GAJAR KI BURFI - INDIAN CARROT FUDGE

Holding my little hand, my dad would lead me to the halwai shop (sweet meat shop) egging me on to buy whatever I wished to. There used to be so many options to select from that I invariably used to get confused - what to leave and what to choose. Though the carrot fudge was never my first choice but its bright colours used to entice me the most.

He would encourage me to buy it. It was dad’s favourite! He would know all the while that I would only eat a piece or two and the rest of the bounty would be his! My dad has a major sweet tooth. Even two helpings of a dessert are not enough for him. While attending a party or a marriage function, he heads straight to the dessert counter first and has his meal later, a concept which I fail to understand even now J

Deep red in colour, crunchy, juice and delicious…Indian carrots are irresistible to me, still. Although now I love the carrot fudge more than I used to. With its red (not deep in my recipe though since I added my own twist to it) and white colours this dish looked like a perfect Indian treat for Christmas! Only the green is missing and I tried using pistachio to compensate it but it didn't seem to have worked successfully...

The one little twist that I gave to this classic north Indian dessert is addition of vermicelli to it. You can omit if you wish to. 

Here are the measurements:

1 kg carrots

½ cup vermicelli (I used roasted one)

1 litre milk

1 ½ tbsp +2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp powdered green cardamom

2-3 tsp ghee (you can be generous with it if you wish to)

100 grams khoya (reduced solidified milk)- Optional

1 tbsp blanched almonds (optional)
1 tbsp pistachio (optional)

½ tbsp raisins, soaked in water for 30 minutes (optional)

Prepare a 9 inch square baking tin and line it with parchment paper. Grease the paper. Keep this aside.

Half-cook the vermicelli in 3 cups of water and drain the water

Pressure-cook the carrots with 2 tsp of sugar.

Boil milk and add the carrots.

Cook carrots, stirring continuously if cooking on high flame, till all the milk is absorbed. (I cooked on medium flame, stirring every 5 minutes)

Add the sugar, vermicelli, cardamom powder and ghee and cook till all visible moisture has evaporated; approximately for 15-20 minutes. (This can be checked by holding the back of a serving spoon against the carrots)

Add the chopped almonds, pistachio and raisins.

Remove from heat and transfer the contents in a 10 inch square tin.

Smooth the top with a spoon.

When it turns warm, shred the khoya over it.

Cool the fudge in the refrigerator for an hour and then cut in slices of desired shape.

Note: Total cooking time was approx. 1½ hours.

Note: Adjust the sweetness according to your taste. We prefer less sugar in our desserts.
Note: You can sweeten the khoya by adding 3-4 tsp of powdered sugar to it.

Makes approx. 20 square pieces (as shown in picture)

Thanks for stopping and see you soon


Post linked to Christmas Delicacy event hosted by Erivumpuliyumm


Post linked to Sinful Delights event hosted by Vardhiniskitchen


Linked post to Winter Carnival event hosted by Radhika of Ticklingpalates blog