Wednesday

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!!!!!


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15 comments:

Manasi said...

I really appreciate all the efforts you have put in taking care of your health. Keep it up, you are doing an amazing job! I wish I was as determined.

Gajar ka halva! Ohhhhhhhhhhhh bliss! slurp...slurp. Whatte co incidence, I have gajar and mava at home and I had similar plans.

Square Meals said...

Nice post, loved the story about our filmy dialogues :-)

Aparna

simran said...

congrats on your weight loss....its a road i've failed to take...or clear.....lovely gajarka halwa.

Priya Suresh said...

Wow congrats, i cant imagine about weight loss..Btw halwa looks irresistible.

Rekha said...

wow... it makes ne drool:) looks colorful and yummy..
first time here.. nice collection of recipes..happy to follow u dear:)
pls visit and join my space in ur free time:)
http://indiantastyfoodrecipes.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

First time and must say loved every second spent here,nice twist to the Carrot Halwa.. Though sinful dessert carrot saves us from pouring tremendous amount of nutritional benefit..... Healthy indeed....Love to give a shot...Happy To Follow u....

Njoy Cooking and Happy Blogging.....

Technomeet Solutions Pvt.Ltd said...

wow i love gajar halwa.thanks for sharing Wordpress Expert Developer

Balvinder said...

Its really good to take care of your health.13 lbs in 5 months is a big number. keep up the good work.Its your body. One of my friend, who joined boot camp recently follows many of my recipes.Just to name one, Mung bean chilli is the ayurvedic cleanse and weight control recipe on my blog if you are interested.

I see that you have taken great pains to make this delicious halwa to be very light.Can I give you a suggestion, If you use just one beet, the color will brighten and you end up using less sugar.

Unknown said...

Thanks all for the generous words. @ Balvinder, I do add beets but this time did not have any on hand. I add beets in anything I can, my kids do not eat beet otherwise, the appearance makes them run away..Thanks for the encouragement on my weight loss, it was a MUST thing to do this year. Happy and healthy moms make healthy families/homes.
Love Ash.

Akila said...

looks so tempting... with beautiful cliks...

Event: Dish Name Starts With M
Learning-to-cook

Regards,
Akila

Blackswan said...

Hey Ash, I recalled leaving my comments here sometime back but I don't see it anywhere. Forgot what I'd said earlier but I thought it was some coloured rice initially. Must be real tasty!

Unknown said...

Hi Shirley,
I checked my spam folder also did not find the comment you were talking about, but there were some server issues at my end few weeks back and it did delete some content from some posts. I am sorry to have missed your lovely thoughts.
Love Ash.

lubnakarim06 said...

Loved reading and getting inspired....love the gajar ka halwa....

Unknown said...

This is really interesting…
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Kalyan said...

looks lovely and delicious...mouthwatering!