Carrot Halwa ~~ sweet as home March 30, 2008

Halwa ~~ A dessert made from various kinds of fruits, vegetables, grains and lentils. The ingredients in Halwa are grated finely and fried in ghee and sugar. Nuts and milk may also be added. Halwas have the consistency of a very thick pudding.

This is the technical definition of halwa but the whole experience of eating this dish away from homeland is totally different. Although I ate this halwa in quite a number of restaurants but somehow I felt that they did not get the taste right. Frankly speaking, I did not know that by adding condensed milk, the taste will come out this amazing!!! I thought the ingredients would be only milk sugar and carrots..thats it. With condensed milk..the taste comes out real good.

Try this recipe and let me know how was it!!

Ingredients

4 cups grated carrot
1 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 cup cashewnuts
1/4 cup badam
2 cloves
2 tbs ghee

Method

• Wash and peel carrots and then grate them finely.

• Take a deep skillet and add two tbs ghee. Add cloves,cashewnuts and badam. Add grated carrot. Keep stirring till it cooked properly. It will take at least 15 minutes to do this on medium heat. Do not cover the skillet with any lid.

• Add condensed milk and mix it well. Add the cardamom powder. Keep stirring for five minutes more.

• Add sugar slowly and keep mixing for 10 more minutes.Halwa is ready to eat. You can top it with dry coconut powder.

 

Carrot Coconut curry October 11, 2007

 

Carrot Coconut curry is another curry which is quite easy to make and very nutritious. This is one of the typical andhra recipe..you will find this curry being served in marriages..its quite common there in india. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups grated carrot

1 cup grated coconut

2 green chillies

salt to taste

Popu or tadka

1 tspn urad dal

1 tsp chana dal

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp jeera

2 or 3 red chillies

a bunch of curry leaves

Coriandar leaves for garnishing

Method

Pour 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan. Heat should be on medium. Add the tadka ingredients and keep stirring. Add green chillies and carrot and saute well. Add salt to taste. Put a lid on the pan so that it is properly cooked. After almost 10 to 15 min, add the grated coconut and mix it well. Again put the lid and let it cook. It takes approximately 20 to 25 min to make this curry. In the end, add coriandar leaves on top. Serve hot with chapati aur rice.