Quick Gajar(Carrot) Halwa

Well, this is nothing new..everybody makes gajar halwa, right?! Everyone has their own version of this halwa. Mine used to be mom’s version which was by far the best. And then I thought, I could use the time that I spend for cooking and stirring the raw carrots and all that milk to do something else like watching TV, put my feet up and relax at the end of the day! So I came up with this. 24 minutes from start to finish. From shredding carrots to plating halwa in a bowl for pictures..24 minutes folks! I made this for my father-in-law’s birthday dinner. They were coming over to my place for dinner and I was making my masala chicken biryani with all the add-ins. I couldn’t seem to agree in my mind on the dessert. I didn’t want to make sugary dessert for him. I was talking to my friend on the phone the night before and she said she is making gajar halwa for her husband and it hit me right there. I thought, yes, gajar halwa..with all the natural sweetness of carrots, I don’t need to add much sugar and it is healthy as far as I refrrain from adding more ghee! This was one delish treat for all of us. Got the rave reviews from my in laws!

Gajar Halwa

Ingredients

4 cups shredded carrots
½ cup sugar(or to taste, keep in mind the sweetness of carrots as well)
1 pinch of cardamom powder
2-3 tbsp ghee
¼ cup milk
¼ cup khoya(optional, if you don’t have khoya, use milk powder with a bit of milk)
Chopped almonds, pistachios for garnish(optional)

How to:

Cook shredded carrots in microwave for about 6 minutes or till almost cooked.
Now transfer the carrots to the sauce pot.
On medium heat, cook carrots with sugar till sugar dissolves and leaves no residues.(at this point, check the sweetness, you can add more sugar if you want to.)
Now add khoya(if using), milk, cardamom powder and cook till milk evaporates.
Garnish with chopped nuts and enjoy warm halwa.