Gajar ko Halwa – Carrot Pudding

Ingredients :

  • 2 kg of carrots
  • 3 cups of whole milk
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of ghee
  • ½  teaspoon of ground cardamom (elaichi)
  • saffron

Preparation :

Grate the carrots.
Place the whole milk, sugar and carrots in a saucepan.
Boil until thickened, stirring constantly once mixture thickens.
Add ghee, cardamom and saffron until it oozes.
Serve hot, garnished with a chopped almond or pistachio.

Astuces : You can eat it with a little yogurt.

Kesari – semolina cake

Ingredients :

  • 1 cup semolina average *
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup ghee
  • 2 cup water
  • 10 green cardamom capsules
  • 6 saffron threads soaked in 2 tablespoons of lukewarm milk
  • A pinch of salt
  • Sliced ​​almonds for decoration or pistachios, cashews, coconut

* Attention to the meal you choose : semolina indicated in this recipe is not couscous semolina ! It is much finer (almost powder) and special desserts.
Preparation :

Put 2 tablespoons of sugar in a mortar with the cardamom, finely grind and remove the capsule which come loose.

In a kettle, boil water and keep warm.
In a saucepan, heat ghee and add the semolina and fry over low heat.

Pour the water slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon, stir in the saffron, sugar, cardamom and a pinch of salt, stir and remove from heat as soon as the semolina comes off the pan.

Pour into buttered baking square or round in ghee, spread over 1 to 1.5 cm and smooth top and place in the fridge.Pour into square or round mold previously buttered with ghee, spread over 1 to 1.5 cm and smooth top and and then put in the fridge for 20 minutes. Cut into squares or diamond shapes, decorate with coconut and almonds (or other).

Tips : We can flavor it with different flavors such as rose water or spices: turmeric … You can add dry grapes or even put a touch of color by adding a touch of food coloring.

Anecdote : The Kesari comes from the word Keshar, “saffron flower” in Sanskrit, then became Keshari. This is a dessert popular in southern India and Srilanka