Carrot Halwa – Gajar Ka Halwa Recipe Without Khoya

Carrot halwa recipe with step by step photo and a video !
Carrot halwa (Gajar Ka halwa In Hindi) is one of the most popular Indian desserts that is loved by all. Long back I had shared “How to prepare carrot halwa in pressure cooker”. That’s my go-to recipe for making easy and quick carrot halwa. Yesterday for a change, I prepared this traditional method of making carrot halwa in a kadai by using milk,sugar and ghee. I offered it as prasadam for my Friday Lakshmi Pooja. For making carrot halwa, Delhi carrots are mostly used by North Indians whereas I made it with our South Indian orange carrots(Ooty carrot). Traditionally it is prepared in a big iron kadai but I used my non-stick kadai that suits my Induction stove as I wanted to make a video recipe as well. So there are mild deviations from the perfect traditional ones but this one tastes and looks equally good. I have not used condensed milk ( Milk maid) Or Khoya/ mawa. So the preparation time and cooking time takes a bit longer that pressure cooker version. Still the final result makes you forget all the pain .Lets see how to make carrot halwa/ Gajar Halwa at home with step by step photos and video !!

Carrot Halwa Recipe - Gajar Ka Halwa

How to make carrot halwa - Gajar Halwa Recipe using milk

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 25 Minutes

Total time: 35 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Carrot - 4 nos OR Grated carrot - 2.5 cups Sugar - 1/2 cup (heaped) Ghee - 3 tbsp Cashews & Almonds/Badam - 5 each ( chopped) Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

METHOD

Wash and peel the skin of carrots. Grate it using a big sized holes grater.Do not use a small hole grater because halwa turns mushy and the end of cooking.Grate and keep in a plate. In a kadai, heat 2 tbsp ghee and add the grated carrot.Saute well till the raw smell goes off and color of carrot changes to pale orange. It takes nearly 3-5 minutes.  Now add 1 cup of milk and mix well.Keep the flame medium and cover the kadai with a lid. Carrots get cooked in milk. Wait till all the milk is absorbed by the milk. Open the kadai every now & then, stir till bottom to avoid burning. Cooking takes nearly 10-15 minutes. Now add 1/2 cup (heaped)sugar and mix well. Sugar melts and mixture will become watery.Check for taste and add 2 tbsp more sugar if needed. Keep the flame medium and keep stirring till 3/4th of the moisture is lost. When the halwa becomes thick and starts to leave the sides of kadai, add cardamom powder, 1tbsp ghee and mix well. When the halwa becomes thick, gathers in the center with very little moisture, remove it and sprinkle chopped nuts. Serve warm with ice cream or cold ! ** Do not stir the halwa for long time to become thick & dry because when the halwa cools down, it will become hard & chewy.So remove it when there is very little moisture content. This halwa can be refrigerated and stored for a week.Reheat in a microwave for 1 minute and serve warm if needed. Enjoy !

Note

Add more sugar ( 2 tbsp extra) for more sweetness.Sugar can be added any time while cooking carrot halwa. You can use Delhi carrots instead of the regular orange carrot for bright color. Serve warm with your favorite ice cream to enjoy its best taste !

Enjoy this delicious carrot halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Its a blissful combo !!

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Red Poha Upma – Sigappu Aval Upma – Red Aval Recipes

Poha( Flattened Rice/Rice flakes in English, Aval In Tamil, Avalakki In Kannada, Poha in Hindi) is used to make quick and easy, Instant breakfast recipes like Poha upma, Poha idli , Poha pongal etc. Mostly I make Poha recipes using white poha but red poha is considered to be high in nutrition with lots of health benefits.It is prepared from red rice.It is good for diabetes and is rich in fiber, vitamin B and minerals like calcium, zinc, iron, manganese, magnesium. Recently one of my readers suggested me to share some red aval recipes. So last time when I went to Salem, I bought a pack of Red Aval ( Sivappu aval in Tamil), Kambu aval and Ragi aval from Barathi supermarket. I followed my usual aval upma recipe and made this instant sigappu aval upma recipe quickly for our breakfast. It was very nice,flavorful and tasty. Above all, we got a satisfaction of having a healthy food. Ok, Lets see how to make red aval upma with step by step photos !

Check out my Instant, ready to eat Poha Mix Recipe !

Red Poha Upma Recipe

Red Poha Upma - Sigappu Aval Upma recipe for easy, instant breakfast !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Breakfast recipes

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Red Poha/ Sigappu aval - 1 cup Big onion - 1 no ( Finely chopped) Green chillies - 2 nos ( slitted) Ginger - 1 tsp ( finely chopped) Curry leaves - few Grated coconut - 1/4 cup Coriander leaves - to garnish Lemon juice - few drops To temper Cooking oil or coconut oil - 2 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Chana dal - 1.5 tsp Hing/Asafetida - few pinches

METHOD

Wash the red poha twice to remove the debris & HUSK.( If the red poha is thin, it will become soft after washing. So no need to soak it. If the poha is thick and hard, it will not become soft even after washing. In that case, you should soak it) I used red thick poha, so I washed and soaked it for 10 minutes till all the water is absorbed by the red poha. Keep it covered. Water should be just 1 inch above the poha while soaking. Chop the onion, green chilli and ginger. Keep it aside. In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and cumin seeds.Saute finely chopped onion, slit green chillies, ginger pieces and torn curry leaves.Saute till onion turns transparent. Add the soaked poha, required salt and mix well gently. Make sure poha doesn’t turn mushy while mixing. Keep the flame completely low and cover the upma with a lid. Cook it for 8-10 minutes. Open it once or twice in the middle and stir it. Check if the poha is cooked soft else add little water and mix well.Cook till done.Sometimes thick poha needs little more water to cook.Lastly add the lemon juice, coriander leaves and grated coconut. Mix well and switch off the flame.Serve hot !! Enjoy !

Note

Add finely chopped chillies instead of slit chillies for spicy taste.I used slit chillies for mildly spicy. Adding lemon juice helps to absorb the iron content in poha.So do not skip it. If you want to make no onion version, just use boiled potato pieces and sprinkle 2 tbsp of roasted, coarsely powdered peanuts at the end.

Enjoy this healthy Red Poha Upma For your breakfast or dinner !

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Gobi Paratha Recipe–How To Make Cauliflower Paratha With Step By Step Photo,Video Recipe

Gobi Paratha is Sendhil’s most favorite Paratha recipe. After marriage he took me to In-swing restaurant in BDA complex, Banashankari and got this cauliflower paratha for me as he loves it very much. That’s the first time I tasted a stuffed paratha in my life.He told me to try the same at home. As I was a beginner in cooking, I did not have any idea about the stuffing part, how to roll paratha etc. When I tried it, all the stuffing came out while rolling and the paratha became a disaster. Still he appreciated me for my attempt and ate well. And that’s my man. Now after so many years of cooking, I can make a good gobi paratha for him.So I wanted to share this recipe in my blog with step by step photos and a detailed video recipe to help beginners. You can try this yummy paratha recipe for dinner or lunch box. Even Kids would love this paratha if you cook it adding ghee or butter. It comes out soft and stays good for hours. Lets see how to make Gobi paratha/Cauliflower paratha at home easily !

Gobi paratha recipe/ Cauliflower paratha recipe

How to make gobi paratha/Cauliflower paratha at home with step by step photos and video !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Paratha recipes

Serves: 6 nos

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 40 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Atta/Wheat flour - 1cup Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Salt & water - as needed For paratha stuffing Cauliflower - 1 no or Grated cauliflower - 1.5 cups Cooking oil - 2 tbsp Green chilli - 1 no ( finely chopped) Grated ginger - 1 tsp Ajwain/Carom seeds – 1 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Dhania powder/coriander seeds powder - 1 tsp Garam masala powder - 1 tsp Cumin seeds powder - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Aamchur powder - 1/4 tsp ( optional) Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp. ( to garnish) Salt - as needed

METHOD

In a wide bowl, take the wheat flour, add required salt and 1/2 tbsp. of cooking oil. Mix well. Add water little by little and make a smooth, non-sticky dough.Knead well, apply a tsp of oil and cover the dough with a dry cloth, leave it for 20 minutes. In the mean time, lets prepare the stuffing. Take the cauliflower and remove the leaves, cut into 4. Remove the stem part and separate the florets in a plate. In a wide bowl, boil water and add the florets. Boil for few minutes, parboil and drain the excess water. Remove the half cooked cauliflower florets to a dry kitchen towel/cloth. Pat it dry. Grind the florets in a dry mixer jar without water. Wipe the sides of jar and grind in batches. You can also grate it. But grinding is easy. Take in a plate. Heat oil in a kadai and when it gets heated , add the finely chopped green chilli, grated ginger (If u wish u can add very finely chopped onions at this stage) and saute well. Add the grated cauliflower, salt, red chilli powder, dhania powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder ,aamchur powder and ajwain. Mix well till all the moisture is absorbed. Let the mixture cool down.Divide the stuffing into lemon sized balls.   Take the chapathi dough and make lemon sized balls. The size of dough ball & stuffing ball should be equal. Take one dough ball, dust it in wheat flour and roll into small poori size.Make the corners thinner than center. Keep the stuffing ball in the center and seal it. Again dust in the flour and roll to a thick or thin paratha as u wish. Sendhil likes it medium thick.So I do it accordingly. Heat a dosa tawa, cook the paratha on both the sides till half cooked in medium flame. Brush one side of paratha with ghee or cooking oil and cook for few seconds till brown spot appear.Flip the paratha and brush the other side of paratha.Cook for a minute. Keep flipping and cooking till brown spots appear all over the paratha. Brush with ghee and remove in a plate. Serve hot immediately with raita or pickle OR stack the paratha in a clean kitchen towel or thermal foil for later use. (Remember the more you brush with ghee, softer the paratha would be.) Enjoy !

Note

Do not make the chapathi dough very sticky. Rolling will be difficult. You may have to dust the paratha with more flour which leads to dry paratha. You should grease the paratha with cooking oil or ghee for best taste. Cauliflower stuffing should be free from moisture so that paratha won’t become sticky while rolling. Adding aamchur powder gives a mild tangy taste. Skip if you don’t have it.

Enjoy this yummy, flavorful gobi paratha with your favorite side dish or simple masala raita.

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Sooji Halwa, Suji Ka Halwa Recipe – Rava Sheera Recipe

Most of the time I make South Indian style Rava kesari  ( Rava = semolina in English) for functions, pooja and celebrations at home as it is our family favorite and the most comfortable sweet for me .I have already shared varieties of rava kesari recipes like rava kesari with milk/ Paal kesari, microwave rava kesari, semiya kesari, pineapple kesari, mango kesari etc. Its been my long time wish to try North Indian style Sooji ka halwa/ Rava sheera. So I tried it for New year 2017 celebration yesterday.In North India, Suji ka halwa is one of the most popular and easy halwa recipes that is made in all houses for all the festivals & occasions and is served in most of the temples as Prasad. This halwa is served along with Poori and Chole for breakfast.Halwa poori chole is one of the most popular breakfast combo in North India and Pakistan. In Karnataka, people call this sooji halwa as Kesari bath. Rava/sooji, Sugar and ghee forms the basic ingredients for this sweet recipe. But Rava kesari, suji ka halwa and kesari bath has its own variations in the quantity of ingredients, method of preparation, taste, color and texture.I watched few You tube videos and followed Food viva for the recipe. Though it tastes mildly sweeter than the South Indian rava kesari, it was dripping with ghee and finger licking good. We loved it very much. Its taste reminded me of the banana sheera I had in my friend’s house Satya Narayana pooja. Its very easy to prepare for special occasions and to treat your surprise guests. For variations, you can use milk instead of water. Lets see how to make North Indian special suji ka halwa/ Sooji halwa/Rava sheera recipe with step by step photos and a detailed video !!

Suji Ka Halwa Recipe

Suji Ka Halwa - North Indian version of Rava kesari

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml or 250ml Bombay Rava/ Sooji /semolina - 1/2 cup ( Do not use chiroti rava) Ghee - 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp Sugar - 1/2 cup Water - 1.5 cups Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp or 2 pods crushed Saffron threads - few Milk - 1 tbsp ( to soak saffron thread) Chopped cashews, badam and few raisins/dry grapes

METHOD

Soak saffron threads in 1 tbsp hot milk.I din’t use saffron in this recipe. I used cardamom powder alone. Heat 1/3 cup of ghee in a kadai.Roast the dry grapes, cashews and almonds till dry grapes bloat and nuts turns golden. Add rava and roast well for 4-5 minutes in medium flame. Rava turns light golden brown in color. Add 1.5 cups of water to the rava and mix well till 3/4 th of the water is absorbed by the rava and becomes semi thick.Keep the flame low and cover the kadai with a lid. Cook the rava for 2-3 minutes. Open the lid and add sugar, cardamom powder and saffron milk ( if using). Mix well without lumps.Sugar melts and the mixture will become watery. Keep the flame medium and mix well.  Halwa turns thick and starts to leave the sides of pan. Immediately add 1tbsp of ghee, mix well quickly and transfer the halwa to a bowl. Do not wait for the halwa to thicken completely. Remove it as soon as it becomes semi thick because this suji ka halwa becomes dry and hard when it cools down.So remove it at the right time. Garnish with few nuts and serve warm. Enjoy !

Note

Add more sugar ( Say 3/4 cup of sugar) if you need more sweetness. You can use milk instead of water but cook the rava for more time if using milk. Do not reduce the quantity of ghee. It helps to keep the halwa soft. If you don’t want to add more ghee, use half the quantity of oil.

Try this easy, yummy Suji Ka halwa/Rava sheera at home and enjoy !!

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