Thursday, December 17, 2009

Carrot Halwa

Halwa means a fudge like sweet / dessert. Indians make a wide variety of halwa using flours, nuts, fruits, vegetables and the halwa gets the name of the main ingredient. Among them all, the carrot halwa is very popular worldwide. It is served as dessert during Indian weddings, festivals like Diwali , Christmas, Eid and in restaurants.
Halwa or halva came to India through the traders from Middle East during the Mughal period in India.
Other popular halwas are :
Flour based - sooji ka halva (rava kesari),  wheat halwa, coconut oil muscat halwa, besan halwa
fruits halwa - banana halwa, pine apple kesari halwa
vegetable halwa - pumpkin halwa, carrot halwa, white pumpkin kaasi halwa, beetroot halwa
milk and nut halwa - milk halwa (pal kova), badam almond halwa, pistachio halwa

Here is a well known simple but delicious Indian dessert. There are so many ways to prepare carrot halwa. My recipe includes a milk based carrot halwa, but we can make it with lesser milk too. I am sure you all will love this recipe. Try this and let me know.

Ingredients:
carrot (shredded) - 4 cups
whole milk - 3 cups
condensed milk - 6 tbsp (or) make paneer from 2 cups of milk.
(Click to see my paneer preparation)
sugar - 1 cup
cardamom - 1/2 tsp
saffron - a few strands
ghee - 2 tbsp
almond - 10
cashew - 10
raisin - 10

Method:

Shredding:

Wash and scrape the skin of carrot.Discard the ends. Grate it in bigger teeth of the grater. I don't prefer vegetable chopper for this, as we won't get the restaurant touch by using it.
(Anyways the halwa is going to increase my calorie intake and no harm in giving some exercise by manual shredding..he..he..)



Halwa:
We may need a non stick vessel or a heavy bottom wok.

Fry the nuts and raisins in 2 tbsp ghee. Keep aside.
In the same pan add the shredded carrots and fry till raw smell vanishes.
Now add milk to it.
Wait till the milk is absorbed. Add the saffron now.

After that add sugar and let all the water in carrot gets evaporated.

Add condensed milk / paneer and mix well.
Stir continuously in medium heat till the carrot halwa starts leaving the sides.

Now add the fried nuts, raisins and put off fire. Mix the cardamom powder.

Carrot Halwa is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot or cold as dessert.
It would be an excellent choice for a tea party along with vadai, masala chai and this halwa:)
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Merry Christmas !








Wish you all a Merry Christmas
as well as
beautiful, Prosperous and Blessed
Happy New Year!


Love,
Viki.


------------------------------
Update:
 April 25, 2012 (Wednesday) Carrot halwa I made for International food festival in hubby's office  
This time I improvised my earlier recipe and got it more delicious.
Ingredients:
Carrot - 2 kg
condensed milk - 1 1/2 tin
whole milk - 3/4 liter
whole milk - 1 cup
ghee - 1/2 cup
sugar - 2 cup
cardamom - 1 tsp
bay leaf - 2
cloves - 4
cashew, pistachio, almond, raisin - 2 tbsp each
home made fondant flowers - to decorate

Method: 
Shred the carrot in bigger side of mandolin. Fry them 1/4 cup ghee with bay leaf.
Add 1 cup whole milk and cook well. after it is cooked (10 minutes), add sugar, condensed milk.
 Let all moisture evaporate (1 hour) in low heat and constant stirring.

Boil the milk and add juice from 1/2 lemon and boil for a minute. Strain and get the cheese (cheena). (Reserve the whey water for cooking rice or face wash).

 Remove all liquid from chenna and add to the carrot halwa. Mix well. Fry the raisins and nuts in 1/4 cup ghee and add to the halwa. Heat till the carrot halwa leaves the edges. Add cardamom powder. Keep in serving tray. Garnish with shredded almond. Decorate as per need.

 Takes almost 2 hours.
Makes more than 30 - 35 generous serving.



Sweet note:
Thanks to hubby dear, I made it easy, as he shredded the carrots for me:)

37 comments:

Sarah Naveen said...

ooh..i m drooling...Sounds easy to make and looks absolutely delicious..

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Oh wow thats my fav one and look soooooooooooo delicious dear. Perfect consistency.

prasu said...

yummy, rich carrot halwa dear...........I want to have this warm carrot halwa with ice cream.......totally yummy.

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

I have stared m,y day by reading ur recipes Viki..looks so good nad want to have a taste now :DD

Radhe said...

hai viki,
carrot halwa looks so delicious....

Radhebabu

Siddhi Shirsat said...

Hey this halwa luks rich n yummy...it has got a nice glaze coz of condensed milk.
Hey n merry Xmas in advance dear

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Nice sweet to celebrate our New Year.....wish you the same

Priya Suresh said...

Happy christmas dear..tempting carrot halwa, my all time fav..

chakhlere said...

Hey!! Your new template is great. Carrot halwa looks so yummy.

Manju said...

always a classic!!

Anu said...

Wow looks so yummy and mouthwatering...

Tina said...

Superb carrot halwa...Happy christmas dear...

Sushma Mallya said...

using condensed milk in halwa makes its taste more nice and it looks really delicious

Nandinis food said...

Carrot halwa is one of our family's great classics! I'd like to gobble it up in a minute! Love the color too!

Gita Jaishankar said...

Love you new colorful template dear...halwa looks so inviting and tasty...it has been quite a while since I made this...I need to make this soon :) becos of you ;)

Yasmeen said...

Decadent Halwa! Happy holidays to you ,dear Viki :D

Chitra said...

Thank you for your Christmas wishes and New Year wishes with such a delicious sweet.

my kitchen said...

Looks so good

Jaleela Kamal said...

விக்கி உங்களுக்கு என் அன்பான கிருஸ்மஸ் வாழ்த்துக்களும், புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்களும்.

Malar Gandhi said...

Merry x-mas is advance, my dear.

Halwa is very inviting...set my mood for festive fun':)

b/n shared an award with you, please feel free to collect them:)

Ammu said...

Wow! thats my fav dessert too. Delicious & yummy :)

Parita said...

Mouth watering, i just had gajar halwa today :-)

Unknown said...

Merry Christmas! Carrot halwa sounds delicious!

priya said...

Hi dear,

Please accept the award from my blog!

Aruna Manikandan said...

Carrot Halwa looks wonderful......
Wishing U and ur family a Merry Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR

Rina said...

Thanks for the yummy treat Viki..and Merry Christmas to you..

malarvizhi said...

wow delicious. and my favourite dish

அன்புடன் மலிக்கா said...

rவிக்கி உங்களுக்கு என் அன்பான கிருஸ்மஸ் வாழ்த்துக்களும், புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்களும்..

அசத்தலாக இருக்கு டெம்பிலேட் வாழ்த்துக்கள்..

http://niroodai.blogspot.com

http://kalaisaral.blogspot.com/

Sumi said...

Dear Viki,

Wishing you a very happy christmas and fabulous new year.
love the new look of your page

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

Ola Vikki,ur CHristmas tree twinkles so happily on ur blog.....wishig u too the joys and cheer and love that Christmas brings all year thru....

Aruna Manikandan said...

Hi viki,

Love to share an award with u . Kindly accept it

Anupama said...

Now that my first attempt in making sweets turned out to be good, my next attempt is carrot halwa... it looks soooooooooo inviting Viki :-)

Namitha said...

Delicious halwa..hope you had a great X'mas..:-)

Anonymous said...

Mouth-watering halwa

Wish u a very happy new year!

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Rich carrot halwa with lots of nuts, yummy........

Hope u had a great Christmas Viki!!!

Wishing you and your family a very happy and prosperous New Year dear:)

my kitchen said...

Wishing you and your family a very happy and prosperous New Year dear:)

Sushma Mallya said...

Hi viki,wish you and your family a very happy & a prosperous new year filled with lots of love ,peace & happiness always

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