Carrot Halwa- Gajar Halwa (microwave version)

Gajar Halwa is King of Sweets
A thousand other desserts, it proudly defeats (from a poem by wordbug)

I first posted my recipe for  gajar halwa in 2010 when I made it on the stove top and it took me ages to get it perfect.  Since then I have got better and now learned a quick and easy method which I have tried out on friends and family who have loved it.   Not only is this a quick recipe, it’s also made with very few ingredients.  I made this yesterday as Nayna Kanabar from Simply Food came to visit me which I really appreciated as it’s a fairly long drive for her.  Nayna and I  got to know each other in 2010 when I had just started blogging.  We started sharing blogging and cooking tips.   Since then our blogger friendship has blossomed and we have become good friends who compliment each other like strawberry and cream or should I say Gajar Halwa and cream?  It’s lovely to be able to share ideas and information with her.

Ingredients for 4 to 5 servings

• 900 grams of grated carrots
• 100 grams of butter
• 1 can of carnation sweetened condensed milk 397 grams
• pinch of saffron
• pinch or two of nutmeg
• ½ tsp of cardomom
• handful of sliced almonds

Method

1.   Wash and grate the carrots finely and tranfer them to a bowl.

2.  Add the butter to the carrots, cover the dish and cook the dish with a lid on  high (750 watts) for 16 minutes – stirring the mixture every 4 minutes. 

3.  Once the carrots soften, add the carnation milk, stir and cook again (with the cover)  at 4 minute intervals for 8 minutes.

4.  Add the saffron, cardomom and nutmeg and half the sliced almonds and cook (with the cover) until all the carnation milk is absorbed (about 8 more minutes).  Covering the dish prevents the halwa from drying out.   Be careful not to overcook the halwa as it will make it dry.  If this happens – add 2-3 tablespoons of milk to moisten it and stir.

5.  Garnish with almonds and serve hot with cream or ice-cream.

The following picture was taken by Nayna which makes me realise that I have so much to learn about photography.

What sweet dish do you cook when you are entertaining?

More dessert recipes you may wish to try are listed below:

• Badam halwa
• Carrot halwa
• Mumbai Iced halwa in the microwave
• Badam Katli
• Semolina halwa

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