Subject: LACTO: Carrot Halwa

From: [email-masked] (Sridhar Venkataaman)
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 13:57:29 GMT

IMO close to a North Indian gajar (Hindi term for carrot) halwa.  The
quantities are advisory.  If there is much (needed) variation in your
preparation, I would be interested in hearing about it.

Sridhar.
                            -=-=-=-=-

CARROT HALWA

     CARROT_HALWA - A South Indian Preparation

INGREDIENTS ()
     350 gm.   Carrots
     0.375 ltr.
	       Milk
     0.5 ltr.  Sugar
     5-6       Cardamom	Pods
     5-6       Cashew nuts (optional)
     8-10      Raisins (optional)
	       Ghee (optional -	for frying cashews)

PROCEDURE
	  (1)  The first step is to grate  the	carrots	 using	a
	       blender.	  It  is  a bit	difficult getting it done
	       using a cheap one.  Persistence pays. :-)

	  (2)  Heat milk in a vessel and bring it to boil.   Once
	       it  is  boiling,	 add the grated	carrots	until the
	       odor of carrots disappears and the  odor	 of  milk
	       dominates.

	  (3)  If you have sugar crystals, it is probably  better
	       to  make	a thick	sugary liquid separately (heating
	       sugar crystals in water until the sugar	dissolves
	       completely).   Alternatively,  you  can	just  add
	       sugar to	the preparation	after Step 2.	Heat  the
	       preparation  until  the	sugar has diffused in the
	       mixture and the mixture becomes thick.

	  (4)  Grind the cardamom pods using your hands	to  break
	       them  open  and add them.  If using cashews, break
	       them into  small	 pieces	 and  fry  them	 in  ghee
	       separately and add them.	Add the	raisins	too.

	  (5)  The final preparation (whatever comes out!) is the
	       halwa.  It is best eaten	after it is cooled.

NOTES
     The trick to tune the recipe to your fat/taste  requirements
     is	 to  have a fixed amount of carrots  and vary the amounts
     of	milk and sugar.	 If you	need more milk,	you  can  add  it
     anytime and let the preparation for a little more time until
     it	becomes	thick.

CONTRIBUTOR
     Sridhar Venkataraman <[email-masked]>
     with ingredient help from 'Samaiththup paar', a cookbook in Tamil.