Gajrela | Gajar Halwa or Carrot pudding, a North Indian sweet delicacy

Every one has good memories and moments to cherish lifelong. Especially, if those memories are from your days of childhood, then  who doesn't crave to live those moments once again !! 

Winter is here and reminisce my childhood days when we used to enjoy one month winter break. Respite from the monotony of school and the mundane schedule.

Winter vacation was all about picnics with family, interesting hobby classes and sumptuous Kumaoni food, which we ate together while sitting in our balconies under the sun.Winter is a season of Lazy months. Cladded in woolens we all hate to move out from the warm and cozy layers of our blankets. Strangely at this time of the year even our eating habits suddenly turn upside down. From home made delicacies with extra layer of butter to the greasy items like halwas of different types, pakoras, samosas and stuffed parathas. Parathas stuffed with mashed potatoes, radish or cottage cheese tops the hitlist in these months.

When i talk of winters i cant miss mentioning my all time favorite 'Gajar Halwa' cooked by my mom. Delicious in taste and very addictive. Its from my mom that i have inherited an inclination towards cooking. Mums are outstanding cooks! My mom's cooking has always been experimental, innovative and absolutely random and she always told me that food cooked with love can never go wrong. Now when i have taken over this task completely, i know what she meant.

Winters are here and there are time when i return from office and feel the urge to eat something sweet. I miss my ma's homemade love. She would always cook loads of halwa, store in the freezer and serve hot whenever we kids troubled her with our dessert pangs ! Today is again one of those days when i crave for 'Maa ke haath ka halwa' but alas! Plight of a married daughter. She has to manage her cravings on her own! 

Determined to savor some warm traditional winter sweet, i stopped by my local grocery stop and grabbed some carrots. 45 minutes quick work from grating to plating, all was set! Gajar halwa is my husband's favorite too and i was happy to see the shine in his eyes when he smelt the aromas. One bite and he was blown away. Aaaah! I loved what i cooked and my cravings were certainly gratified, but yes, i am still waiting for my mum's version because that has to be nothing but DIVINE !

Ingredients:-

380 gms - Grated Carrots

380 gms - Full cream milk

100 gms - Sugar

2 tbsp - Ghee (Clarified butter)

1/2 tsp - Cardamom powder

3 tbsp - chopped almonds

3 tbsp - chopped cashews

4 tbsp - raisins

Steps to follow:-

1. Heat a wok and put some ghee.

2. Keep the flame low and add grated carrots. Saute them for 3-4 minutes on a low flame.

3. Add sugar and mix vigorously and till the sugar melts and caramelizes well. This will take 5-6 mins.

4. Now add milk and give a good stir !

5. Add cardamom powder and lid the pan for 7-10 mins on a low flame so that the carrots get cooked. Keep stirring intermittently. 

NOTE: You are recommended to use a non-stick wok/kadhai.

6. Unlid the pan and add the chopped nuts and raisins and now let the halwa cook on a low flame

7.  Halwa is ready, once the milk content has reduced fully and has become of khoya texture.

8. Serve hot with pistachios and almond slivers.

Variations:

1. You could also use heavy cream to get a more creamy khoya content. Reduce milk content to 250 gms and use 2 tbsp heavy cream (brand: Amul)

2. Instead of adding raw nuts you can pan roast the chopped nuts in 1/2 tsp ghee and then add to the halwa after is pan is unlid.

3. At times i also add 1/4 tsp rose water as it gives sweet fragrance to the dessert.

Dates & Almond Kheer

'Kheer' is synonymous with Indian Households. It is the best way to cherish sweet moments with family during festivals and a perfect prasadam for pujas at home. We Indians just love to be traditional, don't we? :) 

Be it a Rice Kheer or Sabudana Kheer, we simply dote on it! Its a culture which has cascaded down from generation to generations - from our Grand Mothers to our Moms and then to us. 

If you yearn for the goodness of your granny's or mommy's home-cooked sweet delicacy, try this Dates & Almond Kheer and it will bring back the authentic flavors of Nostalgia!

Ingredients:-

Milk - 500 ml

Water - 100 ml

Dates (de-seeded) - 30 gms

Almonds (soaked in water for 3 hrs) - 20 gms

Pistachios - 15 gms

Kishmish - Handful of them

Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp

Rose water - 2-3 drops

Sugar - As per taste

Saffron - 2-3 threads

Ghee - 1/2 tbsp

Steps to Follow:-

1. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the milk and water and give it a boil.  (Set aside 1/4 cup of milk)

2. Let the milk simmer in low flame. Meanwhile, peel off the almond skin and coarsely grind around 20 gms of Dates and 10 gms of skinned almonds in a mixer along with the milk kept aside.

3. Add the dates-almond paste to the milk and stir thoroughly and let it simmer for another few mins.

4. Chop the remaining dates, skinned almonds & pistachios and add them to the mixture.

5. Add rose water, cardamom, kishmish to the kheer.Give it a stir.

6. Check for sweetness and if you wish to add sugar, add it as per your taste.

NOTE: As per the sweetness required, you can replace sugar with condensed milk as well. 

7. Once the milk has reduced a bit in quantity and has slightly thickened, turn Off the flame.

8. Let the kheer cool and transfer in a bowl and garnish with saffron and almond at the time of serving.

Quick Tip: You may garnish with chopped fresh rose petals as well and for sure your dish will steal the show! A luscious treat to the taste-buds and to the eyes. :)

Stay sweet and spread love!