Carrot halwa

 

Recipe : Carrot Halwa

I've always known Indian people are stereotyped with very sweet teeth, (2 thumbs up, a popular drink, is 5 times sweeter than Coke), but this dessert was a more subtle take on a classic, perhaps watered down slightly for 'delicate' Western palates. Considering the amount of sugar, condensed sweetened milk and butter that went into it, it was surprisingly light, tasting of sweet, earthy carrots and cream.

1 kg carrots
1 litre milk
200g sugar
100g unsalted clarified butter
1 tbsp green cardamom powder
1 tin condensed milk
30g each almonds and raisins

Peel and grate the carrots and place in a large pan. Add the milk, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the carrots are soft and fully cooked and the milk has reduced significantly. 

Add the sugar, cardamom powder, condensed milk and clarified butter and let the mixture cook until until all the moisture has evaporated.

Allow to cool, garnish with almonds and raisins and serve. Chef Gurpreet suggested vanilla ice cream or maybe whipped cream to accompany.