As Eid is right around the corner, the halwa making is on the rise. I only wish I could watch some cricket along with it. Oh well!
Essential Ingredients:
(i) Carrots (3-4 lbs or depends on how many servings you want)
(ii) A cup of sugar (for 3 lbs according to my taste, more if you like it sweet)
(iii) Milk - You can have regular Milk, 2% or totally fat-free. I mixed Half n Half with regular Milk. Some people use powder Milk.
(iv) 1/2 tea cup of cooking Oil.
Optional Ingredients:
(i) Half a bar of butter (for flavor)
(ii) Cardamom Seeds (for flavor)
(iii) Almonds (for decoration)
(iv) Pistachios (for decoration)
(v) Raisins (for decoration)
Tips: (a) If you start from scratch it will be an hour or two of commitment. (b) Use non-stick utensil as there is a lot of constant stirring involved.
Halwa Making Steps:
#1 Start with grating the carrots! You can use the mechanic/electric grater, though I used my state of the art grater. :clown:
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#2 Warm up the oil, before dumping in the grated carrots. I used some Cardamom Seeds, just to give it a little flavor!
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#3 On medium heat, cook the carrots in the oil until they lose their hardness. Halka Bhonana/galana hota hay, karahna nahin hota. Don’t over cook, or in other words, the carrots shouldn’t change their color, I cooked them for 5-7 minutes on “my” medium heat.
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Tip: **(c) **Don’t use too much Oil, you can get an idea of the oil I put from the pictures. I think it will be 1/2 tea cup for 3-4 lbs of carrots. Don’t sue me, if it’s not perfect.
#4 On medium heat, when you think the carrots are done, pour in the milk! As mentioned before you can use any kind of milk. I believe the thicker the milk, the better, my mother (she is also my cooking guru) disagree. Pasand apni apni! No?
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Tip: - Important - (d) You can't get away from the stove. Stand there and stir constantly. Nearly all the milk needs to evaporate. So, stir ... stir and keep stirring.
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When there is a lot of milk, you can stir after every two minutes or so. But when you are close the above picture, constant stirring is necessary. Even if little bitty of the halwa sticks in the bottom, it's smell will ruin everyone's appetite. :o
*#5 * Add sugar to the mix and it's a good practice to sprinkle it while adding (Optional Step) Add half a bar of butter to the mix, just to give it some more taste. Now is also a good time to add any raisins etc. though I prefer my halwa plane!
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#6 Stir until you are satisfied with the texture & mix of the halwa. I like mine well cooked, so you see less traces of milk. I know people who stop a little before to give it a milky-mushy taste.
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#7 Serve anyway you like. The side without the sprinkling of Pistachio is my side ... :D
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What are you talking about? Babhi IS the one who made this. AJ is just taking the credit for nothing. All he probably did was take the pictures.
He couldn’t make this if his life depended on it!
p.s. I like this step-by-step recipes with pictures. I say we do all our recipes like this from now on. It would help the people who are trying out the recipe for the first time, as they’d know what it should look like at what point.
Plus…seeing is believing.
ahmedjee jis terha aap nay saari tafseel or pics lagayee hain moderator say ziada NaaYee lag rahay hain:p
waisay yay recipe kaafi achi hay q k main bhi aisay hi kuch banati hoon,apki recipe paas ho gayee:D
Ahmadjee ... thanks for the recipe once again. Here's what I cooked following your recipe. Guys, its a very painful process .. never try it at home unless if you have 2-3 guys to help you stir :)