to leave the stove unattended and stir the halwa frequently which is not very tedious though it sounds so. Use a non stick pan to cook this and there is no need to stir continuously that much, I feel. 

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: Around 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup almonds 
3/4 cup milk
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. ghee
1/4 tsp. saffron strands or 2 drops of yellow food color (optional)
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom (optional)

Directions:
1. Soak saffron strands in 1 or 2 tbsp. hot water if using and keep aside.
2. Rinse and add almonds to a microwave safe bowl. Pour enough water to cover almonds.

 3. Microwave the almonds along with water for 3 minutes and carefully remove the bowl. Carefully drain the hot water and rinse them once. Alternatively, the almonds can be soaked overnight or can be immersed in hot water for sometime. This is done to facilitate the peeling of almonds. Or one can always use blanched almonds instead and avoid steps 2 and 3.

4. Peel the skins of almonds one by one. Place an almond between your thumb and the next two fingers. 

* Put a slight pressure on the almond with the thumb and do the upward slide motion. 

* The skin will come off. Repeat the step with the remaining almonds.

* Transfer the almonds to a blender and add milk. Grind them to a fine paste. Add a little extra milk or water if not grinding easily. Transfer the mixture to a pan, preferably a non stick one. One can use a thick bottomed pan as well but the chances are more of the mixture getting stuck to the bottom and it may need constant scraping. 

* Add 2 to 2.5 tbsp. ghee to the ground paste and put the pan on medium flame.

* Cook the mixture for five minutes, stirring frequently and add sugar.

* The mixture becomes loose when sugar is stirred into the paste. If you notice any tiny clumps of almond paste, rub them with the back of a spoon or spatula you are using.

* Keep stirring frequently and continue to cook. Add saffron strands along with the water if using, stir well and keep cooking. Keep scraping the sides of the pan as well while cooking to avoid the almond paste sticking. The below picture is after 15 minutes of stirring / cooking and you notice that it has thickened. It kind of resembles semolina halwa in looks. (I kept changing the heat setting to medium and a little lower than medium on my gas stove while cooking.) 

* Add the remaining ghee at this point and continue to cook. 

*  The mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan and one would even notice the mixture turning porous (holes appear) when stirred as in Mysore pak preparation, though not as much. One can add a little ground cardamom at this point for flavor, if preferred. Keep stirring further and cook until the mixture clumps into a single mass and leaves the sides of the pan. Also the ghee would have completely absorbed by the halwa at this point. (It takes about 10 to 12 minutes after the ghee addition.)

* Turn off the stove. Transfer the halwa to a container or serve it warm. Garnish with chopped almonds before serving, if preferred.

Notes:
1. One can add more ghee in the halwa preparation, if preferred.
2. Blanched almonds can be used instead of soaking and peeling the almonds.


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#104.You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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