Nothing says winter like Gajar ka Halwa does! As soon as I see pretty red carrots at the greengrocer’s, carrot halwa calls out to be made. One needs the Indian carrots to bring out the beauty of this winter dessert. The orange ones don’t do any justice to it.

Fresh red carrots slow cooked in whole milk and aromatically flavoured with cardamom. Eat is hot, eat it cold, pair it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or thick ‘rabdi’, the possibilities are endless. And all are delicious!

My method is my Mom’s method, that of slow cooked goodness.

You need ( This recipe serves 8)
1 ½ kilos of red carrots, washed, peeled and grated
3 kilos of full-fat milk
½ cup of desi ghee (clarified butter)
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 tsp powdered cardamom
¼ cup cashews chopped coarse to garnish

Bring the milk to boil in a heavy bottomed pan/kadai.
Boil for 15-20 minutes and then add the grated carrot.

Keep cooking till the milk thickens and the consistency is halwa/fudge like. Almost all the milk evaporates. Keep stirring to avoid burning.

Add the ghee and sugar and cook stirring for another 10 minutes.

Add the powdered cardamom.
Take off the heat.
Serve topped with cashews (or any other nuts of your choice)

Recipe Update ( To make halwa with khoya/mawa)
This time I tried making the halwa with khoya as there was some lovely fresh khoya available at the local dairy!

Take 3 kilos each of carrots and full cream milk and cook them together till the milk dries up.
Add half a kilo of crumbled khoya and cook for another 15 minutes.
Add half a cup of ghee and a cup of sugar ( add more if you want sweeter) and cook for 15-20 minutes.
Add 2 heaped tsp of powdered cardamom.
Garnish with slivered cashews/almonds and serve.