Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa, a popular Indian dessert, carrots slowly cooked in milk with cardamom and sugar until dry, then garnished with nuts roasted in ghee.Every spoonful of halwa has the taste of soft carrot blend with hint of cardamom and flavor of roasted nuts and warm ghee.

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Carrot Halwa, a popular Indian dessert, carrots slowly cooked in milk with cardamom and sugar until dry, then garnished with nuts roasted in ghee. Rich sensuous deep orange color, smell and warmth of ghee and cardamom, the contrasting texture of soft carrot and crunchy nuts and the intense sweetness make it totally irresistible!

Slowly simmer grated carrots in milk and cardamom allowing the natural sugars from the carrot to combine with milk. Add some sugar to intensify the sweetness and to bring out the bright orange color. The aroma exuded from roasting nuts in warm ghee is very tempting. Every spoonful of halwa has the taste of soft carrot blend with hint of cardamom and flavor of roasted nuts and warm ghee.

Carrot Halwa is one of the first desserts I attempted during the early days of my culinary adventure! In grad school finding time to cook a three course meal was close to impossible and dessert was totally not on the menu! The first time I made it, I used just 3 carrots! Yes, just 3!

Carrot Halwa

Makes- 2 servings

Carrots	- 5
Sugar	- 1 cup
Milk	- 1 1/2 cup
Cardamom	- 3-4 pods
Vanilla Essence	- 1 - 2 tbsps(optional)
Nuts	- a handful
Ghee	- 2 tbsp

Peel and grate carrots.

Heat milk in a heavy-bottomed pan, when bubbles start to form on the surface, add grated carrots and cardamom pods and bring to a boil.

Then, reduce the heat to low, stirring every few minutes until the milk has almost evaporated.

Now, add sugar and stir every few minutes until it soaks up all the sugar to give a bright reddish orange color.

At this point, heat ghee in another pan, add nuts of your choice (cashews, pistachios, almonds) and slightly roast them until they exude a warm aroma.

Add the ghee and nuts to the carrot halwa.Also, add the vanilla essence and stir to combine them together.

Remove from heat, and serve warm. Add a dollop of ice cream to make this experience merrier!