Carrot hawla

Gajar ka halwa or carrot halwa is a  very nutritious and tasty Indian sweet dish. It is a very simple process; nothing can actually go wrong here. By using evaporated or half-half, cooking time will be drastically reduced.

1 lb Carrots

1 can Evaporated Milk or 1 cup Half-half

1½ cups Sugar

4 tsp Ghee

½ tsp Elachi powder

2 tsp Raisins

2 tsp Almonds

2 tsp Pistachios

2 tsp Cashew nuts

Few strands of saffron

1 tsp Rice flour

Wash and peel carrots. Finely grate them, keep aside.

In a large non stick pan take 3 tsp of ghee, when warm add all nuts and then raisins, fry them till golden yellow. Remove the nuts and raisins from the ghee to a bowl. Keep aside. To the remaining ghee add another tsp of ghee and add the grated carrots, fry till the raw color changes. Then add a can of evaporated milk or cup of half-half and cook for a few minutes.

Now add sugar, elachi powder and 1” butter or ghee. Cook on medium heat and keep stirring regularly. When it all comes close together add a tsp of rice flour. Rice flour acts as a binding agent and brings all the ingredients together. Add all the friend nuts and mix well or arrange on the top. And garnish with saffron.

Grease the serving bowl and transfer the contents into it.

Carrot halwa can be served warm or cold, it’s a personal choice. Enjoy it with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for variation. I have see people enjoying hot jelabi with carrot hawla and if you are like someone I know, warm halwa with roti for dinner!