Gajar ka halwa | Gajar Halwa | Carrot Halwa Recipe | Easy Carrot Halwa recipe with full fat milk

Gajar ha Halwa is a traditional Indian dessert made with fresh red (Delhi) carrots, milk and sugar and of course some ghee. It is a winter delicacy as these carrots can be seen in market only during winters and especially in North India. It is a rare sight in the South. These carrots (most of them) are juicy and very yum to have as such, my little one loves to munch on them :) And the other special dish that can be made using them is this Carrot halwa or Gajar ka Halwa. I have also posted a Carrot Pudding last year using the same variety of carrots. If you are not able to find the red Delhi carrots but still would love to enjoy some halwa, go ahead and prepare with the normal carrots at hand. They too taste yum :)

This dish is a common sight in many weddings and so often you can find it in the Indian dessert section in the restaurant buffets. One of the best combos that you can go for is pair this halwa with a dollop of ice cream. I just love that combination. If you are not in a mood or like to have too much sweet, then this is an ideal way as the ice cream balances the sweetness of the halwa yet giving a rich feel :) 

There are many variations to this recipe, like using condensed milk or khoya. The richness varies with each variant. I & my family prefer it using full fat milk and hence the recipe I'm posting today is also the same. I always make this halwa using a heavy bottomed vessel but you can very well prepare it using pressure cooker or in a microwave as well. Somehow I believe the taste is a notch higher when you prepare the traditional way in a pan rather than pressure cook. 

Some tips that I follow to get my halwa great :)

1. Whenever available use red (Delhi) carrots to make this halwa. Also choose fresh carrots that are tender and juicy. Do not keep in fridge for a few days before you make it. Choosing it as fresh as possible makes a great halwa

2. Grate the carrots to medium thickness. Too thin will make your halwa mushy and too little in quantity. Preferably grate them using a hand held grater. Food processors make your life easier, but trust me, doing some things the traditional way will bring out better results :) After all, it's not everyday that we get to make the halwa, right :)

3. Some recipe calls for frying the carrot before adding milk. But that changes the colour of the halwa and I like the taste better when the carrots are not fried but just cooked in simmer in full fat milk

4. They stay good for a week in the fridge. You can serve hot or cold. If you like to serve warm, then microwave for a minute or two before serving

Serves: 3 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

I Used:

Delhi Carrots	-	1 cup (heaped)
Full fat Milk	-	1 cup
Sugar	-	6 tbsp
Ghee  Cardamom Powder	- -	1 tbsp + 2-3 tbsp for frying cashews ½ tsp
Cashew Nuts	-	10-12 nos

The Way:

1. Rinse the carrots well in water. Then peel them and trim their ends

2. Grate them to medium thickness using a hand held grater (preferably) or a food processor

3. In a heavy bottomed pan (or kadai) add the grated carrots and milk and allow them to come to a boil on a medium heat. Then simmer

4. While on simmer, keep an eye, stirring in between. The carrots will cook in the milk and the milk will start to reduce and evaporate

5. When the milk has almost reduced, add the sugar, ghee and cardamom powder. 

6. Stir well and continue to cook on simmer, stirring in between 

7. In the meantime, heat ghee (around 2-3 tbsp) in a tadka pan. Fry the cashews on a low flame. Take care not to burn. Once they turn colour to golden, switch off the flame

8. Once all the milk is evaporated and the halwa becomes dry, add the fried cashews. Give a stir and switch off the flame

Serve warm or cold. Can garnish with more almonds, nuts or other dry fruits before serving !

Cheers,

Chitz

Carrot Custard | Carrot Custard Pudding | Carrot Custard Kheer

This recipe screams childhood memories in my head.. I was very much averse to sweets till my little one was born. There were very few sweets or sweet dishes that I liked. If I remember correctly all that I liked was my amma's gulab jamun and this carrot custard and my ammooma's (grand ma's) occasional pineapple kesari and athirasam.. That too once in a blue moon and not regularly. This carrot custard was my fav.. And actually there is a funny story to this custard.. 

Once during my exam days (I think during 7th grade) my mom made Carrot Pongal (will try to post this recipe too soon) and Carrot Custard for lunch. That day I had my exam in the afternoon. I had a hearty meal and went to the exam and passed with flying colours. In fact I was the school topper (all divisions of that grade put together) that time. Somehow it stuck in my mind that it was the good omen of this carrot custard (good faith you see ;)) and used to bug my mom to make it at least once during each exam. Now that i think about it, I feel so embarrassed and funny. But my mom used to oblige :D , she's a gem you know... So I make it once in a while now to reminisce those days and again in the good faith that I can sneak some milk into my little one's diet.. But no, he doesn't seem to enjoy this as I do.. But that doesn't stop me from making them you know.. So for all those sweet lovers out there and for those who want to try a different kinda dessert, here comes the recipe.

Preparation Time : 5 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Recipe source : Ma's Ole Cookbook

Serves : 6-8 servings

I Used:

Boiled Carrot paste	-	100 gm (about 2 big long carrots)
Milk	-	500 ml
Sugar	-	4 tbsp
Custard powder	-	3 tbsp
Cream	-	1 tbsp

The Way:

1. Peel the skin of the carrot. Rinse it well and chop them into small pieces. Now pressure cook them for 2-3 whistles or till cooked

2. Allow them to cool. Then take the boiled carrots in a mixer jar and grind them to a smooth paste and keep aside

3. Mix the custard powder in a little milk (about a tbsp) and make a smooth paste

4. Boil the milk with sugar

5. Add the carrot paste and stir nicely. Allow it to cook well for about 5-6 minutes. Keep stirring in between so that it doesn't get burnt

6. Add the prepared custard to the carrot-milk mixture and boil for 2 minutes stirring continuously. Else lumps will be formed

7. Now add the cream and mix well. Switch off the flame

8. Remove from fire and allow it to cool. Then refrigerate it or an hour or more and then serve chilled and garnished with nuts of your choice

Notes:

• Instead of pressure cooking the carrots, you can grate them and saute in ghee and then add boiled milk and sugar to it and then continue from step 5. In that case cook a little longer for the carrots to get cooked well. This will be more of a kheer kind than pudding
• I made these with the Delhi carrots as I get them more than the normal carrots nowadays but I like it better with normal carrots
• If the carrots are not very sweet, then add little more sugar to balance the taste
• If the pith of the carrots are that green or light yellow in colour, it can ruin the tatse of this dessert. So either discard them or make this pudding with nice sweet carrots

Cheers,

Chitz

Aval Kesari | Poha Kesari | Poha Sheera | Easy Krishna Jayanthi Recipes

So as I told you yesterday, I had made Aval Kesari for Krishna Jayanthi neivedhyam day before yesterday. And as it goes, it should be posted here right? :) Have I told you friends that I am a certified Cuemath teacher and I take math classes for kids at home. So I gave the kids who came for class day before yesterday this kesari. At first I offered them by asking, 'Do you kids like kesari?' And the reply I got was 'Aunty, who is there who wouldn't like kesari'. That's the speciality of this sweet right. It pleases everyone and it's so easy to make too.. It can be done in less than half an hour and when those unexpected guests arrive it's a life saver, right ! So now let's see how to make this easy and tasty sweet.. 

Makes: 1 cup

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

I Used:

Poha/Aval/Rice Flakes	-	½ cup
Sugar	-	½ cup
Water	-	1 cup
Cardamom	-	1 no
Ghee	-	2 tbsp
Cashew Nuts	-	6-8 nos
Food colour	-	A pinch

The Way:

1. In a pan, dry roast the poha/aval for 4-5 minutes in low flame till they turn crisp

2. Transfer it to a plate/mixie jar and allow it to cool. Once completely cool, grind them to a coarse powder like that of sooji/rava/semolina consistency

3. Now heat ghee in the pan. Roast the cashews to golden brown colour. Then transfer to another plate and keep aside

4. In the same ghee, roast the powdered aval/poha. The ghee should get coated evenly in the poha

5. Now pour water and allow it to boil. Once boiled, simmer the flame and allow it to cook

6. Mix the colour in a tbsp of water and add it to the poha 

7. The poha would take around 5-7 minutes to cook. The test is to check the poha with wet hands. If it is not sticking to your hand then it is cooked (learned this tip from Jayashri's kitchen :)) and also all water should be absorbed and it would become a thick mass. You can cook the poha covered.In that case stir it in between so that it doesn't get burnt

8. Now once cooked add sugar and mix well. The kesari will again turn watery but don't worry

9. Keep stirring. Add the powdered cardamom and roasted cashew nuts

10. The ghee would start leaving the sides and the kesari is ready then !

Cheers,

Chitz

Aval Laddu | Poha Ladoo | Easy Krishna Jayanthi recipes

So friends, how did your Janmashtami celebs go this year? Mine was simple as usual with some homemade butter, sago kheer and aval kesari as neivedhyam to kutty krishna. This year I did not have a great mood to dress up little Dhruv like last year. U know why, we cut his hair last week :( I was saving the trip to the hair dresser so that I can tie his hair and dress him up like kutty krishna but he was getting very irritated with those particularly longer strands near the ears that we had to cut his hair. I lost all my enthu coz of that and so it was a simple krishna jayanthi yesterday with just homemade neivedhyam. 

Last year it was nice, we dressed him up in his dhothi and tied his hair and made him wear some of my jewellery and he was looking like a thoppa (paunch) ganapathy in a kutty krishna attire :) Maybe next year I should plan something different ! So now recipe of the day is a simple poha ladoo with just 2 main ingredients poha and jaggery. If you want you can use sugar in place of jaggery. Just replace jaggery with ½ cup sugar in the recipe. I love this one. Simple and easy to make. And for the past one week, this was satisfying my sudden cravings for a sweet or quick bite ! So off to the recipe..

Makes: 8 ladoos

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

I Used:

Poha/Aval/Rice Flakes	-	1 cup
Jaggery	-	¾ cup
Cardamom	-	1 no
Ghee	-	¼ cup
Cashew Nuts	-	3-4 nos
Raisins	-	6-8 nos

The Way:

1. Dry roast the poha for 3-4 minutes in low flame. It will become crunchy. Then transfer it to another plate/mixie jar and allow it to cool

2. Add cardamom and jaggery to the cooled poha and blend to make a fine powder

3. Heat the ghee in a pan and fry the caashews and raisins. Once the cashews turn golden brown and the raisins turn big, switch off the flame ( I also remove the pan from the flame else the residual heat will keep it warm for some more time)

4. Add the powdered poha-jaggery mix to the ghee. Mix well. Make sure there are no lumps

5. Now make small laddus when the mixture is warm

Notes:

• I use organic poha and organic jaggery. So there is not much impurities in them. If using normal poha dust away those ones that are visible before dry roasting them

• Some use milk instead of ghee to make these ladoos. If then use warm milk else it will be difficult to shape the ladoos. If then the ladoos must be consumed within a day or two as they do not have a great shelf life

• Grind the poha to a fine powder else it will be difficult to shape the ladoo

• If more cashews or bigger pieces of cashews are used then also it will be difficult to shape the ladoos

• These ladoos stay good and fresh for a week and make sure you store them in an air tight container

• If using sugar instead of jaggery, the method is the same. Instead of grinding jaggery grind ½ cup sugar

Cheers,

Chitz

Aval Payasam | Poha Kheer | Easy Rice Flakes Payasam | Krishna Jayanthi Recipes

Rice Flakes Kheer with Sugar

With Gokulashtami nearing all of you must be gearing up to prepare all kinds of sweets, savouries and kheers right? So if you are a beginner like me in those areas, fret not ! I'm here to help you. I make some simple recipes that do not consume much time or doesn't burst or explode while preparing ;) You know what I'm talking about right ! Yes, the infamous seedai. I'm yet to experiment it. My mom is still scared to prepare them, so you can imagine my confidence level in that ! But like anything else, with good research and careful experiments there is nothing that can't be conquered in cooking as well, right :) 

So let's leave that aside for some other day and check how to make this yummy and easy to make kheer with poha or aval/rice flakes. I like to have this kheer the next day after refrigerating it for a day. It tastes very yummy then. Initially I used to make this kheer without grinding the poha. But then my hubby used to say, it just tastes like Aval in milk. Then after some googling I found that many grind the poha to use in the kheer. I tried that and the texture and taste was better then. So here's it now for all those beginners out there who are set to celebrating this year's Gokulasthami with some homemade sweets and savouries :)

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

I Used:

Aval/Rice Flakes/Poha	-	½ cup
Ghee	-	2 tbsp
Cashew nuts	-	5-7 nos
Raisins	-	15-20 nos
Milk	-	2 - 2.5 cups
Sugar	-	¼ cup
Cardamom powder	-	Of 1 pod

The Way:

1. Boil milk in a saucepan and keep it aside. Heat ghee in a pan (I use a saucepan and the same is used for making the kheer as well). Fry the cashews and raisins and keep them also aside

2. In the same pan with the remaining ghee, fry the aval/poha for 2-3 minutes. Then transfer it to a mixie and allow it to cool

3. Once cooled, coarsely grind the poha. 2-3 pulse would be sufficient

4. Now add the ground poha to the same saucepan. Add the boiled milk and allow the poha to cook over low flame. It would take around 5-7 minutes for the poha to cook. As it is already ground it takes less time. If adding whole poha as such then cook for around 10-12 minutes

5. Mix it intermittently in between so that it doesn't get burnt. 

6. Once the poha is cooked add the sugar and cardamom 

7.If the consistency is too thick can add extra milk (around 1/2 cup or as per your need) Mix well and let it boil once

8. Toss in the roasted nuts and raisins. Give a quick stir. Switch off flame and serve warm or chilled as desired ! 

Notes:

• Some do not like to roast and grind the poha. If then just wash the poha and add to the milk in step 4

• The kheer thickens as it sits. So while serving adjust accordingly. If needed add little warm milk while serving

• I personally enjoy this kheer the next day after refrigeration. So if you are in for chilled kheer, try it that way !

Cheers,

Chitz

Rava Ladoo | Rava Laddu | Semolina Ladoo

Sweet balls of semolina and sugar

Sweets! I am a very picky person when it comes to sweets. And rava ladoo is one among the few favorites of mine. And it also holds the distinction of being the second sweet I made all on my own after marriage :D  and Deeps loves this one.. For a long time I was under the impression that it's very difficult to make sweets at home. But then I was at my lovely sister's place for one Diwali, I realised that I was under a very wrong feeling all this while !! It was in a jiffy, she made two sweets and a savory. I should say that's where I was struck with the arrow of confidence for making sweets at home ;) 

Recipe Source : Rak's Kitchen

I Took : 40 minutes

I Used :

Rava/Semolina	-	1 cup
Sugar	-	1 cup
Ghee	-	¼ cup
Milk	-	1 tbsp
Cardamom	-	1 no
Cashew nuts	-	8 nos

The Way:

1. Roast semolina in a pan on a reduced flame till a nice aroma comes. Keep stirring continuously to ensure the semolina is roast evenly and it does not burn
2. Cool down and grind it into a very fine powder using mixer. I used fine ground semolina and hence avoided this step
3. Powder sugar along with cardamons in a mixer. Sieve off the pods of cardamom from the powdered sugar
4. Sieve the powdered semolina and sugar to a bowl
5. Heat ghee in the pan. Fry the cashews in it till golden brown and add it to the semolina-sugar mixture
6. Sprinkle the milk and mix thoroughly
7. Make small ladoos (balls) out of this mixture immediately. Roll it tight, if you could not roll, sprinkle little more milk or add more warm ghee and roll it again

Notes:

• I used confectioners' sugar. Hence needn't powder the sugar. I used only around 3/4 cup of the confectioners' sugar, else it would make the ladoo too sweet
• While half way through the rolling of the ladoos, the mixture lost its heat. So I microwaved for 2 minutes and then added milk and rolled again

I love making this sweet that I follow verbatim from Rak's kitchen. So here goes this post to the Tried and Tasted from Rak's Kitchen event happening at Nivedhanam. 

Cheers,
Chitz

Rava Kesari | Sooji Halwa | Semolina Halwa

Sweet of semolina cooked in ghee and sugar

And come here begins a new year with aspirations, expectations and of course resolutions !!! As like every other time, I had no intentions of taking resolutions as I know there wouldn't be justice served ;) Then suddenly a thought struck me today morn... Why not challenge myself into taking one or two resolutions that I would love to keep up?? So here is the result, a half year long wish to start a blog. And what better way to start a cookbook blog other than with a sweet. So here I begin with my all time favorite 'Kesari' - supple, ready to melt in mouth and easy to make sweet. Wishing you all a Happy New Year :) :)

Recipe Source: Ma

I Took : 30 minutes

Serves: 30-35 pieces

I Used :

Rava/Semolina	-	1 cup
Sugar	-	1 ½ cup
Water	-	2 ½ cups
Ghee	-	8 tbsp
Cashew nuts	-	6-8 no
Cardamom	-	2-3 no
Food Colour	-	2 pinch

The Way :

1. Powder sugar along with cardamom in a mixer. Sieve off the pods of cardamom from the powdered sugar & keep aside
2. Mix the food colour in 2 tbsp water and keep aside
3. Heat ghee in a flat bottomed vessel or pan. Fry the cashews in it till golden brown and keep aside
4. In the same ghee fry the semolina in a medium flame until it turns light golden brown in colour. Keep it aside
5. Add water to the pan. When it starts to boil add the roasted semolina, the food colour and reduce the flame . Stir continuously to make sure that no lumps are formed. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes until the semolina is cooked well
6. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Adding sugar will make the mixture  a little moist. So stir well & continuously, leaving no lumps
7. Keep stirring until it becomes a mass & starts to leave the sides of the vessel. Add the roasted nuts, give a quick stir & switch off
8. Transfer to a ghee greased bowl or container of the desired shape. Cut into square or diamond shapes before serving

Notes :

• Always take care to add sugar only after the semolina is cooked well, else it can compromise the taste & texture of the kesari
• This semolina-sugar ratio is of good sweetness. Adjust sugar according to your preference
• Do not compromise on ghee as it is what makes the dish special. Feel free to add more if you prefer !
• Adding milk instead of water gives a more rich flavour and aroma. In that case, increase the quantity of food colour for a darker look
• Common food colours used are saffron and yellow !!
• Kesari can be refrigerated & relished for 1 or 2 days. Then heat it for a minute or two in microwave before serving 
• Addition of milk decreases shelf life
• You can also add essence to the kesari, pineapple being the most commonly used one

Cheers,
Chitz

*Updated with new pics on 07/09/2013