Gajar Ka Halwa

It can be safely said that no other Indian confection enjoys as much unswerving love as Gajar ka Halwa, a sinfully decadent carrot porridge swathed in ghee and chopped dried fruits. A staple North Indian dessert during winter, this heady saffron-coloured concoction, made with immoderate amounts of milk, ghee, sugar and carrots, is certainly not for the calorie-watchers.

Making Gajar ka Halwa is no mean feat. Since carrots form the base of this preparation, a sizeable portion of grated carrot is sauteed in ghee until it starts to lose shape. Then water, milk, sugar and cardamom pods are added to the mix to form a grainy paste. The mixture is then continuously and vigorously stirred until it starts to come together. The dish is rounded off with embellishments of pistachio and almond shavings.

Although there isn’t much information about the origin of this specific kind of Halwa, experts reckon that it may have first been made in Punjab, because the only state where carrot was cultivated within India was in Punjab. It’s a vegetable that was introduced to the subcontinent during the Mughal era through trade relations with the Dutch. Punjab’s temperate climate was conducive to the growth of carrots, and thus started being cultivated in the state as winter harvest.

The origin of Halwa, however, is easier to trace. Halwa, a sweet porridge made from mixing flour, water, nuts and sugar, is a generic word for all sweets in Arabic. It is said that it was conceived during the reign of Suleiman the Great of the Ottoman Empire. The story goes that the Emperor was particularly fond of sweets and dedicated an entire kitchen to the making of sweetmeats. Halwa was apparently one of the dishes Suleiman would often finish his meals with. From Central Asia, the confection travelled both East and West, spawning countless different iterations in both hemispheres.

Incidentally, Tar Halwa/Mohan Bhog (a semolina, nits and ghee pudding), has its origins in Hinduism.