Gajar ka Halwa !!

What is it that first comes to your mind when you think of gajar ka halwa? Sweet? Calorie rich? Wonderful dessert? YUmmmmmm.... ? Can do with another helping! ?
What comes to my mind is a scene from a long ago movie.. I cannot recollect the name ... however, it went like this, the hero (yesteryear actor Biswajeet) comes home after a long time, after his return and ' Maa ki aakon mein khushi ke aansu'(tears of joy in the Mother's eyes) she tells him to go freshen up as she has made gajar ka halwa for the special ocassion, and he says, " Ma, tumhe kaise pata, mujhe gajar ka halwa pasand hai?"(Mom, how do you know I like gajar ka halwa?) Hello.... she is your Mother, she raised you remember!! Anyway, this sweet has long been the favourite of all heros in movies... and is vastly popular among the rest (the normal guy, who has never fought off a gang of 20 villans single handedly, has never had a bevy of beatuies swarming around him, who does not sing songs in the rain, running around trees...)..the calorie conscious female lead takes a back seat here, but hey, I'm far from that, which means I can i-n-d-u-l-g-e in this sweet!
More importantly, the carrots were lying in the fridge for a week now, and I would catch it if M laid his eyes on them lying untouched ! So I finally rolled my sleeves in the afternoon and got down to grating the carrots .. quite a workout I tell you !
Now, grating carrots can become such a task - after the first 2 carrots, that I don't know how many I used (seemed like 100's!) I even contempleted putting them thru the blender, but then rejected the idea thinking that it may not look and taste as good....

So roughly I took

2 1/2 katori (cup) grated carrots

3 tbsp ghee

2 katori milk

1/2 katori sugar (take a couple of tbsp. off the top)

A few strands saffron

Nuts to garnish

Cardamom powder

In a heavy bottom pan, heat the ghee, add the grated carrot and cook till tender. If u feel the carrot is sticking to the bottom, add a bit of water. Once the carrot is tender, add in the milk, stir well and cook on a med-high flame. Stir ocassionally otherwise the halwa gets stuck to the bottom and burns. Have patience... slowly the milk will thicken, add the saffron ( I just popped it in the milk). Once the mix looks solid enough, add the sugar. Mix it well and cook.
Once done, add the cardamom powder and garnish with nuts.

* Adding milk and cooking the carrot in it makes the halwa a bit sludgy, but tastes very nice. If you prefer the dryish kind of halwa, khoya needs to be used.

This is my entry for 'Festive food fair' event at Anna's morsels and musings .