Indian Desserts Recipes Halwa Kheer with Condensed Mild Pistachio Recipes Easy for Diwali Menu : Indian Carrot Dessert Indian Desserts Recipes Halwa Kheer With Condensed Mild Pistachio Recipes Easy For Diwali Menu Pictures

Indian Carrot Dessert Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
I am so sorry! I feel like I have been disconnected from you for days. Sometimes life gets so busy that I have no time to read all of the other blogger's blogs that I adore, let alone take photographs of the food that I am making, type up the recipes and blog about it. I hope you will bear with me during this busy time in my life.

Today I want to blog about something that I have been working on for a while: Carrot Halwa. It's a delicious dessert that you might find at an Indian restaurant, but it would be full of butter or oil, milk and sugar. Not so with my version, which I think tastes better to boot!

"It is difficult to translate 'Halwa' into English. A halwa is a sweet/ confection that is made from different kinds of grains/ flours or vegetables and contains sugar/ jaggery, ghee, lots of dried fruit and nuts and sometimes milk. The consistency of halwa can vary from dry and crumbly, through sticky to fudgy and thick enough to be cut into bars.

So the word halwa would conjure up different pictures in different peoples’ minds. Considering the widespread presence of various types of halwa (also halva or halvah) in the countries of the Middle East, and even Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Albania to mention a few, I think it is reasonable to assume that this confection arrived in the Indian subcontinent along with the invaders/ traders from Persia.

Halwas are also made from broken wheat, wheat flour, all purpose flour, lentils/ gram, nuts and vegetables."

Gajar (Carrot) Halwa also known as "gajrala" is a traditional Punjabi dessert made with carrots and milk.
Gajar Halwa is made with lots of butter or oil, cow's milk and loads of white sugar. In my no-oil Vegan version, I've taken all that out. The results are a delicious, sweet, creamy dessert that you don't have to feel guilty about. Gajar Halwa is delicious warm or cold.

Do you love rice pudding? If you are like me, and you've gone all Plant-strong or even Nutritarian in the last few years, you probably haven't enjoyed this classic treat in a while. Today I'm here to tell you that we've got options. Plant-strong options!

Vegan Gajar (Carrot) Halwa
1 pound peeled carrots, shredded
3 cups unsweetened almond (or other alternative) milk
8 cardamom pods
5 Tbsp date paste (or 4 soaked dates)
1/4 cup cashews, soaked

Soak dates in water if you do not have or make date paste.

Soak cashews in water.
Place shredded carrots, almond milk and cardamom pods in a large pot and bring to a boil. Uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for approximately 45 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed and evaporated.
In a blender or food processor, blend date paste (or soaked dates with some of their soaking liquid) and soaked cashews (soaking liquid removed).

When carrots are finished cooking, stir date/cashew blend into carrots. Remove from heat and serve warm, at room temperature or even cold.

How to make date paste:
Soak as many dates as you would like in water. I put them in a deli container with a lid and let them sit in the refrigerator for hours. Drain off and reserve the soaking liquid. Place dates and a little of the soaking liquid in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and consistent, adding soaking water if necessary.

Date paste will last in your refrigerator for weeks, and can be used as a replacement for sweetener in a recipe.
Have you ever had a Halwa? How about Carrot Halwa? Did you like it.
If I learned one thing in India, it was how to eat spicy food like it was nobody's business.

Just kidding! My tolerance for spice did go up a lot while I was in India, but the trip was an intense learning experience, and the heat of my food was one of the last things on my mind. I was thirteen when my dad and I landed in New Delhi, and I learned within hours of landing in the city to watch my step! Cow dung (and who knows what else) is everywhere.

By the time we made it to Rishikesh, I had learned to sleep through even the bumpiest taxi rides, and between snoozes, I learned that Indian traffic is something you really do just want to sleep through. In Rishikesh, we stayed at an Ashram in the middle of the mountains, and observed the simple life of monk-hood. At this point I was so far removed from my home that I was already losing touch of the stark differences between my home and this one. Washing my clothes in a bucket started to seem normal (and totally necessary, cow-dung considered).

Not far from our Ashram, in Haridwar, I learn what it felt like to be a movie star. Crowds of people swarmed us. They took our photos. They asked for autographs. I was their first white girl. They were going to tell everyone they knew.

The paparazzi followed us to the country side, where we were featured in a small village newspaper. We were treated like kings at the Mayor's ranch, where we drank afternoon Chai and enjoyed traditional Indian Sweets like Gajar Ka Hawla, or Indian Carrot Pudding.

After making our way through Pushkar (lesson learned: how to fight kites), Jaipur (lesson learned: some India food will make you feel sick as a dog), and Udaipur (lesson learned: you're going to need to write really fast if you plan on taking notes during cooking lessons from a local woman), we finally arrived in Varanasi. Varanasi is the heart and soul of Northern India. In Varanasi, I met my first Guru. I laid eyes on the Dalai Lama, and sat with thousands of his Tibetan refugees under a tent. In Varanasi, I saw a dead body for the first time. I watched Indian wrestlers fight for glory, and sent a flower floating down the Ganges River as Puja. I cried when we left.

After arriving home, I got teary at the sight of my own toilet, feeling half guilty and half spoiled. I was never quite the same. And I craved Indian food twice as often.

About this dessert: Indian Carrot Pudding is an simple dessert that resembles almost no dessert you find in the western world. Carrots, grated very fine, are stewn in milk and honey until soft and creamy, and then spiced with the typical warmth of India. Finally raisins and cashews are folded in, like jewels waiting to be discovered. For it's simplicity, it's an impressive treat. The best way to describe this to someone that has never experienced it, is by saying it's like carrot cake. In a bowl. With some indian flare. Actually, the best way to explain it would just be to give them some.

We're going to stop talking about it now because I'm starting to crave a big bowl of Carrot Pudding. Just trust me on this one. And try it.

1 1/2 cup almond milk
1 cup full fat milk or coconut milk
5 large carrots (about 7-10 inches long)
1 tablespoon organic grass-fed butter, ghee, or coconut oil
2 tablespoons raw, local honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/16 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
dash salt
1/4 cup raisins
1 star anise, whole
1/4 cup cashew

Wash and shred the carrots. Pour milks into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Add the carrots to the sauce pan, continuing to simmer for 20 minutes. (I do not recommend leaving the room… boiling milk likes to slowly build moment and eventually over boil...Not that I know from experience or anything.)

After the milk begins to thicken and take on an orange color from the carrots, add the butter, ghee, or coconut oil to the pot along with the honey. Stir until the butter has melted, and then add the cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Toss in the raisins. Stir to combine, and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes.
Add the star anise to the pudding, and simmer for 5 more minutes, or until more of the milk has evaporated and the carrots are very soft.

Toast the cashews in an oven at 350°F until golden.
Remove the pudding from the heat. Remove and discard the star anise, or use it as a garnish. Serve the pudding warm. Top with cashews.
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