Carrot Halwa

Carrot halwa! I've always had a misconception on how yucky halwa tastes - and ever since I could remember, the term halwa sounds repulsive - the sticky and super-sweet Indian dessert. Until lately my friend, Vimala, mentioned how carrot halwa is such a delectable dessert - and how the texture is soft and melts in your mouth. That's when I decided to give it a try. And yes, it's texture is like kesari, but this is even better - with carrot and milk - and yummy!

Herewith is the recipe given by Vimala (I added saffron for extra color and taste; and I've used condensed milk instead of sugar):

Ingredients:
1 kg carrot (this is not alot since once you start cooking it, it will shrink to half of the amount of the grated carrot)
1 litre fresh milk (I used low-fat milk from the carton; you can use powdered milk as well)
Condensed milk, to your taste
Raisins
Almonds, chopped
Cashew nuts, chopped
Pistachios, chopped (keep some to sprinkle on top of the carrot halwa once it is done)
Saffron
Ghee
Crushed cardamon pods, to your taste
A pinch of salt

Steps:
1. Wash and grate the carrot finely.
2. Fry the raisins and nuts with ghee. Set them aside.
2. Fry the grated carrots using ghee.
3. In a large pan, add milk with the fried grated carrot.
4. Let them cook for a while until it simmers.
5. Add condensed milk, to your taste.
6. Add a pinch of salt.
7. Let them simmer until the mixture thickens.
8. When the mixture has thicken, add some crushed cardamon pods, followed by the fried raisins and nuts.
9. Add the saffron (you can soak the saffron beforehand in water so that the color is more infused). Mix well.
10. Stir on low heat till the mixture collects in a soft ball (or to your desired consistency - pudding-like). Do not heat the mixture too long, so as to prevent it from getting hardened/burnt.
11. Lastly, add 2 tablespoons of ghee before scooping them and pressing them onto a greased tray. You can either serve it hot (no pressing on the tray is needed then) or refrigerate it before serving.
12. Garnish the carrot halwa with chopped pistachios.