Carrot Delight

Hello, my Foodie Friends.......I hope you all are keeping well and enjoying the festivities. Yes, the festival season has already started in India but this time it's very different but that's what the new normal is. We have to accept it and behave accordingly.

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi......according to mythological stories Lord Ganesha is worshiped before everyone and it was on this day that Lord Shiva had pronounced his son superior to all the gods and goddesses except Lord Shiva himself, Goddess Parvati, Lord Vishnu, and Goddess Lakshmi.  

India will celebrate Ganeshutsav for the next 10 days starting today. Well, Lord Ganesha is worshiped equally in each and every region but if you want to feel the real essence of Ganeshutsav then you must visit Maharashtra where it's celebrated most of the households and every nooks and corner.

Ganesh Puja is incomplete without Modaks as this is the most loved dessert of Lord Ganesha. Modaks can be prepared in a variety of forms and nowadays it is available in the sweet shops too. I have already shared the recipe of Modak in my blog. You can check it out here.

Today's recipe is a bit different it's about Carrot Delight or Carrot Jelly Burfi. Nowadays since Carrots are available throughout the year and we can enjoy them at any time of the year. There are a lot of dessert delicacies made with carrots. One of them is Carrot Burfi, this burfi is a little bit different from the usual burfi recipe as I have given jelly texture to it.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Carrot Fudge/ Carrot Barfi

I know these days I'm a bit irregular in posting new recipes. The reason behind is that we moved from USA to India. So, there's lot of things happening at our end. The major thing is shifting to our new home. Hope I'll be regular once we get everything settled at our end. Amen!!

One of few things which we used to miss in USA is our family and the way festivals are celebrated here in India. The real essence of Indian festivals can be enjoyed being in India itself and so did we this time in Holi. This was my first Holi with my in-laws after my marriage. So, I was quite excited and made lot of sweets and savory items. One of them was "Carrot Fudge". 

Carrots marks Indian winters and they are incomplete without them. There are lot of dessert delicacies made with carrots. One of them is "Gajar Ka Halwa". I already posted the recipe here. You can have a look here:

http://flavorsofmyplate.blogspot.in/2015/01/gajar-ka-halwaa-quintessential-dessert.html

As this festivals marks the ending of Indian winters so I thought of enjoying these last few days of winter by having carrots in the form of dessert. So instead of making the usual "Gajar Ka Halwa" (Carrot Pudding) I decided to go for "Carrot Fudge" (Carrot Barfi). This is a very easy recipe and takes very less time to make.

My family enjoyed it having with the various other sweet and savory items. Hope you'll enjoy it as we did.  So, let's get started:

Gajar Ka Halwa.......A quintessential dessert of Indian Winters

A very Happy New Year to all my readers. May this new year flourish with new discoveries, wonderful inspirations and happiness to fulfill all your desires. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed with your near and dear ones.

I know last week I was bit irregular in posting since there was so many things going on at my end. It was my husband's birthday so we hosted a small party at our home followed by a Christmas potluck, a dinner invitation at our friend's place, prepping for the new year celebrations and finally welcoming the new year.

There are few food items which are specially prepared in winters and without which the winters are incomplete; "Gajar Ka Halwa" is one of them. Back in India, marriages and parties during winter are incomplete without it. Such is the influence of this delectable dessert.

There are many variations of this recipe like microwave version, pressure cooker version, sugar free version blah...blah...blah but this tastes best when it's made in a traditional way, where grated carrot is slow cooked in milk and then a generous amount of ghee, khoa and dry fruits are added to it. This makes the recipe very rich in calories. I need to confess here that I'm not that much calorie conscious but yes, I do care about my waistline.

During winters those red, sweet and long carrots can be found copiously and my mind starts drifting shall I have them in salads or make some Gajar Ka Halwa out of those. After having a prolonged dilemma I manage to convince myself to indulge into this sinful bowl of Halwa. Whenever I have a bowl it makes me feel guilty :( So, I tried to keep this recipe low in calories as much as I can. 

So, let's relish this bowl of bliss: