 gajar(carrot) halwa, the time has come |
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| arnab |
 Nov 19 2004, 01:41 AM
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#1
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 bandwidth glutton Group: founding members Posts: 14726 Joined: 21-July 04 From: northfield, minnesota Member No.: 1  |
sue's picture of a bowl of perfect gajar halwa (here) may or may not have been posted intentionally to torment the rest of us but at least shahpar and i are now hungry. this is the season for it after all. so let's have some recipes: from the simple short-cuts to the hardcore traditional; from the cholesterol-conscious to the decadently ghee-laden.
-------------------- yeh sab kya ho raha hai, beta duryodhan? arnab@anothersubcontinent.com |
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| gingerly |
Nov 19 2004, 03:44 AM
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#2
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 bandwidth eater Group: moderators Posts: 6333 Joined: 27-July 04 Member No.: 18 |
waiting for Sue's version but starting off with this body builder version from the dharamjit singh book!
karrah pehlwani(halva titan)  4 lb carrots 8 ozs sugar 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground saffron 1/4 lb butter 2 lb blanched almonds grate or blend the carrots. make a syrup with the sugar and 5oz of water and cook until the thread stage.take off any scum.add carrots,nutmeg and saffron and cook until all the moisture and syrup have dried up.add melted butter and almonds freshly ground(no more than 5 minutes before use)or finely chopped. i plan to try a scaled down version despite the fact i'm still recovering from the last batch made from a slightly less deluxe recipe! -------------------- 'there are some things money can't buy. for everything else, there's the google'
mmm..lightningy ow you say in english.. fingularly exquifite |
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| ajit |
Nov 19 2004, 04:42 AM
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#3
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 bandwidth eater Group: founding members Posts: 4926 Joined: 21-July 04 Member No.: 2 |
Isn't any milk involved in the making of the gajar ka halwa ?
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| arnab |
Nov 19 2004, 05:03 AM
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#4
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bandwidth glutton Group: founding members Posts: 14726 Joined: 21-July 04 From: northfield, minnesota Member No.: 1 |
there is in my mother's version--lots of milk that is boiled down. there's also a short-cut version with condensed milk that purists will sneer at but which tastes excellent.
-------------------- yeh sab kya ho raha hai, beta duryodhan? arnab@anothersubcontinent.com |
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| samir |
Nov 19 2004, 05:42 AM
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#5
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member Group: maha contributors Posts: 723 Joined: 27-July 04 Member No.: 20 |
Long back I made once following Madhur Jaffrey's recipe from one of her books. I am biased of course, but I liked the result.
Samir |
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| shanta |
Nov 19 2004, 07:11 AM
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#6
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 bandwidth eater Group: moderators Posts: 2129 Joined: 12-November 04 Member No.: 179 |
My simple(lazy) version:
Cook grated carrots with some milk, add sugar to taste and cook until desired consistency(thicker the better), add chopped nuts(all or one of these: cashews, pista, almonds, charolis and walnuts) and/or raisins, add a bit of ghee(optional) cook for a few more minutes. Serve cold or warm. |
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| Pratibha |
Nov 19 2004, 07:37 AM
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 member Group: bandwidth eaters Posts: 1740 Joined: 27-July 04 Member No.: 15 |
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| arnab |
Nov 19 2004, 08:03 AM
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#8
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bandwidth glutton Group: founding members Posts: 14726 Joined: 21-July 04 From: northfield, minnesota Member No.: 1 |
pratibha, surely you don't expect me to remember things from 3 whole months ago? :-) i can barely remember what i had for lunch. i knew i'd read a recipe already on this forum--but i was looking to see if there'd already been a "gajar halwa" thread, didn't strike me that there could be recipes in other threads. i'm cutting and pasting it in here if you don't mind. pratibha's recipe:
by the way, do you grate in food-processor or by hand? and how many pounds of gajars would you say and how much milk? -------------------- yeh sab kya ho raha hai, beta duryodhan? arnab@anothersubcontinent.com |
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| Pratibha |
Nov 21 2004, 05:23 PM
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#9
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member Group: bandwidth eaters Posts: 1740 Joined: 27-July 04 Member No.: 15 |
For this recipe the finely grated texture of hand-grated gajars is not necessary, I use food processor, or use the already grated packaged ones. Basically you are boiling the heck out of them anyway, so the gajars become soft regardless of the original texture. I can't say how many pounds but I would use one gajar (The ones I get are pretty big) per two servings. I also don't measure milk, I said use as much as you like. I just eyeball it. But you may want to start with a cup per gajar and go from there. All the disclaimers apply here. I have never been a good cook for other people, I cook and eat what and how I like (or how it turns out on any give day), occassionally other people's tastes concide with mine. Pratibha |
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| arnab |
Nov 25 2004, 11:08 PM
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#10
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bandwidth glutton Group: founding members Posts: 14726 Joined: 21-July 04 From: northfield, minnesota Member No.: 1 |
pratibha, gajars have been purchased--this recipe will be attempted some time in the next 3 days.
one gajar per two servings? those must be some monstrous gajars--or more likely you were raised in a less gluttonous household... -------------------- yeh sab kya ho raha hai, beta duryodhan? arnab@anothersubcontinent.com |
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| daya |
Nov 26 2004, 07:50 PM
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#11
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member Group: regular contributors Posts: 69 Joined: 18-August 04 Member No.: 101 |
This thread inspired me to make some halwa the other night - it was fantastic, if I do say so myself. It was the condensed milk kind that gives purists the heebie-jeebies, but it was gorgeous and I've stocked up on carrots to do it again.
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| Sue Darlow |
Nov 26 2004, 08:26 PM
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#12
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 member Group: bandwidth eaters Posts: 2554 Joined: 17-September 04 Member No.: 129 |
OK, here is the recipe for the gajar ka halwa in my picture. It was given to me by my Malayali friend, who tells me her mother made it this way. It may not be "authentic" as you don't have to slave over it for hours, but somehow I think you, Shahpar, may like it for that reason!
First off, you need - 500g carrots, finely grated 1 x 397g tin of sweetened condensed milk Half a cup of fresh milk Put the above in a pressure cooker, mix well, cover and cook under pressure on a low flame for about thirty minutes after the first whistle. Then lower pressure and open the lid. Add - 8 pods worth of cardamom seeds, finely powdered 2 tablespoons of (homemade) ghee Keep stirring on a low flame until all the liquid has dried up, and then some! Remove and transfer to a serving bowl, decorate with varq when cool if desired. Sue  |
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| shahpar |
Nov 26 2004, 10:23 PM
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#13
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 member Group: bandwidth eaters Posts: 4319 Joined: 30-July 04 Member No.: 29 |
Sue,
finely grating 500gs of carrots+30 minutes of pressure cooking+making ghee at home=slaving over it! okay seriously, am going to try this. need to phone a friend who owns a pressure cooker and a grater. need to learn how to work a pressure cooker. got these recipes for making ghee at home: http://www.ayurbalance.com/explore_howtosghee.htm http://healthyherbs.about.com/c/ht/00/07/H...r0963923213.htm hmmn. might go buy some readymade ghee. ok, rest of the recipe sounds doable. shall keep you posted! hugs, s edit to add: what about adding the dry fruits? should i just chop up some and add like a garnish? also, when do i add kishmish, if at all? edit #2 to add: i found this recipe for gajar halwa (not that i want to cheat on Sue's recipe! ) but i got a bit confused as it tells us to add "mawa"--i thought that was the evaporating milk already turned it into mawa. also, it tells us to add panneer and lemon juice. very weird.http://www.recipedelights.com/recipes/dess...ajarkahalwa.htm This post has been edited by shahpar: Nov 26 2004, 10:38 PM -------------------- punjab power ji...lighting up you life ji
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| arnab |
Nov 26 2004, 10:29 PM
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#14
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bandwidth glutton Group: founding members Posts: 14726 Joined: 21-July 04 From: northfield, minnesota Member No.: 1 |
details please -------------------- yeh sab kya ho raha hai, beta duryodhan? arnab@anothersubcontinent.com |
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| arnab |
Nov 26 2004, 10:30 PM
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#15
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bandwidth glutton Group: founding members Posts: 14726 Joined: 21-July 04 From: northfield, minnesota Member No.: 1 |
hey ram! hai allah! this creature does not even own a pressure-cooker??!!! -------------------- yeh sab kya ho raha hai, beta duryodhan? arnab@anothersubcontinent.com |
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| shahpar |
Nov 26 2004, 10:49 PM
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#16
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member Group: bandwidth eaters Posts: 4319 Joined: 30-July 04 Member No.: 29 |
sigh! i've only started to cook a little over 2 years ago and that too after being confronted by horrible english food as an alternative. when i was growing up the staff in our house were under strict orders not to let me into the kitchen. the answer to this riddle was not that i was some sort of middle-class precious cargo, but i had a thing for setting things on fire. i've melted plastics, crayons and thrown "fireballs" at the cook and lit bonfires under cars. so when turandot asks calaf, "what burns hotter than fire and is colder than ice?", the answer is "shahpar's dad's fury." as for working a pressure cooker, well now you know what to get me for my wedding! then again, DDji's canteen-wallah (meri mangetar) might already have several. -shahpar -------------------- punjab power ji...lighting up you life ji
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| daya |
Nov 26 2004, 10:52 PM
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#17
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member Group: regular contributors Posts: 69 Joined: 18-August 04 Member No.: 101 |
What I did is pretty much summed up by Sue Darlow's recipe - minus the ghee and with more milk which I boiled and boiled until I got the consistency I wanted. I also didn't weigh the carrots - just used what I had - about 6-8 rather skinny specimens. And I garnished with pistachios because they looked so pretty!
Arnab, how does everyone put quoted bits of text in those neat blue boxes? And finally, why do you need a pressure cooker? At all, I mean, not for gajjar halwa. Is there anything that can only be cooked in pressure cooker and not in a conventional pot or pan? Apologies if I've gone off thread here. |
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| Rumali Roti |
Nov 27 2004, 01:31 AM
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#18
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member Group: bandwidth eaters Posts: 4172 Joined: 27-July 04 Member No.: 19 |
Daya,
(i) Highlight and copy the text you wish to quote (in the blue box) (ii) Click on QUOTE (iii) Drop your copied text (iv) Click on QUOTE again You'll see the quote in the box after you click on Add Reply This post has been edited by roshna: Nov 27 2004, 01:31 AM |
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| arnab |
Nov 27 2004, 01:44 AM
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#19
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bandwidth glutton Group: founding members Posts: 14726 Joined: 21-July 04 From: northfield, minnesota Member No.: 1 |
or if you want to quote a message when you reply to it, just click on the "quote" button in its top right corner instead of the "add reply" button at the bottom-right.
-------------------- yeh sab kya ho raha hai, beta duryodhan? arnab@anothersubcontinent.com |
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| Flexicographer |
Nov 27 2004, 07:15 AM
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#20
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 member Group: regular contributors Posts: 71 Joined: 1-August 04 From: Bangalore Member No.: 32 |
Sue, IMHO, I would amend your recipe and add condensed milk after switching off the heat. CM has a nasty habit of sticking to the bottom and scorching. And maybe one or two whistles may be enough. Also I suggest doubling the quantity of carrots and adding sugar if need be. Otherwise the CM taste may overpower the GH. What do you think? This post has been edited by Flexicographer: Nov 27 2004, 07:18 AM -------------------- "Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands -- and then eat just one of the pieces.”
~ Judith Viorst |
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| Sue Darlow |
Nov 27 2004, 01:03 PM
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#21
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member Group: bandwidth eaters Posts: 2554 Joined: 17-September 04 Member No.: 129 |
Hello Lexi, Shahpar, Daya and others, Shapur, I don't know how else you can wind up with gajar ka halwa if you aren't prepared to grate some carrots!  I do mine in a food processor. I don't use it much, but when you have a stack of grating to do, it gets through it all in a trice and without grated fingers. Homemade ghee it EASY PEASY to make and far better than the tinned stuff, to which they add some preservatives or somesuch. If anyone wants to know how to do it, they are going to have to ask very nicely and make it worth my while!! Daya, why use the pressure cooker? It saves bother! You can do this in an ordinary pan, but you would have to stand over it and stir it, check it etc. Once in the pressure cooker and after the whistles have started, you just lower the heat to medium-low and go and do something else for half an hour. Lexi, I have made gajar ka halwa using this recipe numerous times. In fact, I have tweaked the original recipe given to me, by eliminating a 'katori' worth of sugar and reducing the amount of fresh milk added. I suppose each person has their own idea of what it should taste like. I like my sweets to be sweet enough but not so overpoweringly sweet that the flavour of the other ingredients is smothered. About burning and sticking - well, the carrots release a lot of liquid, so it never burns in the pressure cooker if you cook it for 30 mins. After opening, you do have to stir it, but it doesn't burn easily or anything. There is usually about a katori worth of liquid present when you take the lid off the pressure cooker, and after adding the ghee, you have to stir and dry out the halwa for maybe 15 minutes to half an hour, depending on how dry you like your halwa. The longer you cook it the richer it tastes. I would add that you can add extra ghee over and above the two tablespoons if you want a very rich result, the kind you cut into sqares and all, rather than the kind you eat with a spoon. About adding kismis - I would do that when you take the lid off the pressure cooker. You want them incorporated, but not cooked to smithereens! Is there any aspect I haven't covered? I once again repeat, this is a quick'n'easy recipe, that to my mind gives very good results and is virtually foolproof. Sue |
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| Flexicographer |
Nov 27 2004, 02:10 PM
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#22
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member Group: regular contributors Posts: 71 Joined: 1-August 04 From: Bangalore Member No.: 32 |
Sue,
You must be right, I think I posted my views based on the delhi/desi (red, not orange)carrots which become 'puch' on extended cooking. I am going to try a batch using your directions and with 'english' carrots, as they are called here. -------------------- "Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands -- and then eat just one of the pieces.”
~ Judith Viorst |
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| Rumali Roti |
Nov 27 2004, 09:04 PM
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#23
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member Group: bandwidth eaters Posts: 4172 Joined: 27-July 04 Member No.: 19 |
Anyone tried to make halwa in a slow cooker? Can it be done?
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| ajit |
Nov 27 2004, 11:12 PM
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#24
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bandwidth eater Group: founding members Posts: 4926 Joined: 21-July 04 Member No.: 2 |
Well me neither. I have a mini-hawkins which called it quits after a single use. Anyway, real chefs don't use cookers. |
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| Rushina |
Nov 28 2004, 01:15 AM
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#25
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member Group: maha contributors Posts: 824 Joined: 27-July 04 From: Bombay Member No.: 23 |
Come to think of it it would probably turn out awesome. But wouldnt there be some caramelisation taking place? Indiachef, Ammini, what do you think? -------------------- Always in search of that perfect bite!
Blogs: A Perfect Bite and My Mumbai Cookbook |
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| shami |
Nov 28 2004, 09:44 AM
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#26
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member Group: maha contributors Posts: 383 Joined: 30-July 04 Member No.: 28 |
Sue, Inspired by this thread and your recipe I made gajjar ka halwa this weekend. I'm happy to report that for the first time in a long time something I cooked actiually came out pretty well! Proof positive that this recipe is idiot proof!Thank you! shami |
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| daya |
Nov 29 2004, 07:53 PM
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#27
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member Group: regular contributors Posts: 69 Joined: 18-August 04 Member No.: 101 |
It works! Thank you both. |
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| daya |
Nov 29 2004, 07:58 PM
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#28
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member Group: regular contributors Posts: 69 Joined: 18-August 04 Member No.: 101 |
Sue, this is true, it would save bother. I don't have one though and I must confess that I secretly welcomed the chance to stand quietly in the kitchen stirring away and reading a magazine for an hour or so. It was quite peaceful. I can however see the attraction of putting it on for half an hour and leaving it to do its thing. |
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| Rushina |
Nov 30 2004, 12:15 AM
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#29
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member Group: maha contributors Posts: 824 Joined: 27-July 04 From: Bombay Member No.: 23 |
The wedding is in full swing and guess what we had for dessert. Gajjar halwa. It was awesome.
Rushina -------------------- Always in search of that perfect bite!
Blogs: A Perfect Bite and My Mumbai Cookbook |
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| arnab |
Dec 6 2004, 03:43 AM
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#30
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bandwidth glutton Group: founding members Posts: 14726 Joined: 21-July 04 From: northfield, minnesota Member No.: 1 |
okay, i have finally made my gajar halwa, and i followed pratibha's recipe (above). all i can say is that if the pressure-cooker version is as good or better then it must be very good indeed.  those black things are raisins--god help me, i didn't use the yellow ones and i didn't soak them. i didn't put any nuts either--i like my gajar halwa without nuts. god help me again, i used commercial ghee (swad). can only imagine how much better still it would be with home-made ghee and the proper kishmish. took about two hours of work from beginning to end (including prep)--i sat over the pan (a heavy-bottomed, wide, non-stick thing) on a bar-stool and stirred for about an hour and a half. it should also be clear from the photograph that everything sue learned about food photography she clearly learned from me... -------------------- yeh sab kya ho raha hai, beta duryodhan? arnab@anothersubcontinent.com |
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