Gajar ka halwa — gajrela in Punjabi — is the great winter sweet of Punjab and Delhi, made when the markets fill with stubby red desi carrots from November to February. Red carrots are the point: sweeter, juicier and deeper in colour than the orange kind, they cook down in full-fat milk and ghee into a glistening, fudgy mass, enriched with khoya and perfumed with cardamom. It is a slow dish, grated by hand and stirred for an hour over a low flame until the milk has gone and the ghee glistens at the edges — the smell of it cooking is half the pleasure. It belongs to winter weddings, Lohri and Diwali, served warm in great kadhais. This version follows Rekha Kakkar of My Tasty Curry, whose family gajrela came down from a grandmother who carried the recipe across at Partition.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg red carrots (or sweet orange carrots, grated)
- 1 litre full-fat milk
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 150 g sugar (or to taste)
- 100 g khoya (mawa, grated (or 3 tbsp condensed milk))
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 3 tbsp mixed almonds (cashews and pistachios, slivered)
METHOD
- Combine the grated carrots and milk in a heavy, wide pan and bring to a boil.
- Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the carrots are soft and the milk has almost completely evaporated.
- Add the ghee and cook, stirring, until the carrots turn glossy and deep in colour.
- Stir in the sugar and cook until its liquid has evaporated.
- Add the khoya and cardamom and cook a few minutes more until the halwa is rich and the ghee glistens at the edges.
- Stir through the raisins and nuts.
- Serve warm, on its own or with rabri or a scoop of ice cream.
