Badam Poori - A melt in the mouth, heavenly desert from Mysore for all celebrations

The other day I went to the public library after quite some time and just picked up a random book from the display. As with anything random in life, random books picked off the shelf can either make a great read filling you with warmth and contentment or leave you unsatisfied completely. This one fell somewhere in the middle - had a topic that would catch and sustain your attention and the story telling itself is good but the subject was too chilling for me to enjoy on a Saturday. It has been a while since I have found the time to sit and read books at a stretch, mostly it is a little bit every night and I have an assorted set of books on my bed stand from fiction to spiritual to DIY to cookery books all lining up there. Either I am multi tasking (pros and cons of this for another discussion ;-)) or pressed for time or really tired and ready to crash by the time I pick up the book, so it doesn't really go a long way.

This weekend, the weather wasn't conducive to any outdoor activities as it has been raining since Friday and BH was home sick with a stomach bug he caught. So, being cooped up at home with a husband who was mostly indulging in therapeutic sleep, left me with ample time to cuddle up with my book. 'The Hours really count' is an eerily chilling historical fiction related to the infamous Rosenberg couple who were subjected to death penalty in the 1950s for espionage. The writing is gripping and makes you not put the book down half way through (yes, I did a marathon and finished it at 1am last night) but it is not a subject I would recommend for a read on a cozy, rainy day, something more cheerful maybe.. Next time, I will spend some time before picking up a book for my reads :-). If you have some good reads, please go ahead and recommend.

Other than that, the weekend seemed to just fly by and we are almost at the point where I will start preparing our lunch boxes for tomorrow :-), well a few more hours anyway..

Indian festivals are countless really. If you enjoy celebrating festivals, every day on the Indian calendar can give a reason and excuse to do so :-).  Looking at it I feel that our ancestors truly embraced the concept that life itself is a celebration and everyday is an occasion to be thankful for. While I love the 'being thankful for' everything in life idea, due to practical constraints, I pick and choose the most significant festivals to celebrate. Here 'significance' only refers to what I have been exposed to from childhood and I what I can relate to even today. In India, festivals are both spiritual and cultural. The spiritual side of the celebration tends to be quiet and peaceful while the cultural angle emphasizes on sound, colors, and ofcourse food :-). Every Indian festival is laced with loads of food which I agree is the easiest way to have people participate willingly. The world of food blogging is no stranger to this concept and I really admire the effort of fellow bloggers that goes into cooking, clicking and blogging about the innumerable sweets and savory dishes for every festival. I personally don't make that many varieties every time so my contribution to the festival cooking craze is usually very light.

What I lack in numbers, I try to make up in quality. Badam poori is a typical Mysore sweet made during Dasara or Deepavali as it is easy to pack and distribute and extremely delicious. This used to be a childhood favorite at home and nammamma made them in bulk always. I am not sure why it is called badam (almond) poori when it actually doesn't have any almonds in it. I had asked nammamma about it long time back and her response was that the color of the fried poori should resemble peeled almonds (light golden). Not sure how far this is true but you have something to go on :-). This is succulent as the syrup not only is coated on the outer surface but the entire poori soaks up the sugar as it rests.

I actually made this sweet during Dasara a couple of weeks back, took a whole tray to my Balvihar classes,  sent a bunch to DD and took some to work. The resounding feedback from everyone who ate it was similar and positive. Though I missed posting it for Dasara, here it is in time for Deepavali (Festival of lights) coming up early next week.

This time when I went to India, I got a few real treasures from akka in the form of organic saffron powder and some edible camphor. I know these are not rare and you will get it if you go to the right shops in India. What made the gift from akka special was that the 2 tiny bottles I got are atleast 2 generations old (about 70+ years) and home made. As you can imagine, I use them both very carefully and with lot of respect. The saffron powder is so potent that a sprinkle will add lot of flavor and color to any dish. If you want to, use saffron strands soaked in a Tbsp of warm milk instead of the powder.

What do you need to make Badam Poori? 
Makes about 25 pieces 
1 cup All purpose flour
1 pinch baking soda
1 Tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
pinch saffron color
2 Tbsp yogurt
water to make a stiff dough
Sugar syrup: 
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 Tsp fresh cardamom powder
Others:
oil to deep fry
2-3 Tbsp grated kobbari (dry coconut or desiccated coconut)

How do you make Badam Poori? 

Preparing the dough for poori:

• In a wide bowl, sieve all purpose flour and baking soda together so there are no lumps. 
• Add saffron color and ghee and rub the flour with gentle fingers to incorporate the ghee. 
• When the dry flour gets coated with ghee and becomes crumbly, add yogurt and mix together. 

• Add water little by little to make a stiff dough (just like the regular poori dough). 
• Knead for 3-4 minutes to get a smooth surface, cover and let it rest for atleast 30 minutes. 

Preparing sugar syrup: 

• In a deep and wide sauce pan, heat the water until warm. 
• Add sugar and mix, let it dissolve. 
• Let the mixture boil for about 10-12 minutes or until the syrup thickens - there is no string consistency for this recipe. The recipe has to get slightly thicker so it coats well on the pooris. 
• Add cardamom powder, lower the heat to minimum and keep it warm until ready to use. 

Making badam pooris: 

• Take the rested dough and knead it a couple times. 
• Pinch off small balls (marble sized) from the dough and shape them into roundels. 
• Take a ball of dough and make a round roti using a rolling pin. 

• Fold the roti in half and then into quarters (this is to get layers), press the edges together so they hold the shape without opening up. 

• Gently roll out once to flatten it further. This is the size of your badam puri, adjust the dough ball to any desired size you want. I left them at single server/bite sizes.

• Take a fork and poke gently on the surface of the pooris to prevent them from completely puffing up when dropped in oil. 
• Heat oil on medium heat, test by dropping a small piece of dough into it. If the dough comes up sizzling then the oil is ready. 
• Prepare as many pooris as your oil can hold - (KEEP a MOIST paper towel on the prepared pooris and also the remaining dough to prevent drying)
• Slide the pooris one by one into the hot oil and let it cook until the underside is golden in color. 

• Flip each of the pooris over and let the other side turn golden too.

• Take the pooris out with a slotted spoon onto a paper tissue laden plate and let it rest for a couple of minutes. 

• Now drop the pooris into the warm syrup, turning them over so they get an even layer of syrup all over. 
• Take the sugar dipped pooris onto a plate and sprinkle some grated dry or desiccated coconut on top. 

• Repeat the process for remaining dough. 

Notes: 

• Make the pooris as thin as you can when you first roll out so the final product doesn't become too thick or bulky. 
• Make sure yogurt used for the dough is not sour, this is to give the softness in texture and not to act as a leavening agent. 
• Do not let the pooris sit in the syrup for more than 30-45 seconds. 
• The syrup should be warm and not hot or cold. 
• Badam poori tends to soak up the syrup as it cools down and becomes succulent. 
• I find the water to sugar ratio is perfect for us, if you prefer a much sweeter version, use 1:1 for the syrup. 

Sajjappa - a traditional dessert from my home town to celebrate the festival of lights

Happy Deepavali to all my readers who are celebrating the festival of lights. If you are not into celebrations, you can still enjoy this traditional sweet from Karnataka. This is very popular in Mysore/Bengaluru region and I haven't seen or heard about it from other regions in India.

How do I begin to explain Sajjappa to someone if you haven't heard/seen/tasted this deliriously delicious sweet :-). If you are familiar with Obbattu/holige made with coconut filling, I could compare sajjappa to that in terms of ingredients. If you knew what a kachori is, I would say Sajjappa is a kachori with sweet filling (close enough but lot of differences). If you had tasted kobbari mithai, I could say sajjappa tastes like a distant cousin of it with added crunch. But if you were not familiar with any of these typical Indian dishes, I would simply say, "this is a sweet to fight for, a sweet to be enjoyed in leisure, a sweet that fills your cravings for all sweets and leaves no gaps :-)." Sounds convincing? You should try these atleast once.

When Nammamma made these as part of festivals or celebration menu, I have literally fought with my little brother for my fair share and secured it. This is one sweet from childhood that I continue to relish even after all these years. Sadly it is slowly fading away from most homes and a couple of times I tried the store bought ones on my India trip, they came no where close to the satisfaction bar. I had given up on these until I decided to try at home a couple of years back. After a couple of failures, disasters, heart breaks, phone calls etc and an unshakable perseverance, I have finally gained the skill level to make these without as much as batting an eyelid :-)

There are a lot of notes/tips in this post, guess how/why I am so knowledgeable? Been there, done that and salvaged more than once. So read through the entire post and once you are armed with the wisdom, go ahead and try out this slowly fading away dessert that deserves to be handed down generations to come. Since my generation seems to be philosophically bought in to the idea of 'less oil', I went ahead and tried baking sajjappas. 400F, lay the sajjappa on a parchment paper in a cookie sheet, bake 8 minutes on one side, turn and bake for another 4 minutes. Delicious, crispy outer cover yet moist filling, these were in no way inferior to the deep fried ones. In the spirit of Deepavali, I deep fried most while baked a couple of batches but next time onwards, I might just stick to the baked version.

Some potential mishaps and how to recover from them: 

• Keep that smile intact on your face and march towards the final goal no matter how bad the situation seems to be :-), this applies while making sajjappa or any other time in life too. I am in a free advice giving mood & mode today. Rest of the points below are totally practical and meant to help you get out of sticky situations, so go ahead and read them. 
• If you used more water while making the filling, just keep it on medium heat until it evaporates and becomes a soft mass. When you take a spoon of the hurana and give it a shape, it should hold and not collapse. There is no syrup consistency for this dessert.

• On the other hand, if the filling becomes too hard after it cools down, take it in a wide plate or on your counter top, add few drops of water and start kneading to make it soft. Hard consistency of the filling will make it poke out of the cover while pressing it and causes sajjappa to burst open in the oil, not a pretty sight :-)
• Trick to a great sajjappa is in the right balance of the filling and cover, the cover should be thick but not too thick so it remains crispy. Very thin covering will expose the filling while frying them. 
• If you removed the filling a tad early and it is still very sticky, get it back in the pan and continue heating for a few more minutes and test if the ball sits holding its shape and when you touch it with water smeared fingers, it doesn't stick to your fingers. 

• I really loved everything about the baked sajjappa, the fact that it is so much lower in calories compared to the other version is a HUGE BONUS. Give it a try. 

What do you need to make Sajjappa? 
Below quantities make about 25-30 sajjappas depending on the size
Hoorana or filling:
2.5 cups coconut
2 cups grated jaggery
1/2 cup chiroti rava/sooji (finer than upma rava)
4 green cardamom
2 cloves
1 Tsp gasagase/poppy seeds
2 Tbsp water
Optional:
ghee roasted raisins and cashews - chopped into tiny pieces

Kanaka or outer covering:
1.5 cups chiroti rava/sooji
3/4 cup AP flour (maida)
1/8 Tsp salt
1 Tbsp oil
3/4 cup water
Others:
Oil to deep fry

How do you make Sajjappa? 
Making Hoorana or Filling: 

• Grate or powder jaggery. 
• Bring coconut to room temperature if using frozen. 
• Powder cardamom & cloves. 
• Heat a thick bottom pan on medium heat. 
• Add 2 Tbsp water and powdered jaggery. 

• Mix until jaggery dissolves completely. 
• Add all the rest of the ingredients listed under 'hoorana' and give a good mix. 

• Let it cook for a few minutes until water evaporates and you see a soft mass in the pan. 

• Wet your palms, take a spoonful of the filling, roll it between palms and drop it into a plate. The ball should hold its shape though squishy and will not stick to the wet hands. 

• At this stage, switch off and let cool. 
• You can use it to make sajjappa once cool or refrigerate it for later use. 

Making outer cover: 

• Take all ingredients listed except for water & oil in a bowl and mix them well. 
• Add water slowly and bring everything together. 
• Depending on the quality of flours, you may need a little less or more quantity of water. The dough needs to be soft. 

• Once the dough comes together, knead it for atleast 10 minutes. 
• You will feel the coarse texture of rava turning smooth and soft as you need and the dough reaches an elastic consistency. 
• Pour 1 Tbsp oil on top of the dough, gently pat it into the dough, cover and let it rest atleast 2-3 hours or overnight. 

Making sajjappas:

• Heat oil for deep fry in a deep and wide pan.
• Knead the dough once more and divide into 25 equal portions. 
• Bring the filling to room temperature if refrigerated and divide into 25 equal portions. 

• Put a drop of oil on your palm, place the dough and press it to make a flat disk. 
• Put the filling portion in the center of the disk and pull all the edges gently to cover the filling. 

• Put the seam side down on a lightly oiled aluminium foil/banana leaf/plastic sheet and press gently into a circle of about 1mm thickness. 

• Ease this gently into the hot oil, flip a couple of times to get it golden brown in color all around. 

• Take it out onto a paper towel lined plate and let cool a little before digging in. 

• Baked version: Preheat oven to 400F, spread a parchment paper in a cookie sheet, arrange the flattened sajjappas leaving a little space between each other. Bake for 8 mins on one side, flip and bake for 4 mins on the other side. The baking times may need to be watched and adjusted based on your oven.

Notes:

• Nammamma makes it with only coconut & jaggery, since all she has to do is break as many coconuts as needed and grate them:-). I use store bought frozen coconut and was on my last packet so followed what my friend's amma used to do and added rava to make up for the deficiency of coconut.
• I was 1/2 cup short of jaggery and instead of making a trip to the store, used Turbinado sugar I had in the pantry, didn't make any difference in color, texture or sweetness. 
• Proportion of chiroti Rava to maida is 1:1/2, this yields a crispy outer covering.
• While deep frying, keep the heat on medium and fry until both sides turn light golden brown. 

• Adjust quantity of jaggery based on your sweet preference and also the quality of the variety you use. 
• Let the dough soak for atleast 2 hours, kneading it is important. Rough texture of rava turns smooth and soft as you add water and knead. 
• Overnight resting is great too if you want to make ahead, keep it outside on the countertop where it is cool.
• You can refrigerate the hoorana if you make it ahead but bring it to room temperature before making sajjappas.

Chivda/chiwda - Low calorie deliciousness in under 15 minutes

My train is always late, well it is just post event :-). While all my fellow bloggers have moved on from Diwali festivities, here I am still writing about my preparations for the festival of lights. In any case, it is better late than never. As promised I bring you a yummy savory snack that is highly customizable and gets done in a jiffy, it is good to sit and munch all by yourself or pack some and share it with friends. Chivda made with paper thin poha - crunchy, spicy and aromatic for Deepavali.

Chikki and Chivda, what do they have in common, lots if you ask me. For starters both begin with the same alphabet, both are delicious, both are low maintenance when it comes to preparations and both can be relatively low calorie compared to many Indian festive goodies. Now let us make this discussion a little bit narrow and I will talk about Lonavala chikki & Laxminarayan chivda - do those names ring a bell? For me, first & foremost, the sound of those words are the ultimate cue to drool helplessly and reminisce the good, old days :-). The first time I travelled by myself to Bombay, I took the train from Bengaluru which went on & on for 24 hours making my head go woozy even after I stepped out on the platform. Nammamma had packed puliyogare, curd rice for me to eat on my journey which never got opened because I was way too shy to eat infront of a compartment full of strangers, weird huh? Life teaches you lessons and makes you grow more mature and now I can eat anywhere when I am hungry :-). My cousin and her husband gave me an earful for disrespecting mom's food by not consuming it and starving for 24 hours, devoured the yummy puliyogare from the packet and fed me hot dinner. So when I headed back, she made 3 chapatis and rolled them with potato subji with a strong word of discipline that I better eat it before I reached home or I would face consequences. She definitely sounded much more stricter than my mom, so I gobbled up the food when nobody was looking at me(and I realized in the process no one was watching me anyway) in the train.

The other thing my Bombay smart cousin told me was to grab a couple of packets of Lonavala chikki(brown sugar brittles made from different nuts, sesame seeds etc) when the train stops at the hilly town. She described the yumminess of these chikkis in such detail that I would have jumped off the train to get some of those Lonavala special chikkis. In the brief time the train made a stop, I did pick up a couple of varieties of the chikki which everyone enjoyed at home though I later came to understand was not the greatest of the Lonavala offerings and you had to go into specific bylanes to get the best of the goods. So after a couple of years, when my colleagues from Bombay area went home for vacations, I knew exactly what to ask them to bring back for me :-). A more generous friend brought me a bag of spicy-sweet Chivda along with the chikkis as she knew I favored spicy treats over the sweet ones. One spoon of that Chiwda mix and I was totally hooked. Thus began a search for a recipe that would replicate that taste. Laxminarayan Chiwda is a very famous snack from Pune, now available almost world over. Although my loyalty for the brand has worn off as I make them at home very often and customize in multiple different ways, it is one of those first love stories I fondly remember. And I make some good chikkis at home too but let us continue on that thread on another day, so this post doesn't become too long and boring..

Growing up, Chivda was not something nammamma made at home, I was more used to the Avalakki puri (puffed rice made from poha) mixture than the Chivda which is totally yummy too. I had eaten a North Karnataka version of this in one of the relatives wedding where the bride came from that region. I remember having pestered my akka to get me the recipe even before they had time to welcome the bride home and make acquaintance with her :-). The masala powder (Coriander + cumin + saunf) adds a wonderful fragrance to every bite of the mixture, you can play around with the proportions a little bit if you favor one of them over the others.

Here is my low calorie snack for Deepavali, just get the ingredients together and you will be done in no time, it lasts for a while without getting spoilt (make sure you use good quality dry coconut as it will go rancid otherwise and spoil the entire thing) so you can have an extended taste of Deepavali.

What do you need to make chivda?
10 cups thin poha/paper avalakki (1Lb)
Roast & powder:
1 Tblsp dhania/coriander seeds
1.5 Tblsp saunf/fennel seeds
1 Tblsp jeera/cumin
Seasoning:
3/4 cup oil
12-15 green chilies
1 Tblsp mustard
3/4 cup peanuts
3/4 cup fried gram/kadle/chutney dal
3/4 cup kobbari/dry coconut slices
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup cashew nuts (optional, I didn't use it)
1/2 Tsp turmeric powder
1 Tblsp salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 Tsp sugar (optional but recommended)
10-12 curry leaves

How do you make chivda?

• Tear the curry leaves from the stem, keep aside.
• Remove stems from the green chilies, slit vertically and cut into 2-3 pieces depending on the size.
• You can either grate (biggest holes on your grater) or chop the dry coconut into thin slices. We like the texture of the pieces and I cut them up.
• Gather all the remaining ingredients and keep them ready.
• Toast Dhania, cumin and saunf seeds together in a small pan for 2 minutes, they just need to get warm, take them to a spice blender and make a fine powder.
• Take a heavy bottom, wide pan and heat it on medium heat for a minute.
• Add the oil, followed by mustard seeds, give a minute of head start to mustard, add the peanuts and green chilies. Let it all roast for 1.5-2 minutes.

• As the mustard starts to splutter add peanuts turn a shade darker, add the kadle/fried gram and kobbari slices.
• Keep moving the contents around in the hot oil with a spatula and let them roast for 2-3 minutes. Keep the heat on medium.
• When peanuts look crunchy and the kobbari slices develop a light brown hue, add the raisins, turmeric powder, salt and the powdered masala mix.

• Reduce the heat to minimum, add the thin poha and sugar (if using) and stir it all in to coat the poha with the seasoning.
• Adjust salt if needed. Keep the heat to the lowest and with frequent stirring to prevent any browning at the bottom, roast the poha for another 15-20 minutes or until it crisps up and gets lightly glossy.
• Let it come to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.  

Notes:

• Green chilies need to be blistered and crunchy, this reduces their spice level but gives you an option to break them into the Chivda if you like your portion spicier. If you leave the chilies soft, it will soften up the chivda with its moisture content and makes it chewy.
• Since I make this often at home, I have achieved a synchronous balance of when to add each ingredient into the seasoning without over/under cooking any of them. If this sounds daunting to you, you may want to roast each of the ingredient sepearately and bring them together on heat before adding the poha.
• Packaged poha can sometimes have a faint smell, open the packet and spread it out in a single layer and keep it in a sunny spot for an hour or so before using it.
• It is important to keep the pan on low heat once you add the poha, high heat makes the poha flakes curl up. If you live in a hot climate, sun dry the poha until it crisps up for best taste.

Carrot Halwa - words are insignificant when you need to describe "simply divine"

Happy Deepavali to all my readers who are celebrating the festival of lights. May this Deepavali bring awareness and remove the darkness of ego from all.

Some things leave a lasting impression in your life and teach you things that you will never forget. One of my childhood favorite books was a translated autobiography of a Marathi author, freedom fighter and teacher. Sane Guruji's Shyamachi Aayi has been translated into many languages and I had a hand me down copy of the Kannada version of it called , 'Shyamana Taayi (Shyama's mother'). It is a beautiful tale of a family with time attested human values. The book has travelled with me all these years and stays in my small personal collection of books I will never give away. I also noticed a lot of similarities between the parents in the book and my own. I haven't read the book in a long while but it just comforts me to think that it is in my reach anytime I want to read it :-).

The book is a celebration of the love and familial bond and the author tells them as stories to his disciples. In one of the episodes, there is a discussion about Deepavali or Diwali. The first day of the celebration starts with Naraka Chaturdashi or the day on which Lord Krishna kills the demon Narakasura. Narakasura is a metaphor for dirt and darkness and hence this day of Deepavali starts with cleaning or cleansing  - both external and internal. I remember getting up early morning to take a bath before anything else could be touched. Nammamma would be up late the previous night cleaning and scrubbing everything around the house including the big 'Hande' or the vessel used to heat water for bath. It would be dressed up with fresh yellow and orange marigold flowers and a beautiful, white design drawn with Rangoli powder in front of it. While we did our share of cleaning our rooms, tables, desks etc, nammamma had the major share of getting every single ounce of dust and dirt out of the house, almost akin to Spring cleaning here.

After the cleaning, the next logical step would be to set the house ablaze with a variety of yummy sweets and savories. There is no elaborate pooja ritual for Deepavali at home except that you would first make an offering to the Lord before eating. So, me and younger brother being the snack greedy people we are, love Deepavali more than other festivals for its complete lack of long waiting periods before the delicious things ended up in our plates :-). Yummm.

Some very common sweets made during this time were Gulab Jamoon, payasa/kheer, different mithais/burfis, carrot halwa, kasha halwa etc. I didn't have a sweet tooth as a child, give me a bowl of crispy, crunchy savories and I would get lost from this reality with a book of choice. Younger brother was just the opposite with a huge sweet tooth and anything sugary (but not syrupy) found its way into his shorts pockets as he headed out to play games with his friends :-).

I don't make as many varieties as my mom made for both lack of time and to avoid over eating. I chose to make a simple, 'anybody can get it right' but tastes heavenly carrot halwa to celebrate Deepavali this time. I love the simplicity of this dish, it is totally dummy proof as long as you pay attention to a few things, there is no syrup or consistency to watch for and if you have good quality carrots, you will end up with a delectable treat, added to all of this is the pretty, orange color of the soft halwa, total package. I love the bright orange bordering on the red hue of Delhi carrots you get during Indian winters, they are much sweeter than the regular variety you see all year. I found some in my local grocery store yesterday that sealed the choice of my Deepavali sweets :-)

As I said this dessert has very few ingredients and I like to add saffron as Nammamma does. Saffron being an expensive and not easily available item was not a regular feature in her kitchen shelves. But when my older brother brought a big box of it on one of his trips from US, amma was just thrilled. It was all the more precious since her own child had made the gesture to get something for amma from the money saved from his meagre student income :-). She used to put the saffron strands into almost every conceivable sweet dish she made while that box lasted.

Unlike the 'drenched in ghee' sweets, this uses a tiny bit of ghee to bring out the flavor of carrots, you need to adjust the amount of sugar based on how naturally sweet your carrots are. My akka sometimes crumbles fresh Nandini milk peda into the carrot halwa when it is nearing done stage for a richer taste, it tastes delicious-er (is that word?). I will not recommend this unless you can find fresh, good quality peda as otherwise it spoils the taste.
 
What do you need to make Carrot Halwa?
Yields 3.5-4 cups of halwa
I made this in the morning and it took me 1Hr and 45 minutes excluding grating the carrots. Although the time looks long, you don't have to fix yourself infront of it, manage the heat and use the timer to attend when needed.
6 cups grated carrots (4 large sized carrots)
3 cups milk (I used 2%)
1&1/4 - 1&1/2 cups sugar (adjust based on carrot sweetness)
4 green cardamoms
2 cloves
1/8 Tsp saffron (6-8 strands)
1.5 Tsp ghee - divided use
6-8 cashews (optional)
8-10 raisins (optional)

How do you make Carrot Halwa?

• Soak saffron strands in 1 Tblsp of milk (use the milk from the measured quantity) for 10 minutes.
• Pound cardamom seeds and cloves to a coarse powder and keep it aside.
• Heat 1 Tsp ghee in a heavy bottom pan (preferably not non-stick)
• Add the grated carrots, and mix well to coat them with ghee. Roasting carrots in pure ghee brings out the flavor beautifully.
• Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes on medium heat.
• Add the milk along with soaked saffron, mix, cover and cook for 6-8 minutes until milk starts to bubble.

• Open the vessel and continue to cook for another 20 minutes until milk reduces and you get a nice cooked carrot fragrance..
• Add sugar and continue cooking on low flame until everything comes together in a single mass. Milk has to evaporate and cook into the carrots. Takes about an 45-50 minutes for the quantity above.

• Add the crushed cardamom and cloves at this stage.
• Heat the remaining 1/2 Tsp ghee, roast the cashews until they turn crisp and light golden, add the raisins and sauté till raisins plump up. Add them to the Halwa.

• Switch off and serve the halwa warm, chilled or at room temperature. A scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side makes it a delectable combination.

Notes:

• Do the whole cooking in low to medium heat, this takes time but the end result is worth every bit of it.
• I like to use the small gratings for the carrots as I like the texture (it blends in smoothly), if they are grated using the big holes there is a chance that the final dish doesn't look homogeneous.

• Ghee brings out the flavor of carrots, saffron, cardamom and cloves add to it. Raisins and cashews are just garnishes - now you know which ingredients you can or cannot skip :-)
• The final consistency of this halwa is a delicately soft sweet, it is not sticky nor are they liquidy(as they are made out to be in restaurants) since the amount of ghee used is minimal.
• Indian sweets are best made in a heavy/thick bottom metal vessel instead of the non stick or coated pans.