Carrot Halwa / Gajar Ka Halwa

An easy, no-fuss and most popular Indian dessert a.k.a Carrot Halwa! Does it need a better introduction? I tried this once for my best friend DK and trust me beginners, one CANNOT go wrong! With it's simple procedure and heavenly taste, this is a must try on special days or on days you want to feel special! With Diwali around the corner, let's start grating... Carrots, of course! ;)


Ingredients:

Carrots (grated) - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Sweetened Khoa - 100 gms
Sugar -1/2 cup
Ghee - 2 - 3 tbsp
Cashew nuts - as required
Raisins - as required
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp


Procedure: 

1. Take a wide bottomed pan and heat 1 tbsp of ghee. Shallow fry cashew nuts and raisins. Keep them aside.
2. Add milk in the same pan. Once it boils, add the grated carrots.
3. Keep stirring till the carrots get cooked in the milk. Stir continuously else the base will get burnt.
4. Once the carrots get cooked, add sugar and keep stirring until it dissolves.
5. Add Khoa once the sugar melts.
6. Stir until the Khoa mixes well. Add cardomom powder and mix them well. The carrots would have absorbed the milk and the mixture would have become thickened by now.
7. Add the remaining ghee and cook for 1-2 minutes,
8. Garnish with raisins and cashew nuts.
9. Serve hot or at room temperature.

P.S: I had no time for the picture as it got over in no time! ;)

Happy Diwali, folks! :)

Chocolate French Toast

Okay! So I had this sudden craving for something chocolaty and something that had to do with bread. Ummmm.. Bread + Chocolate = NO, not that chocolate bread spread again! The only proper thing I know to make with bread was the bread toast. So why not a simple, easy-to-make chocolate toast? ;)

Ingredients: 

White bread slices - 4 (Preferably thick ones because I used normal ones and they broke off)
Milk - 1 cup
Granulated sugar - 3/4 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2
Table salt - 1/4 tsp
Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
Sliced bananas or strawberries - For garnishing

Method:

1. Mix granulated sugar, cocoa powder and table salt together in a bowl. 
2. Pour half a cup of milk and the eggs into this bowl and blend till there are no lumps formed.
3. Arrange the bread slices in a plate and pour this mixture over the bread slices.
4. Poke the slices with a fork so that it absorbs well. Let it soak for about 20 minutes, turning it once in between.
5. Heat butter in a nonstick tawa and fry the bread slices until they are well cooked (usually 3-4 minutes).
6. Remove from heat and garnish with bananas or strawberries.

I know this doesn't look like the original French toast. It was because of two reasons:

1. The bread was of the normal size. I should have used the thicker ones.
2. I didn't include a lot of ingredients which actually go into the making of the French toast. Will try the original version soon.

Cheers! ☺