Friday 21 November 2014

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Whenever I think of preparing a sweet dish, I try to consider whether it is possible to make it healthier. This was one such occasion. ….. I decided to go for this recipe since I always have the dals at home, which are such a rich source of protein.

I have tried to reduce the amount of sugar and ghee used . Despite that, it tasted lovely! There was also the ‘healthy’ satisfaction that I was using lentils as the main ingredient.

Ingredients:

Mung Dal or dehusked split green gram- 1/2 cup

Chana Dal or yellow split peas- 1/2 cup

Sugar – 3/4 cup

Ghee – 1/4 cup

Cashews – 6-8

Raisins – 10

Almonds – 2 chopped into thin strips for garnish

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Method:

wash the lentils well and pressure cook adding 1 & 1/2 cups water in a cooker vessel, until the first whistle. then simmer for 15 minutes and switch off. allow to cool naturally.

once cooled, open the pressure cooker, transfer the contents of the cooker vessel to the mixer jar. adding small amounts of water grind it to a paste. if there are 1 or 2 lentils remaining uncrushed (but of course cooked) it is not a problem. it will add to the texture of the sweet later.

in a non stick thick pan, add 1 tbsp of the ghee heat moderately. add cashews stir, once they turn slightly brownish, add raisins, stir. switch off the heat. stir for few more seconds until the raisins puff up well.

remove them onto a separate plate.

to the same pan, add the rest of the ghee, heat to moderate heat. add the lentil paste and stir it into the ghee taking care.

now add the sugar and mix it in well. add cardamom powder. mix. the sugar will dissolve and thicken.

cook this stirring occasionally until you notice the mixture leaving the pan. the mixture would have obtained a slight glaze as well.

now transfer this to a bowl. garnish with the cashews, raisins, chopped almond. some of these nuts can be chopped up and added in to the halwa and the rest can be used for garnish.

dal halwa 1 edited 300x282 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
dal halwa
 

wash the lentils 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
wash the lentils
pressure cook adding 1 and half cups water 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
pressure cook adding 1 and half cups water
cooked lentils 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
cooked lentils
grind to a paste 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
grind to a paste
roast nuts and raisins 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
roast nuts and raisins
heat ghee 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
heat ghee
add paste to the ghee 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
add paste to the ghee
add sugar 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
add sugar
mix well 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
mix well
add cardamom powder 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
add cardamom powder, mix
its leaving the sides transfer to a bowl 300x225 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
its leaving the sides, transfer to a bowl
dal halwa edited 300x223 Dal halwa, dal halwa recipe, Indian sweet dish prepared with lentils
garnish
 
Mmmnnnhhh….. How I wished for a second spoon… second spoon of Warm, Yummy and ‘Ghee’-ey Carrot Halwa. She said, ‘Appa came, so mom made them this morning. <with pride> Is it good?… <in shock> ayoo… miss is coming…’ … ‘Tuppp’! She hurriedly closed her tiffin box tightly. I cursed, why the teachers always show punctually for their classes? Ch, if only my friend and I managed to sneak a minute before the assembly dispersed, I would have succeeded getting a second spoon of the Carrot Halwa from her tiffin box. While the fellow class mates were unloading their books and notebooks from their bag on to the desk I imagined myself to be INVISIBLE to the entire class just to load spoon after spoon with Carrot Halwa and unload them into my mouth. When the class crowd was obediently listening to the ‘dissection of hibiscus flower’, I was busy dissecting the ingredients in the Carrot Halwa. OMG! I couldn’t get rid of Sharmilee’s carrot halwa for the whole first hour class of a Monday morning.
gajar-ka-halua-recipe-1
Immediately once that class hour got over <and the next teacher was walking steadfast towards the classroom> I requested Sharmi to get the carrot halwa recipe written from her mom. Huh, that happened years ago. Sharmilee is one of my good friends at school. Her dad used to work from Ooty and visit their family every week-end. She said her dad brings loads of fresh carrots from the hill. Yeah, the kind of Carrots colored naturally with orange shade, sweet and crunchy, fresh from the grounds with their leaves intact.
carrots washed and peeled for making carrot halwa
While schooling I got just two recipes hand-written from my friends. One was this carrot halwa recipe and the other was kutti biscuit recipe (known as shakkarpara), rest were hear it; leave it type recipes which I did not care to write in a notebook <about which I sigh badly today>. Sharmi’s Carrot fudge was silky <which means, my cheekbones were not involved while eating. The halwa slid themselves down into my stomach> because the carrots were ground before making the halwa. Her mom wrote that we can make carrot halwa without grinding the carrots too. <Self-note: Test Carrot Halwa recipe by grinding the carrots>.
carrot-fudge-gajar-halwa-recipe-1
This paper note of Sharmi’s carrot halwa recipe stayed treasured in one of my books for years. The first time I tried this Carrot halwa recipe it turned out to be a disaster. Disaster: because my halwa had raw smell of the carrots in them. The Best Carrot Halwa is one which encapsulates the flavor of the carrots <remember, it’s the flavor of the carrots and not the raw smell>. That’s why we should not overlook the points given in any recipe. Her carrot fudge recipe said, ‘fry (sauté) the carrots nicely’. Here, ‘nicely’ interpreted to: ‘until pale’ or ‘until the raw smell strips off’, which I did not understand then. Once the raw smell vanishes, the sweet smell of the carrots appears. This is where you begin to add the milk. Fine fine… I get it; you cannot understand these tricks until I explain the recipe for Carrot Halwa. So, coming to the point: How to make Carrot Halwa?

how-to-cook-recipe-1

How to make Carrot Halwa  with Step by Step pictures

Step 1.
Wash, peel and grate the carrots. I used the medium blade in the mandoline to grate. I measured the carrots loosely but heaped.carrot-halwa-recipe-1

Step 2.
Place a wide-mouthed, heavy-bottomed vessel in Medium-High heat. [Wide-mouthed vessel so that the carrots get cooked fast and uniform. This way you can save gas, time and energy. I did not have a wide-mouthed vessel. Used my pressure cooker]. Add 4 tbsp. ghee.
carrot-halva-gajar-halva-1  gajar-ka-halwa-carrotfudge-recipe-1

Step 3.
Add the shredded carrots into the ghee and mix well.
carrot-halwa-step-by-step-1  desert-using-carrots-1

Step 4.
Fry until the carrots turn pale. Compare picture above and below. Do you see the color difference in the carrots? Carrots have turned pale which means they won’t have raw smell. You’ll now feel a kind of sweet smell from the carrots. This process takes around 10 minutes. Add the milk.
best-carrot-halwa-recipe-1  classic-indian-dessert-carrot-halua-1

Step 5.
I used 3 cups of milk. i.e. enough milk to submerge the carrots so that they get cooked well in the milk. Allow the milk to boil. Takes 5 minutes.

gajar-ka-halwa-recipe-halva-halua-1  how-to-make-carrot-halwa-recipe-1

Step 6.
Let the carrots get cooked well in the milk. The carrots should drink in all the milk. This will take 20-30 minutes. Stir the content from time to time to prevent scorching. [Duration will sure come down if you use a wide wok. btw, is anybody looking at my scorched vessel? I’ve to get non-stick set <note to the husband>]

carrot-pudding-carrot-fudge-recipe-1  gajrela-pakistani-sweets-carrot-halwa-1

Step 7.
Once the milk is completely drunk, add in the sugar. Mix well. Reduce flame to Medium. Once sugar is added, the content tends to liquefy (picture in the right). Need not alarm. Stir at regular intervals. We need to wait until the mixture turns thick. This will take around 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile work on Step 8 and 9.
 Note,
:if you wish to make square or diamond shaped pieces, cook the mixture further until it becomes slightly more thicker, then transfer it to a greased plate and allow it to set. cut into shapes….. since it is made of lentils, it does have a tendency to set anyway once it cools. it tasted lovely even the day after (having sat in the fridge)

unlike other halwas, you will not see ghee floating over the preparation, with this recipe
.

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe

Online Indian Sweets Mixed Halwa Recipe


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