I was pretty absent from my blog this past month. In between traveling back home to Pakistan to see my family, eating a lot of deliciously spicy Pakistani food, I had time only to snap some pictures for Instagram. I held myself to my promise and did not do any cooking back home except for a farewell pizza I just had to make for my dad the night before leaving Pakistan. Mostly I was out and about eating all the foods I had on my list. And my list was pretty long. The second day alone, I had my dad drive me to one of the busiest areas in Karachi, Burns Road, because I had a bad craving for kheer (rice pudding) that's served in ceramics bowls. A few days later I would find out that a mithai store near my house carries that same kheer in the very same ceramic bowls. All I could think while scraping away at the last bits of kheer congealed to the ceramic bowl was that I really need to start learning to make Pakistani desserts.Kheer is one that requires patience and time. I have yet to replicate that flavor you get only from kheer in Pakistan. But what I have mastered, thanks to my aunt for showing me, the easiest Gajar (carrot) Halwa. Made with sweetened carrots cooked for a long time, Carrot halwa is one of the most popular Pakistani desserts. You'll find heaps of it served at weddings. There was heaps of it at the wedding I attended during my visit!

Before deciding on this dessert for my blog, I asked my brother if he likes gajar ka halwa. He said no. But that no turned to yes and that yes to "Holy hell this is so good because I don't even like gajar ka halwa!" Success.

I also realized that this is my first Pakistani dessert on my blog and definitely the right one to start with. It's a crowd pleaser, amazingly delicious, aromatic and now with this recipe ridiculously simple to make.

4-Ingredients Carrot Halwa Recipe

Rookie With A Cookie

Only 3 main ingredients, a sprinkling of cardamom, some nuts and you have the best Carrot Halwa.

5 from 1 vote

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Cook Time 1

Total Time 1

Course Dessert

Cuisine Pakistani

Servings 8

Ingredients

6 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 lbs carrots grated
1 tsp cardamom powder
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
pinch of salt
¾ cup nuts blanched almonds, sliced cashews and pistachios

Instructions

Grate carrots on the smallest hole of the grater. Squeeze out the juice from the carrots with your hands. Discard the juice (or wait, drink up the juice!).
Heat up a skillet on medium flame and melt butter.
Add grated carrots and sautee for five minutes.
Add cardamom powder (freshly ground is best, but store-bought one is okay too).
Let the carrots cook until soft, another 15 minutes. The color of the carrots will get dull.
Pour in condensed milk and on low heat continue cooking for another 30 minutes. You can turn the flame up just a little bit. Be sure to frequently stir the carrots. After the condensed milk has completely evaporated, the carrots should appear sticky and dry. It may take anywhere from 30-40 minutes so keep an eye on the pan.
At this point, add in the nuts. To blanch almonds, soak it in hot water for 5-10 minutes, peel the skin and slice them in slivers (or just use slivered almonds).
Serve warm!
This can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days. To serve, just reheat in microwave for 15 seconds.