Monday, March 23

Celebrating Blog Anniversary with Carrot halwa


Celebrating my 1st Blog anniversary and also the 100th post with our tradional Indian sweet "Gajar ka Halwa". One year back i started this blog; spend hours browsing others blog, commenting on their posts, trying new recipes, enjoying reading comments on my posts..., (took a long break in between too) , getting to know a entire new world alltogether.. Really its a amazing thing to do, blogging..

Actually i did thought to post this about a week ago, BUT.. last week was kids holidays in singapore(term break), and i didn't realised beforehand, that they would keep me so so busy the whole week, day n night... This one week was a whole mess for me... and finally today i relax, when the school reopened, my goodness managing 2 little brats....

Now something about this carrot pudding or carrot halwa,which is the most famous of Indian sweet dishes. It origiantes in the northern parts of India. As kids we always had this made from the RED long variety of carrots, which grows in the cooler climates of India (mostly north) and are available only during the winter months. They are juicier and naturally very sweet so halwa made from them is more carrot and less sugar and tasted real heavenly. If anyone can get red carrots, should definately try making the halwa with them.

But everywhere else we get these orange carrots only,and halwa tastes delicious with them too.

Ingredients:

Shredded carrot 2 cups
Milk 2 cups
Sugar 1/4 + cup
Cardamom powder 1/2 teaspoon
Unsalted butter/ghee 2 tablespoons
Cashews, raisins, almonds to garnish


Method:

In a thick bottomed open pan, add ghee, and roast the nuts, keep aside.
In the same pan , add the grated carrots and then milk, and bring to a boil. Uncovered, cook for approx. 20 - 25 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and the milk has integrated into the carrots. Stir the mixture frequently to avoid it sticking to the pot.
Or alternatively you can add 2 cups milk, and lastly add 4 tbsp khoya (or ricotta cheese) ; to speed up the process and make it even better.
Then add sugar and stir constantly to dissolve, on a high heat for 3-5 minutes until the carrots glisten and gets a wonderful golden color.
Fianlly add Cardamon powder and the half of the nuts.

Garnish with the other half of nuts on top, and serve warm or cold.

Although it takes a little bit of time to prepare, the steps to make this dessert are simple. And the final dessert is full of wonderful rich carroty and nutty flavor and aroma of cardamom. Also you can make carrot halva in advance and keep in the fridge for about a week.

Tips:

Grate the carrot with a big(holes one) grater, so the halwa doen't become too mushy at last.
You may add condensed milk/ fresh homemade cream to make it even richer.
It is also served warmed with chilled Vanilla Icecream, and it tastes heavenly..

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Sending this to RCI: Lucknow started by Lakshmi

34 comments:

Chitra said...

congrats on ur 100th post dear.Halwa looks delicious!!.Soon i'll do it:)

Chutneytales said...

Congrats on ur 100th post and happy anniversary :)
Nice pudding to celebrate..Its looking lovely !

Saritha said...

Congrats neha and wish you all the best for many such anniversaries.
Even i enjoy blogging,i just wait for my kids to sleep in afternoon so that i take my laptop do what i love the most,ie blogging.

Sunshinemom said...

Hey Neha, Congrats on completing a whole year!! Very nice way to celebrate too - carrot halwa is incomparable and a true blue Indian favourite:)

Deepthi Shankar said...

Congrats on completing 1 year & 100 posts .. Halwa looks as delicious as ever

Deepa Hari said...

Congrats Neha...carrot halwa looks delicious.

Lavanya said...

congrats neha..happy aniversary!!

saffronapron.blogspot.com said...

Congrats! And the halwa looks mouth watering.One of my hubby's fav sweets

Yasmeen said...

looks so pretty,congrats:)

sathya said...

Happy Anniversary ! congrats on your 100th post.
Halwa looks delicious .

Uma said...

Happy Birthday to your blog Neha! Congrats on the century too! Wishing your blog many more birthdays :) Carrot halwa looks so rich and mouth-watering.

Neha said...

Thank you all for ur wishes... cheers..

Vani said...

Congrats! Carrot halwa looks yum..

Ashwini said...

Congrats Neha..Halwa looks yumm. Our fav..

sriharivatsan said...

Congrats on ur 100th post Neha...Halwa looks fantabulous...Delicious tooo..

KonkaniBlogger said...

Congrats on ur 100th post and blog anniversary, gajar halwa seems to be perfect for the occassion, Neha!

Pooja said...

Congrats for your 100th post and blog anniversary..Halwa is looking yumm..

jayasree said...

Congrats on the milestone reached. Wishing you many more happy years of blogging.
Carrot halwa looks yummy

Priya Suresh said...

Congrats Neha for the first anniversary, wishing many more years in blogsphere...Delicious Carrot Halwa...prefect way to celebrate this milestone!!

Indian Khana said...

Congrats on 100th post and the anniversary too...halwa looks so yummy...perfect way to celebrate :)

suvi said...

looks yummy the halwa, neha! congrats on your 100th post.

FH said...

Happy 100tha and first anniversary to your blog, great achievement indeed. Looking forward to more like that gorgeous colorful Gajar halwa! :)

Preety said...

congrats neha..you reached your first milestone..wish you best for future too..keep blogging n enjoy:)

Cham said...

Happy Blog anniversary! Wish many more delicous years!

Neha said...

Thanx to all of you... for the lovely wishes n comments ,that encourages me go on n on...

amna said...

That looks yummy Neha :) Congrats!

Vidya said...

Congrats on completing a year and the 100th post neha...halwa looks good...:)

Priyanka Agrawal said...

badhai ho. i recently made halwa too. you can check it out here if u wish: http://food-fanatic.blogspot.com/2009/03/tarot-root-arbi.html

Usha said...

Congrats on completing one year and 100th post Neha ! Wish you many more years of happy blogging :-)

ARUNA said...

Carrot halwa looks yum Neha.........and this dish is nutritious too. I also have a carrot halwa posting in my blog along with another interesting recipe Carrot kheer!

Priyanka said...

happy anniversary and really nice pic!

ratnaveera said...

Neha, Thanks for this nice posting! Your tips are useful to enjoy carrot halwa!

ratnaveera said...

Thank you for this nice posting! Your tips are useful to add taste and enjoy carrot halwa!

Unknown said...

its amazingly good... i tried it....added condensed milk at the end to make it tastier....WOW