Halawat Gajur

Gajar halwa is common in south west Asia. But this version in my opinion takes the cake. Literally. It is baked into a cake. This will be my go to halwa recipe from now on. We all liked it very much. My daughter who is not really into sweets chose to pass on it but anyone who likes sweet dishes would love it.

I made a small portion with just two carrots because I did not want too much leftover. The last few days I seem to be trying new things all the time and making them in tiny portions has worked out well. Especially of something as delicious as this halwa, that I love. It was an effort to have a small piece for dessert after dinner and leave the rest for another day. The only tiny pan I had on hand was heart shaped, so the cake is in the shape of a heart.

You will need

2 carrots

2 tbsp. sugar

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. heavy cream

1 tbsp. ghee

Wash and peel the carrots and shred them. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the shredded carrots. 

Saute on medium heat until the carrots are cooked and browned slightly. You will see the quantity drop as the carrots cook.

Add the sugar and mix well. The sugar will melt and coat the carrots. Continue to saute the carrots for couple more minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Add the 1/4 cup of cream and let the mixture cook until the cream is incorporated in the carrots to form a paste.

Transfer to an oven proof mold. Spread the tablespoon of cream over the top. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top and sides are brown. Let it cool on the kitchen counter. 

Refrigerate for a couple hours. 

Best eaten chilled.

Mifirfan (Chinese Sticky Rice Dessert)

Mifirfan is a dessert from the Xinjiang province of China. It is a mildly sweet dessert that reminded me of narali bhaat. It is made of rice that is sweetened with apricots and raisins.

Mifirfan is a simple and quick dessert. It is made with Chinese sticky white rice. I got a handful of this rice from the bulk section at Whole Foods. The process is very simple, cook the rice with apricots, raisins and a little sugar.

You will need
a handful white sticky rice
10-12 dried apricots
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp. sugar
1 cup water

Wash the rice and soak it for half an hour. Chop the apricots and keep aside. These are the apricots I used.

Drain the water from the soaking rice and add the rice to a pan. Add a cup of fresh water to the pan and bring it to a boil. Add the apricots, raisins and sugar.

Let the rice cook in the boiling water.

When the water level drops below the rice, lower heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let it sit for another 10 minutes.

Mifirfan is ready. It is best eaten the day it is cooked. As it is made with rice day old mifirfan tastes a lot like stale rice.

Halawet Ahmad

Halawet Admad is traditional dessert make with vermicelli. It is widely popular in the middle eastern countries. Vermicelli can almost be called a staple in the homes of the Middle East. There are so many quick dessert preparations with it. I used crushed pistachios for garnish.

I used condensed milk as a short cut to boiling and reducing the milk. As for the vermicelli we prefer the brown roasted vermicelli and that resulted in a nice crunch in the dessert. If you use the thick vermicelli you will have a soft dessert.

You will need
100 gm pre-roasted vermicelli
200 gm non-fat condensed milk
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp. almond powder
2 tbsp. coconut powder
1 tbsp. pistachios, pounded, for garnish

Heat the butter in a pan and add the vermicelli to it. Roast until fragrant. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Cook for another couple minutes until the mixture comes together. Turn off heat and let it cool. Transfer to molds and chill.

Serve chilled garnished with pistachios.

Gajar Ko Haluwa (Nepali Gajar Halwa)

Gajar halwa is a very popular and rather simple dessert. I have one version of halwa using pressure cooked carrots here. This is a Nepali version. I made this dish as dessert with a Nepali meal because I wanted something simple. This was perfect.

This preparation is very similar to the standard Indian preparation of the halwa.

You will need
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 tbsp. ghee
1 cup milk (preferably whole, at least 1%)
2 tbsp. sugar
1 pod cardamom, shelled, seeds pounded to powder
4-5 cashews to garnish with 1/2 tsp. ghee

Heat ghee in a pan and add the shredded carrots. Saute until the carrots are completely cooked and tender. Add the milk. Continue to cook until the milk is incorporated in the carrots and mixture is no longer runny. Add the sugar and the cardamom powder. Continue to cook until the sugar first melts and then it completely incorporated into the mixture. Turn off the heat. Heat the ghee for garnishing in a separate pan and roast the cashews in it. Add then to the halwa.

Gajur halwa taste great either warm or chilled.

Shira / Sheera / Suji Halwa

The other day after a heavy lunch nobody was in the mood for a full meal for dinner. I offered to make upama when my daughter asked if I could make sheera instead. That was when I realized that I did not have the simple sheera recipe on this space. I have banana sheera and mango sheera but not the plain version. So I decided to set that straight and post this recipe right away.

If you choose to heat the milk and water in a microwavable cup use a mitten when pouring it over the rava. I learnt this the hard way when the steam burnt the fingers of my hand.

You will need
2 tbsp. ghee
1 cup semolina or rava
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar

To garnish
Cashews
Raisins
1 pod cardamom
1 tsp. ghee

Heat the ghee in a pan and add the rava. Roast the rava stirring occasionally on low to medium heat taking care it does not burn. Do not let it turn brown.

Combine the water and milk in a microwavable cup and bring to a boil, anywhere from 1 and half to 3 minutes depending upon your microwave. Alternately heat the milk and water in a separate pan on the stove top.

Pour the hot liquid over the roasted rava. Stir to combine and cover. After a minute remove the lid and mix the rava with the now absorbed liquid. Cover and repeat another two times.

In a separate small pan heat the ghee for garnishing and add the cashews. When browned slightly add the raisins. When they puff up turn off heat. Add the cashews and raisins to the sheera. Shell the cardamom and pound the seeds. Add the powder to the sheera. Mix one last time and turn off heat.

Sheera taste great when it is warm.

This is my entry for week three, day three of BM #43 for the theme Healthy Desserts. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#43.

This is also my entry for week 33 for the 2014 52 week challenge for the them Opposite side of the world.

Healthy Gajar Halwa (Carrot Halwa)

Gajar Halwa is usually a favorite with kids of all ages. It is a simple dessert that can be very rich or lightened up considerably. My health conscious mother always went for the lightened up version. I remember coming home from school and having warm freshly made halwa as a snack.

My husband has a sweet tooth and so does my daughter. But neither like the rich loaded version of halwa. Instead we all prefer this version. My father is visiting so I made this as part of lunch today.

I made a very small portion with two carrots because no one likes to eat big portions of desserts in my house.

You will need
2 carrots
1/4 cup milk (at least 1%)
1/2 tsp. ghee

For garnish
4-5 cashews
8-10 raisins
5-6 slivered almonds
1/2 tsp ghee
1 pod cardamom

Pressure cook the carrots whole until tender. In my pressure cooker this is 5 minutes with whistle on before turning off heat. For whistling cookers this would be one whistle. Let the pressure go down on its own before opening the cooker. Let the carrots cool.

Using a scraper or dull knife scrape away the skin of the carrots. It should come away very easily. Break the carrot open length wise and discard the uncooked center stalk. Mash the pulp lightly and keep aside.

In a pan heat ghee and add the carrots. Saute for a couple minutes and then add the milk. On low heat let the mixture thicken.

Meanwhile heat the ghee for garnishing in a separate pan and roast the cashews, almonds and raisins. Keep aside.

When the carrot mixture thickens turn off heat. Shell the cardamom and crush the seeds to a powder. Add this powder and the roasted nuts and raisins to the halwa.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week three, day two of BM #43 for the theme Healthy Desserts. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#43.

Ambachya Shira / Mango Sheera / Mango Halwa

Ambyacha shira or mango shira is a variation of regular shira made with cream of wheat or rava. I have the recipe for shira with banana here. This recipe is very similar except instead of banana use mango pulp. This makes a great after school snack.

You will need
1 tbsp. ghee (clarified butter)
1/2 cup rava or semolina
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. mango pulp
1/4 cup sugar (if using canned sweetened pulp reduce the quantity of sugar)
1 pod cardamon, shelled and seeds crushed
raisins and cashews to garnish

Heat the ghee in a pan and add the rava to it. Saute until the rava is roasted. It will run smoothly through your fingers if you pick some up.

Heat the water and milk together in the microwave and bring to a boil. Combine with the roasted rava. Cover and let it cook for a couple minutes. Cover, mix and cover again for a couple minutes.

Add the mango pulp and sugar. Mix well. Add the crushed cardamom seeds and mix again. Turn off heat. Garnish with raisins and cashews.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week two, day one of BM #40 for the theme Mango Mania. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#40.

Dudali (Arrowroot Halwa)

Today I am posting a recipe from Karnataka. Every day this month I will post a recipe from a different state in India.

Karnataka is a coastal state to the south of Maharashtra. It is a big state with several regions. As with most states this size there are many sub cultures in the state. The coastal region especially to the north is very different from southern areas like Bangalore and Mysore.

The regions have different cuisines and art. In Shimoga district in the western ghat an art form Chittara is very popular. Chittara, meaning picture, was used to decorate the walls of the homes in the region were it originated. It has since been identified as an ancient art form that needs to be preserved. You will find Chittara paintings on canvas and pots sold commercially providing the artist much needed money to keep the art alive. The picture to the left is an example of this style.

Dudali is a dish that is popular in Konkani speaking coastal Karnataka. I have since learnt that it is made in Kerala as well. Dudali is made with arrowroot powder. This powder is derived from a tuber which is washed, cleaned, dried and then powdered. Arrowroot is a thickening starch like tapioca or cornstarch. When cooked with milk and coconut and cooled, it turns into this milky white, smooth textured barfi.

I had this dish at a friends house and asked her for the recipe. Like a score of other recipes I never tried it until now.

You will need
1 cup arrowroot powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 tbsp. thick coconut milk or coconut pulp
2 pods cardamom
a few cashews for garnish

Shell the cardamom pods and pound the seeds into a powder. Keep aside. Grease a baking tray and keep aside.
Whisk together the arrowroot powder, sugar, milk and water in a pan and bring to a boil on medium heat.

Add the coconut milk or pulp. Continue to whisk continuously while the mixture thickens. Lower heat if needed.

As the mixture thickens it will start leaving the edges of the pan.

Transfer to the greased dish and smooth out the top with the moistened bottom of a cup. Let it cool for an hour.

Cut it into barfi sized squares and serve.