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..
***************************
Sending this to RCI: Lucknow started by Lakshmi
Read more...
Tuesday, July 22
Carrot salad (Gajarachi koshimbir)
Eat Healthy, Stay fit.... With so much 'diet advice' around today it is little wonder if you feel somewhat confused. I too am, but one thing i know, we should definately eat lots of salads for staying healthy, and that too with variations.The key to keeping salads interesting is to change the ingredients each time you make one.
Salads are usually served at the beginning of a meal, but a salad can also make a healthy, low-calorie meal all by itself. When you use lots of fruits and vegetables, they can also be loaded with vitamins and antioxidants.So, while searching for some in the blogs,i came across this one @ spicychilly ,found it nice and simple, tried and it came out yum.
I kept is exact as the recipe source. After making this only i came to know that a typical Maharashtrian koshimbir(salad) has usually has finely chopped veggies, the essential peanut powder and a tadka for tempering. Grated cucumber(kheera) or onions and tomatoes can replace carrot in this one.
Ingredients:
2 fresh carrots
2 green chillies,finely chopped
2 tbsp of roasted and crushed peanuts
1 tsp of lime juice
½ tsp of sugar
Salt to taste
Coriander, chopped to garnish
Tempering:
1 tsp of oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
A pinch of asafoetida (hing)
A few curry leaves
Method:
Peel and grate carrots.
Add crushed peanuts, chopped chillies, lemon juice, salt and sugar. Mix well.
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. As they start spluttering, add urad dal, asafoetida and then cury leaves. This is a tempering for koshimbir.
Pour this tempering on the prepared mixture.Toss the salad and garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
****************
I'm sending this to SWC: Maharashtrian Cuisine
And to Eating with seasons August
And to WBB Summer Feast
And also to MBP : less is more
And also to SWC:Salads under 15 minutes.
Read more...
Friday, March 28
Carrot Cake
For some time back, i was trying to make a cake in the microwave, but all resulted in a flop show,(some were dry, others don't puffed up) Finally i found this recipe and it came out very really well. Originally this was also meant to made in the conventional oven,as in my friends recipe(and like my all other recipes, that i used to make long back), but i did microwaved it,and thanx god, finally got good results...
Ingredients:
1 cup (100 grams) pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 1/2 cups finely grated(340 grams) raw carrots
2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (240 ml) sunflower, vegetable or canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter or spray two - 9 x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper.
Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.
Peel and finely grate the carrots. Set aside.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
In bowl of electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs until frothy (about 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored (about 3 - 4 minutes). Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots and chopped nuts. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 5 -10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely.
If using microwave oven, cook the cake for about 7 minutes, in 70% power , and standing time of about 10 minutes.
Also add 1 Tbsp cocco powder, to get the brown effect.
Cake is ready..
This is my entry for MEC :Cakes
Update: I made this cake in microwave , and then tried my hands at icing for the first time. Can check it out here.
Read more...
