IMBB 14: Orange you gonna have some Carrot Halva?

For IMBB #14, Ladygoat asked us to cook it up orange. As the orange cake was a bit less than orange-colored, it was back to the stove top for something orange that I could make without an extra shopping trip. The only orange food I had readily available was a bag of carrots. Lucky me.

I love Indian sweets, though I don't often cook them. (I have yet to master the art of making jalebi.) Carrot halwa takes a bit of time, but is otherwise a snap to make and only requires a few ingredients.

Simple Carrot Halwa
6 medium carrots
3 C milk
8 cardamon pods
5 Tbs ghee (butter can substitute for ghee though it won't have quite the same flavor)
5 Tbs sugar
1 - 2 Tbs chopped almonds or other kinds of nuts (good choices: cashews or pistachios)
a strand or two of saffron for additional color (optional)

Grate carrots. Cook them in the milk with the caradmon pods and optional saffron. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring frequently until all the liquid is gone. Heat the ghee in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add carrot mixture and fry until the carrots look dry-ish. (10-15 minutes or so) Add the sugar and nuts and fry for two more minutes.

Note: while you could use vegetable oil instead of ghee or butter, you'll miss out of the flavor that ghee adds. I've used chopped walnuts when I didn't have almonds, and I thought the walnuts went well with the carrots. If you like, you can also add a tablespoon or two of sultanas (golden raisins).

Comments

[chronicler]

Mmmm. I love cooked carrots. I can almost taste this dish as I read about it. It sounds like the perfect snack!

[mika]

Love carrot halwa and yours looks so good...

[Kitchen Chick]

Many Indian sweets are *very* sweet (e.g. jalebi and gulab jamen). Now, I really really like jalebi and gulab jamen. (That sounds very tasty right now.) But one of the things I really like about this halva is that it isn't super sweet.

This recipe actually makes a rather small batch. The carrots cook down quite a lot. So it's a nice small dessert for four to six people.

[Nupur]

Your carrot halwa looks delicious! I find that butter is a more flavorful substitute for ghee than vegetable oil.

[folkmew]

Am I remembering right that you can actually make Ghee at home? I seem to remember doing that but it has been years.

I'm thinking "ah, yet another stealth veggie to try on the kids!" ;-)

(hey! Hi btw - J pointed me here from my LJ)

[Joe]

You can make ghee at home, but you can also buy it in big jars at an Indian grocery store. It keeps for a long time, so the jars might make more sense because making it without burning it is tricky.

We buy it in jars.

[Kitchen Chick]

Nupur, you're absolutely right. Butter is a much better substitute for ghee than vegetable oil -- especially as ghee is made from butter. I think I'll update the recipe to mention butter as a substitute.

Mew, I figure with the cost of butter these days that it's probably more cost effective (and certainly more time efficient, for me at least) to buy ghee than it would be to make my own clarified butter.