Carrot halwa

I am always fascinated by these slow cook recipes. But I am very reluctant to try it out. Take carrot halwa or Gajar ka halwa for instance. There is so much effort involved in grating the carrots, frying and then cooking them in milk until the milk reduces. Takes an hour or so. And at the end of all that labour and sore wrists with the stirring, you get about six servings which just vamooses as soon as it is served. Happy that all the effort has paid off, but there is nothing left for a second serving. Bittersweet feeling, right? 

Somehow I decided to bite the bullet and try this recipe. The trick to making good carrot halwa is to cook fry the carrots in ghee and cook them in the milk. I have a universal rule. All slow cook recipes, and those that need extensive cleaning, are to be tried out on Saturday afternoons. Not any other time, not any other day. It has to be a Saturday afternoon. That is the only time that works for me. 

So one Saturday soon after lunch, I started gathering the ingredients needed. Still butterflies in my stomach on embarking on this elaborate recipe. Bite the bullet, remember. 

Recipe (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients

Carrots - 8

Ghee - 1/2 cup 

Milk - 1 litre

Milkmaid - 1/2 tin

Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup + Ghee 2 tbsp for frying

Mawa/Khoya - 1/2 cup

Method

Peel and grate the carrots. Heat a large frying pan and add the grated carrots. Add the ghee and saute until tender. Then add the milk and stir in. Keep stirring every now and then so the milk cooks the carrots and also reduces in the process. Have patience, it takes about half an hour to come to this consistency. 

Add the Mawa and the condensed milk. Keep mixing until all the milk is absorbed. Swich off the flame. 

Heat a couple of tablespoons of ghee and add the cashews. Roast the cashews until they are golden brown. Garnish and serve either warm or cold. 

Verdict

Truly worth the stirring and waiting, even if it leaves you with sore wrists. Totally worth it!