Gajar Halwa-Carrot Halwa

Most of the Indian folk I know associate gajar k halwa and aloo paratha to Hindi Movies. Picture this, the hero comes home to his hut,( most Hindi film Heroes are poor) after a long day of manual work, his old mom who can barely see, asks him Beta kya kahoge, maine aaj apne haathon se aloo parathe aur gajar ka halwa banaya hain, (Translated to, What will you eat son, I have made gajar halwa and aloo parathe with my own hands) With Hindi films, logic is best kept out. My Munchkins find it very amusing that one guy fights 5-6 big guys alone and yet has no scratch, only when there is his mom or girlfriend involved that he gets cuts on his wrist, forehead...For me, gajar ka halwa was a very simple and humble dessert, that was glorified and given new respect by none other than Hindi film industry. Poor people starving, wearing torn clothes enjoy aloo parathe with butter and gajar ka halwa would only have its prominence there. Come on now spare us with this...

I am no filmi maa to make this nor anyone in Ashland does any kind of manual labor, but we do enjoy these staples form time to time. No particular reason  as to why I made it; maybe one lazy reason could be that our grocery store had a sale on grated carrots that week and Mr. Ash got 2 packets for me. Hint Hint!!! Saved from the trouble of grating carrots,  made it for Mr. Ash. As you all know by now, I am serious about the weight loss program introduced to me by Manali of Cravings. I have cut down on my bad fat intake and portion control has become the key for me, I have lost 13 lbs since January and wish to lose more by year ends. But again, the cravings win at times and I make such sinful desserts. Not for me but for my munchkins...I swear I had only 50% of what I made. :)

You will need;

2.5 cups of grated carrots-- I used 2 small bags of grated carrots

2 cup milk

2 tbspn Ghee/Clarified butter

1 cup sugar

1 tbspn milk powder/mava powder

1 tbspn dry nuts powder/masala.-- Cashew/almond/ pistachio

1 tspn cardamom crushed

In a wok, heat the ghee, then add in the grated carrots, let them cook covered till they get soft, add little milk to help it cook. Once they get tender, add in the rest of the milk, sugar and the mava powder and cook till the milk gets absorbed by the carrots. The halwa is ready, Garnish with the Nuts and the cardamom powder and serve hot or cold. Hot Halwa and cold vanilla ice cream tastes amazing. This is one of the most common and popular desserts served in Indian weddings. So what are you non filmi moms waiting for, Make this for your Dharam paji  or Amit ji today!!!!!