Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Celebrating RakshaBandhan with Gajar ka Halwa!

Happy RakshaBandhan to all my blogger friends! Ask my brother whats RakshaBandhan and he would say "money making business for girls!!" :D For those who dont know, I have a real bro elder to me whom I call "Da" (Dada is marathi word for elder bro but its tooo long for me, hence......) And I used to agree with him on this till last year when we used to be together on RakshaBandhan day! But now both of us have better definitions for this festival.. Before my marriage all we did was quarrelling (and we plan to continue fighting when I am back in India), but now we really miss each other.. Sometime back he just called to wish me and I happily asked him to courier me some gift.. Oh yes, I didnt forget to courier a Rakhi so he better not forget about the gift! ;)

Its just impossible to find Rakhi material here in Belgium.. I tried nearly all the shops, even childrens hobby classes but nothing could suit my taste.. Finally I got some wool and made a batch of simple Rakhis for Da, a cricket team of cousins and Sid n Vish, two most important people in my life- whom duniya will call rakhee brothers, but for me they are just as close to me as is my real brother.. They have been by my side through all my tough times and at times helping me take the toughest decisions in my life.. The best gift that I have for Rakshabandhan is the assurance that whenever I need them they are just a call away! Love u guys n miss u very much! Happy RakshaBandhan.. A glimpse of the rakhis I made and sent alongwith handwritten letters which my brothers just loved!


Festivals are always associated with sweets and I decided to make something sweet today.. Now I cant make all the variety of sweets which my choosy bros love (with one becoming highly health conscious these days and posting all health funde on his blog :P) so decided to make my favourite.. Gajar Ka Halwa.. The most famous Indian dessert, thanks to Bollywood ;) 9 out of 10 mothers in Hindi films welcome their sons coming back from Pardes with a bowl of his favourite sweet.. No points for guessing.. its my dear favourite Gajar ka Halwa! :) Here's a bowl for u guys!!

Gajar Halwa


Makes:

3-4 servings

Preparation Time:

40-45 mins

What you need:

4-5 Carrots (2-2.5 cups grated carrots)
3 cups Whole Milk
2 tbsp Ghee
1-11/2 cups Sugar [may vary depending on sweetness of carrots]
1/2 tsp Elaichi Powder
4-5 strands of Saffron
Nuts (Golden Raisins, chopped cashews, almonds and pistachios)

How to proceed:

1) Boil milk
2) Heat 1 tbsp Ghee in a non-stick pan and fry cashews and raisins till they turn golden brown
3) Keep them aside and add grated carrots in the remaining ghee
4) Saute carrots for a 2-3 minutes
5) Now add cardamom, saffron and boiled milk and cook on medium low heat till all the milk is absorbed. Keep stiring at intervals. This might take 15-20 mins
6) When milk is nearly absorbed, add sugar, fried cashews and other nuts
7) Add remaining 1 tbsp Ghee
8) Cook till ghee separates from the sides of the pan (If you prefer mushy version as I do, cook for just 2-3 minutes)
9) Serve hot or cold.. I prefer the refridgerated one! :)


* Next Gajar Halwa is gonna be a trial in microwave.. Am looking for time saving recipes these days.. Hope it turns out equally good!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's a touchy post. iread somewher on your blog that you are born in Nasik!I am glad to find this Nasik connection,since i too am born in Nasik educated for some years in pune and now blog from nasik!:)

Arts said...

Hey Madhuli,
yeah.. Was born in nasik and was there for 2-3 yrs.. then settled in Pune.. complete eductaion in Pune.. and now blogging frm Belgium :)
Good to know tht u too frm Nasik!

FH said...

Happy RakshaBandhan to you and your's Arts, enjoy!:)
Gajar Halwa looks fit for a king,this time for your bro:)

bee said...

the rakhis you made are beautiful and very houghtful.

Latha Narasimhan said...

Happy rakshabandan Arthi! First time here! Good poston rakhee!

Manasi said...

Those rakhis look simple and sweet! hope u get a gr8 gift!!!
Love gajar halwa!!

Sreelu said...

Sweet post for a sweet occation, I miss tieing rakhi's to my own brothers in India, but have brother whom I religiously tie Rakhi too every year in US.
before marriage as you said it was all about what present are you giving me, now I realize what it is to have loving brothers and how significant I see this festival. BTW beautiful rakhi's

Rajitha said...

those rakhis look really pretty. i do not have any brothers and boy did i feel jipped for losing out on this 100% gaurentee on getting money and gifts. i think we must invent one festivals for sisters too...

Arts said...

Thx Asha,
Wish u the same.. This time its fit for me ;)

Thx Bee,
Evn my bro liked it :)

Thx Latha,
Hope to see u more often :)

Thx Manasi,
I am glad u loved them... My bro is my best gift.. Pan baaki gifts nahi sodnaar ;)

I agree with u Sreelu.. I used to fight with my bro if he used to tie rakhi from sum1 else before tying my rakhi.. now fell sad that he has to do that this year without me.. Marriage changes everything.. But that makes u realise importance of people close to u! :) Happy RakshaBandhan to u too!

Yes Rajitha.. My bro used to wish for BehenDuug ;) Surely wish I cud invent some sisters day!!!

TheCooker said...

Such pretty rakhis.
And the 'apne haathon-se banaya' gajar-ka-halwa.

Richa said...

gajar halwa looks yum, mazha fav ahey :) rakhi chan banavlis, gift sathi wait period chalu ahey vatate ;)

Rajesh &Shankari said...

what a wonderful post. I have no bros, so it made all the more touching :)

Tee said...

'tumhe kaise pata chala ki mujhe gajar ka halwa pasand hai?' ;)
halwa masta distoy! enjoyed your post...rakhis are beautiful too! :)

Tee said...

'tumhe kaise pata chala ki mujhe gajar ka halwa pasand hai' ;)
halwa masta distoy! rakhis are pretty too. :)

Srivalli said...

those rakhis are looking lovely and the sweet too...looking forward to your MEC contributions.....

Thanks!

bha said...

Gajar ka halwa looks great and the rakhis are simple and cute...hope u get great gift....Happy rakshabandhan

Pooja V said...

Hi ...ur rakhis are so nice really v thoughtful. I am sure ur bros must b very happy to get special hand made rakhis. And i hv already drooled over ur gajar ka halwa.

Arts said...

Thx Thecooker,
lol.. u remember the Bollywood dialogues too! ;)

Thx Richa,
Sagle shahane bhau mhantat ki ithe yeshil tevha je pahije te ghe :D

Hey Shankari,
Thx for dropping by.. All indians are ur bros ;) SO cheer up!!

Thx Tee,
Mujhe pata hai kyoki mujhe bhi bahuuuut pasand hai :)

Thx Srivalli,
MEC entry is ready in ur mailbox :)

Thx Bhags,
So sweet of u.. Happy RB to u too!

Hey Pooja,
They really were very glad!

John said...

Yes, I agree with you, here in India people do celebrate this Rakhi Festival with all fun along-with all family members. Yes, even stars also celebrate this festival in their own way. And people who are not in India, they send rakhi to india to their brothers and rakhi gifts to india to their loved ones.

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