Gajar Ka Halwa [Carrot Dessert]

My fondest memories of winters from past is of "gajar ka halwa". Winter would bring those juicy carrots in the market and at home, it would be a perfect division of labor. My dad usually bought the finest of carrots, never less than 2 kilos and of course, a good bargain. My job was to grate the carrots (whenever, I wanted to give up, I faked bruising my hands with the grating board and my Dad usually took over). And my Mom used to stand for 30 minutes or so next to the wok, stirring the milk and the carrots to make the delicious "Gajar ka Halwa".

This is also one of those dishes that Mom used to make "just to bring that sparkle in my eyes". And that makes it so special ...

Today, when carrots are available all through the year, the "all so special" feel about it is kinda gone - but, it still remains my favorite sweet dish. Let us start cooking now ... or what?
Ingredients
1. Carrots [1 lb]
2. Ghee [1/4 cup]
3. Milk [2 cups]
4. Sugar [1 cup]
5. Blanched cashews, raisins, almonds [1/4 cup] - optional

Preparation
1. Wash and peel the outer skin of the carrots
2. Grate the Carrots. [I use food processor these days]
3. In a bottomed saucepan, heat the ghee and fold in the grated carrots
4. Stir the carrots for about 3-4 minutes or until the ghee and carrots have nicely mixed
5. Pour the milk and stir occasionally till the milk starts thickening (on a medium heat)
6. Keep an eye because as the milk starts thickening, you will need to stir continuously
7. Add the sugar and stir some more
8. You may want to add some more ghee at this point of time depending on your appetite for ghee.
9. Once all the milk is condensed and the ghee starts oozing out, the halwa is complete. It will be of thick consistency
Serve hot, garnished with dry-fruits. You may preserve the halwa in refrigerator until consumed in a day or two. But serve hot each time - it tastes best when hot.
Additional tips
1. The more the ghee, the tastier is your halwa - but remember the fat quotient!
2. You may add some Khoya to add to the richer taste. If you have some sweets in your refrigerator like Kaju Katli, Milk Barfee - add 2-3 pieces of the same to the halwa - This will add to the thickening of the milk and replace the khoya.

Enjoy the delicious treat !

Sweet Bread - A quick and rich snack

I was very hungry one evening and did not have energy to make something to eat. The kitchen cabinet did not have anything enticing - and then, as always, Shekhar came to my rescue. In his typical quick and experimental style, he turned some breads into one of the best snacks I had for a long time. Read on to see how he made this.

Definitely, kids are going to love this. I did ... ahem !

Sweet Bread

1. Crumble some breads (5-6 pieces) with your fingers. We had hotdog rolls at home, so used them
2. In a pan put some oil - use ghee for a much richer taste
3. Put the crumbled breads in the ghee and stir vigorously until all the bread is mixed with the ghee. Without burning, the breads should be crisp by now and the room should smell heavenly of ghee :) - little exaggeration, well Shekhar is making it...
4. Now add about 3-4 tbsp of sugar and mix some more
5. You may eat it right away OR
6. Pour half a cup of milk in the mixture and again stir for some time
7. Garnish with some dry fruits (this is my tip)

And you are all set to eat a fast snack - It takes only as much time as to make tea. So, enjoy the Sweet Breads with a cup of tea for snacks.

Malpua - Amita Style [sweet dumplings in milk sauce]

If you thought, making Malpua was a cumbersome process and needed a lot of preparation. Think again!

I make Malpua so fast and easy that I can quickly fix it if I have 15 minutes for dinner / lunch. Believe me, this is a dessert that people will ask for more ... and always have appetite for. So time for -

Malpua, Amita Style
[For approx 8 malpuas]
Part I - The dumplings


1. Sieve together 2 cups of all purpose flour, one cup of wheat flour and a pinch of Baking Powder
2. In a grinder, mix the dry ingredients above with about 1 cup of milk. The milk should be enough to get a consistency of thin paste. It should easily fall of a spoon - but not be too liquid.
3. Heat oil (for deep fry) in a wok. When hot, drop a table-spoon full of the batter. The batter will spread a bit, before taking a nice circular shape.
4. Allow the Malpuas to fry until it sizzles. Once the sizzling stops, flip it around.
5. Repeat this for rest of the batter

Part II - Sugar Syrup
[You can do this parallel to making the Malpua and save time]

1. Heat 2 small cups of sugar in 1 small cup of water for about 5 minutes. The solution should turn a little sticky.
2. Add the Malpuas in the sugar syrup and coat all sides nicely
3. Roll them over grated coconut (if available)- coconut will stick on the sticky surface of the malpua, giving it a nice look and crunchy taste.

Part III - Milk Sauce

1. Thicken Milk. If using condensed milk, use as it is.
2. Add crushed dry-fruits like cashew and almonds to the milk and stir lightly.
3. Cool the milk.

To Serve
In a deep bowl, put the dumplings and pour generously the milk sauce on top. Scoop a bite - how does it feel ???

After all, every day is special - treat it as such!

Home Made - Falooda

This is my rendition of Falooda ... Like, I said earlier, use your ingenuity to make what you like - believe me, it will be delicious. These are the things, that I had at home and used them to quickly turn into a delicious dessert.

Home-Made Falooda
1. Boil small quantity of vermicelli (Sewai) and cool it after running through cold water - 2 tsp for one glass of falooda
2. Soak some tapioca (sago / sabudana) for about an hour - use hot water for fast action. The tapioca should be soft and malleable.
3. Thicken milk. You can use condensed milk, instead.

That is all the preparation needed. Now serve the Falooda

In a tall glass (can use wine glass), in the order mentioned below:
1. Pour some milk in the glass
2. Add crushed dry-fruits (almonds, walnuts, pistachio etc)
3. Add 2 spoons full of soft tapioca on top of the dry fruits
4. Add two scoops of vanilla icecream (any other, but chocolate would do)
5. Top it with the cold boiled vermicelli.
6. Give a final touch by adding pomegranates seeds (rose syrup, if at home - I did'nt), some more dry fruits.
7. Stir very lightly, not disturbing the order.

You are all set for a beautiful looking, easy to make at home, dessert. This is something, that can be quickly turned up, if you know how to.