Gajar Ka Halwa ( Orange Carrot Pudding)

You can prepare gajar ka halwa in off-season also, using orange carrots, when it is difficult to get pink/red carrots. The strong flavor of orange carrots is subsided to a large extend by boiling and then cooking in ghee.
Carrots are boiled and cooked with khoya powder, sugar; garnished with nuts, raisins; flavored with saffron, rose water.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound carrots
• ½ cup khoya powder or milk powder
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 tsp cardamoms powder
• Pistachios and almonds slivered as required
• Pinch of saffron
• 1 tsp rose water

Method:

• Crush the boiled carrots lightly.
• Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan; add cardamoms when hot.
• Add carrots and cook stirring constantly. When the ghee starts separating from carrots and carrots begin to change color, add sugar and stir continually until water from the sugar is evaporated.
• Now mix in khoya powder, saffron, rose water and nuts.
• Take out in a serving bowl. Garnish with nuts and cardamom powder.
• Serve hot.

Do You Know:

The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange color from B-carotene, which is metabolized into vitamin A in humans when bile salts are present in the intestines. Carrots are also rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants and minerals.

Lack of Vitamin A can cause poor vision, including night vision, and vision can be restored by adding Vitamin A back into the diet.