Gajar Halawa

Gajar Halawa (गाजर हलवा)

Richness,Temptation, Surprise, Satisfaction, Care  Health-Concern, 

Type:	Desert	Hot, Cold, Ice-Cold	For: 8 persons	Process: Sautéing, Boiling, Mixing
Dietary Value:	Calcium & Other	Vit A,D, B-Complex	Proteins, Fat (Saturated), Fiber	Anti-Oxidants – Beta-Carotene  Omega 3 fatty acids (with Almonds)
Time:	Preparation:	20 min	Serving:	5 min – with decoration of each bowl
	Recipe:	30 min	Eating:	2 to 20 min- depending on how much and how you eat

Name:	Gajar Halawa
Preface:	This special desert is prepared for special occasions (special family dinners, special events or special guests – in-laws, bosses, friends, etc.). It is rich in color, aroma, flavor, taste, consistency and content and hence very rightly chosen as a special dessert after (or during) special dinners.
Will:	·        It can be prepared for your (real) best friend and his family. ·        But today we will prepare it for your real enemy and rival to whom you have to call your best friend (or your boss whom you have to impress unwillingly), and incidentally, who is also diabetic, hypertensive and with week heart (and his family that is not involved in his sins), you have invited for the dinner. ·         So, we will prepare it (and the dinner) for two families (8 persons)
Pre-Preparation:	·        Being main chef we will only prepare the Main dish of Gajar Halawa. But We will do all the Pre-preparation of grating the carrots, boiling milk and preparing Nutmeg and Cardamom Powder, etc. ·        The dinner for 8 will be prepared, of course, by your expert and well trained (not by you) assistant – your spouse.
Preparation:	We will need 1 Kg carrots, 100 gm sugar, 1 Lit milk, 100 ml fresh cream, 250 gm Khawa, 5 tablespoons of pure Desi Ghee, 5 cloves (Lavang), 1” cinnamon (Dalchini), cardamom (Veldoda) and nutmeg (Jayphal) Powder, 100 gm dry fruits.
Recipe:	·        Walk to the market (at least once a week) that is at least 3 Km away and bye 1 Kg good quality carrots. (along with other vegetables and provisions). I will come with you if you insist. But, after all, you have to walk on your own legs. ·        Wash them thoroughly. ·        Keep four big carrots away. ·        Grate other carrots. ·        In a frying pan take 5 tablespoons of Pure Desi Ghee (you can take more if you love Ghee) and put it on a gas burner. Add 5 cloves and 1” cinnamon.   ·        Add grated carrots and 100 gm sugar (or more if you like) and stir continuously till all the excess water is evaporated. ·        Add 1 Lit. whole milk (or 500 ml condensed milk) slowly. (add less sugar if you are adding condensed milk) ·        Add 250 gm Khawa and 100 ml fresh cream and stir. ·        Add cardamom and nutmeg Powder. ·        Add 100 gm (or more if you like) dry fruits. ·        Boil the mixture (with constant stirring) till the desired consistency is achieved. The Gajar Halawa is ready. ·        Let it get cooled (if you are patient enough).
Fortification:	What more fortification you need?
Skills:	·        It is necessary to evaporate excess water before adding milk. ·        Continuous stirring is essential throughout the process. Both steps are necessary to prevent separation of milk and maintain thick creamy consistency.   ·        Sugar can be added at the end. ·        If the milk separates (Paneerization) don’t worry. Evaporate excess water to make it thick and granular. Nobody knows whether you wanted it to be semi-liquid and creamy or thick, solid and granular.
Decoration:	Decorate it with chopped Dry fruits. And cardamom grains.
Serving:	·        Gajar Halawa can be served Hot, cold or Ice-Cold; with breakfast or high tea and during or after dinner. Today we are going to serve it after dinner (as a desert). So lots of patience (from your side) is necessary. ·        By the time the dish is ready, with only the thought of the added ingredients (that you love so much), with the mere site of thick orange creamy dish studded with dry fruits and with the unbelievable and indescribable aroma, you must be feeling very hungry and impatient. ·        But wait for the Special guests you have invited for the dinner. Serve them the lavish dinner exclusively prepared for this special occasion (after of course 3-4 pegs of whiskey – only for him. You can have lemon sherbet or 1 peg of wine). You stick to your usual diet (see – 7 simple steps to fitness). ·        Of course the Guests will not know that they will be having Gajjjaar Halawa (prepared by YOU) as a dessert. So it (really both) will be a surprise for them.  ·        So serve the special Gajar Halawa dramatically. And when they appreciate it, disclose dramatically that YOU have prepared it. (If they appreciate! Otherwise don’t disclose.)
Savoring:	·        Serve your Special Friend the special Gajar Halawa liberally and insist that he should eat at least three bowls. That will serve him good for his uncontrolled Diabetes and high Cholesterol). He will, of course, succumb to the Temptation (the last peg in his coffin). ·        Let the friend’s wife decide for herself. Though we don’t have anything against her, we are not responsible for her health either. ·        Let children eat (in large quantities) and enjoy it fully (if they are not overweight). It is good for them. If they are also overweight, reconsider the whole menu for dinner and DON’T PREPARE GAJAR HALAWA.  ·        You (and your wife), on the other hand, take those four big carrots kept aside (2 for u & 2 for ur spouse), break them into 4-5 pieces each and eat raw very slowly, chewing each piece at least 32 times, letting all the juices trickle on your tongue and appreciate the REAL taste of carrots, while remembering the joy of preparing a good dish – THE GAJAR HALAWA. ·        If temptation is irresistible, eat only one teaspoon very slowly and enjoy.
Thoughts & Afterthoughts	·        Gajar Halawa is the Best dish equally for those who love Sweet Dishes and those who don’t. ·        Prepare it with Love and Concern. Healthy children can eat it without restriction. ·        Afterwards one should be careful. Make it a habit to eat such dishes in very small quantities and really very slowly; appreciating the delicate flavors, haunting aromas and lingering tastes and with full satisfaction. After all, the satisfaction is important than the amount of dish eaten. More doesn’t give more satisfaction.  ·        Jokes apart, With Diabetes, Hypertension and heart disease such dishes are really dangerous. They may trigger serious complications. ·        'Dudhi' (white pumpkin) Halawa is a similar dish and in the same line we can (?) prepare (with some modifications) ‘Bhopala (red pumpkin) Halawa’, ‘Beetroot Halawa’, ‘Mulika (Radish) (and Lal Mulika) Halawa’, ‘Potato Halawa’, ‘Sweet Potato Halawa’, etc. ·        If we like it very much but don’t want it to be dangerous, we can prepare it in skimmed or fatless milk, with half (50 gm) sugar/jaggory and only 1 teaspoon of Ghee (for flavor) without adding Khawa, cream and dry fruits (“Charoli” and few almonds will do).      ·        Why we are not satisfied with natural sweetness of fruits and foodstuffs? Why we are not satisfied with "just a little", tested with full concentration?

Golden-Morning Soup (Yellow Pumpkin-Corn Soup)

Golden-Morning Soup (Yellow Pumpkin-Corn Soup)  

Type:	Soup	Boiling Hot, Ice-Cold	For: 4 persons	Process:   Cutting, Chopping, Grating, Boiling, Seasoning
Dietary Value:	Vitamins- Beta Carotene, C, B-plex	Mineral Salta & Fiber	Anti-Oxidants	Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fat (all in Small amounts)
Time:	Preparation:	5-10 min	Serving:	5 min – with decoration of each bowl
	Recipe:	5-7 min	Eating:	10 – 20 min

Name:	Golden-Morning Soup (Yellow Pumpkin-Corn Soup)
Preface:	·         This is a naturally flavored, tasty, appetizing, satisfying and refreshing greenish yellow-orange soup that is also rich in vitamins and minerals. ·         This can be taken any time in a day but it is best at (or for) breakfast, with family (particularly on Sundays after morning walk, jogging or hill-climbing exercise), to start a day enthusiastically in a Golden and Warm mood. ·         It is also best as appetizer, half an hour before dinner or as a dinner (for old, obese, hypertensive or diabetic people).
	We will prepare this Soup for 5-6 people (for 4 in our square family and some more for unexpected but welcome friends who will bring some more golden moments).
Pre-Preparation:	Preparation of Vegetable stock on previous night - take leaves and stalks of any green leafy vegetable; stalks of coriander; small portions of all vegetables available (and otherwise wasted) at home (one onion, onion sprouts, cabbage leaves, stems of cauliflower, half carrot, small tomato, piece of white pumpkin, skin of yellow pumpkin etc.), all cut into small pieces. Add them to about 1 Lit. water and simmer / boil on low flame (just maintaining boiling temperature) for 10 min. Strain them and allow to cool overnight. This clear and naturally flavored liquid, rich in minerals, is vegetable stock.
Preparation:	We will need 5 ½  cups vegetable stock (or water), 2-3 sweet corns (about 1 bowl grated corn), 3 X 3” piece (or 125 gms) of yellow pumpkin, 1 bowl coriander leaves, few mint leaves, 1-2 green chilies, 1” ginger, 5-6 garlic cloves, half teaspoon black pepper powder, juice of half lemon, 4-5 teaspoons corn-flour, salt and butter.
Recipe:	·         We will grate pumpkin and corn; chop coriander leaves, ginger and garlic; slit chilies longitudinally and soak corn-flour in half cup of water. ·         We will keep vegetable stock for boiling (today we will use stock of stalks of coriander and ‘Pokala” – leafy vegetable with red leaves, very common at our native place ‘Wai’). ·         We will add grated corn, ginger, garlic and black pepper powder.  ·         Just before boiling, we will add grated pumpkin, half of chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilies; season with salt to taste and keep a lid. ·         At boiling point we will taste it and if it is perfect we will add pre-soaked corn flour and keep for boiling for 1 min. ·         We will season it with lemon juice and butter just before serving. (Or we can give Cumin in Ghee ‘Phodani’ – hot infused Ghee)
Fortification:	·         By using vegetable stalk instead of water and seasoning it with fresh lemon juice we have already fortified it. And we are going to add half to one teaspoon of butter to each bowl before serving. That is really enough.  ·         We can add coarse paste of green peas, fresh green grams or germinated green mung beans. This will fortify the soup with some protein and add to it’s taste, texture and colors.
Skills:	·         This soup needs no additional cooking skills. ·         Adding pumpkin and coriander just before boiling avoids overcooking and preserves color and (of course) vitamins. ·         Add green chilies late to preserve flavor and minimize pungent taste. It is better that way, since we are having the soup for breakfast. If you want in more hot, as an appetizer in the evening, add chilies early. ·         Add lemon juice just before serving to avoid bitter taste. ·         The soup is sweet enough with sweet corn and yellow pumpkin. So it is not necessary to add sugar. ·         Tasting it twice or thrice during preparation is absolutely necessary for perfect ‘Taste-Harmony’.
Decoration and Serving:	·         The soup is already attractive and tempting with greenish golden yellow color. ·         You can add some grated carrot to add orange color (because yellow pumpkin comes with varied colors from faint yellow to dark orange). ·         Add butter and chopped coriander leaves just before serving for white and green contrast (and of course for taste, flavor and fortification). ·         Add grated cheese or cheese biscuits for more fun.
Tasting, Sipping and Appreciating:	·         We will appreciate and taste ‘Golden-Morning Soup’ first with eyes, then, with eyes closed, with nose (don’t be over-enthusiastic to dip it in the soup) and then, very slowly, with tongue (It is boiling hot). ·         Afterwards you can sip it, surrrrr it, drink it, eat it or do whatever you like (maintaining your status).
Thinking:	·         One can’t think on empty stomach. If you are having it for breakfast, eat it first and then think (if you want to). ·         First warmth (of soup and of being with the family), then leisurely chatting and then satisfaction. ·         The things that give real satisfaction are really very easy and simple. ·         In the evening, if we are having it before dinner, with friends, it will enhance the warmth and pleasure of their company and of the evening and will increase the appetite.  ·         Remaining soup can be added to any gravy (without anybody noticing it). ·         According to the need and appetite this soup can be served (with or without modifications) with bread, Bhakari, Roti, Thalipeeth, or any type of rice. (Last two are, of course, very practical, unimaginative and unromantic thoughts.)