Gajar Ka Halwa

Winters are about to say good bye as spring is on the way. There are many delicacies which we mostly enjoy during a particular season and keep on waiting for the time to come. Gajar ka halwa is one of the recipes which people cook in winters and is on the hit list of desserts during any party, wedding, function or any get-together in north India during winters. Now in time of globalisation , carrots are available all throughout the year but, the taste and the feeling while eating a particular dessert in a season to which it belongs is incomparable. So before winter leaves lets cook it one more time and enjoy the taste of those red and fresh carrots. In this recipe i will be sharing some replacements of Mawa as it is difficult for people to make it at home and also time consuming.

Ingredients required are:-

Gajar ka halwa

1. Carrots
2. Sugar
3. Mawa
4. Cardamom powder
5. For Garnish:- Almonds,Cashews and Raisins or (any nuts of your choice)

Looking at the step by step process:-

First of all , carrots are grated and are put in pressure cooker to boil. Boiling in pressure cooker saves a lot of time, though traditionally people use to cook the grated carrots in an open pan or khadhai which according to them enhances the taste, but who can wait for so long these days, anyways that's up to your choice , the ultimate thing is we want our carrots to cook up properly and become tender.

When the carrots become tender add the sugar according to your taste and mix well so that it incorporates well. One can see the image of boiled carrot below how the colour have changed after boiling.

As the sugar incorporates it will about to leave water as shown in the picture below. We need to make sure that the water is fully evaporated and need to cook on medium flame. 

After the water gets evaporated the volume of the carrots will reduce and at this stage add the nuts of your choice, i added cashew, almonds and raisins. Cardamom powder is also added to enhances the taste. 

The last stage comes when mawa is added to the carrot mixture. So if one does not have mawa then one can work out with other options like:- 

• Milk powder and add it according to the desired consistency. 
• One can also add cream or malai which is readily available in Indian kitchen.
• One can skip the step of mixing the mawa altogether and add little ghee and cook the carrot mixture but if one is adding only ghee then one need to make sure that they use a bit less quantity of sugar in the beginning.

If one needs to preserve halwa for a longer time and increase the self life then option of cooking in ghee  works well.

Now the final product is ready .

Gajar ka halwa

Benefits of carrot:-

1. They help in reducing the risk of lung cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer.
2. Carrots have beta-carotene which have anti aging property.
3. They help in improving the vision of eyes.
4. Since it is rich in vitamin-A which prevents premature wrinkling, acne, uneven skin tone, dry skin, blemishes and pigmentation.
5. It also assists the liver in flushing out the toxins from the body.