Carrot Halwa

Murphy's Law says anything that can go wrong will go wrong. But you cannot go wrong with Coles LAW. You don't know Coles Law, Shredded Carrot and Cabbage in Mayonnaise?! :) .. 


In fact you can rarely go wrong with Carrot, raw or cooked & Carrot is not just for Rabbits


Here is a dish that is simple to make and can make your lunch or dinner from a simple affair to a grand affair making it a special occasion.

Here is a Carrot Poem :)

Carrot is a curious Fellow
Shoulders broad hip Narrow
Rabbits hide it in the Burrow
Halwa makes forget Sorrow


Ingredients
The good thing about this dish is that it won't burn a deep hole in your pocket. Here is the simple list of ingredients, should be available in the store round the corner or a mall in case you live in one of those god forsaken places :)

• 1/4 kg carrot - nicely grated
• 1/4 ltr milk
• 1 cup sugar
• Cardamom powder - 1/4th spoon
• Badam
• Kishmish
• Cashew nuts
• 1/2 cup ghee

Preparation
All right master chef, here you go. Here are your dozen  simple steps to success

1. Grate the carrots nicely (don't hurt your finger, slow and easy)
2. Add milk to it (milking your way to success)
3. Keep them in cooker - 3 whistles (1....2....3...stay attentive)
4. Take it out & stir the mixture of milk and carrot in low flame (sing a song so you don get bored)
5. Wait until water portion goes away to an extent (not completely dry) - (you know what I mean)
6. Make sure there isn't too much water before adding sugar (the purpose is to make Halwa.. not Payasam ..If Halwa doesn't come right I am holding you accountable)
7. Add a cup of sugar or more depending on the sweetness (less sweet than mysorepak and more sweet than kaju barfi.....or however you like it )
8. Mix it well so that sugar melts 
9. Add cardamom powder 
10. Add dry fruits which are sorted in ghee (Good for stamina, tastes nice too)
11. When sugar melts completely and loses its rawness add ghee (Quiz, is ghee veg or non veg? :))
12. Stir it till ghee, sugar and carrot blends nicely (To blend right is the key)

Now taste it, infact eat a couple of spoons and wait for 15 minutes. If you are still alive you are ready to treat your guest to a mouth watering dish. Hopefully your hardwork pays off. All the best :)

Carrot Trivia

We simply take too many things in life for granted. Not good. Atleast dont take Mr. Carrot (Dont ask why Mr & Mrs :)) for granted. Here is something you should know

• Carrots have the highest content of beta carotene (vitamin A) of all vegetables.
• The Longest Carrot recorded in 1996 was 5.14 metres (16 feet 10 ½ inches)
• The Heaviest Carrot recorded in the World 18.985 lb 1998 (single root mass) John V. R. Evans, USA
• Carrots were first grown as a medicine not a food.
• The classic Bugs Bunny carrot is the "Danvers" type.
• Carrots are not always orange and can also be found in purple, white, red or yellow.
• Carrots were the first vegetable to be canned commercially.
• The carrot is a member of the parsley family including species such as celery, parsnip, fennel, dill and coriander.
• Holtville, California dubs itself "The Carrot Capital of the World." with an Annual Festival, now in its 60th year.
• The Anglo-Saxons included carrots as an ingredient in a medicinal drink against the devil and insanity.
• Researchers at the USDA found that study participants who consumed 2 carrots a day were able to lower their cholesterol levels about 20 percent due to a soluble fibre called calcium pectate.
• You get 10 mg of Vitamin A from 20 average carrots.
• There is as much calcium in 9 carrots as there is in a glass (250ml) of whole milk.
• China produces 274,900,000 tons of carrots per year.
• Wild rabbits do not eat carrots – you have been watching too much Bugs Bunny !
• Three Carrots give you enough energy to walk three miles.
• One pound of carrots will make approximately six to eight ounces of carrot juice.
• A teaspoon holds almost 2000 carrot seeds.
• On an average day, the year-round operation  at Grimmway Farms in California processes 2-1/2 miles of trucks loaded with 10 million pounds of carrots.
• Carrot is a symbolic of fecundity 
• The Flaming Carrot was a mysterious and demented comic book superhero.
• The British developed high-carotene carrots during World War II in order to enhance the night vision of their pilots (via massive consumption).
• Amazon bookstore includes over 200 books with the title "carrot" in them.
• The last meal on the Titanic included creamed carrots in the fifth course.
• In the 1960s, Viola Schlicting, from Texas, created the first carrot cake from her German carrot-nut bread recipe.