Almond Kheer

Kheer/Paayasam is somewhere between a pudding and a drink. It's a sweet, thickened drink. The exact consistency of it is subject to individual preference. In this variation, almond paste is cooked in milk and flavored with some cardamom and saffron.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups whole almonds (unroasted, unsalted)
2. 3-4 cups + 1 cup (whole milk or low fat)
3. 3/4 - 1 cup sugar
4. 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
5. pinch of saffron
6. a few pistachios 

Preparation:

1. Blanch the almonds to remove the outer peel. Immerse the almonds in 2 cups boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse the almonds in cold water. The peel will slide right off. 
2. Grind the blanched almonds to a smooth paste by adding about 1 cup of milk (or slightly lesser). 
3. Meanwhile, bring 3-4 cups of milk to a boil in a non-stick pot. The quantity of milk depends on how thin or thick you like the kheer to be.
4. Add the almond paste to the hot milk and stir on medium heat for 30-40 minutes until the milk reduces and thickens a bit (almost to the consistency of rich soup). Keep stirring often to avoid the kheer from burning. Halfway through the cooking add saffron. 
5. Finally add sugar and stir well. Stir for another 5-10 minutes on low-medium heat. 
6. Remove from heat and garnish with nuts and cardamom powder and stir well. 

 

Serve chilled. The kheer can either be sipped from a glass or had in a bowl (depending on the consistency that you settled on). It does thicken a bit over time. The consistency of my kheer is that of a rich soup. I serve it in a cup or bowl along with a spoon so people can choose how they want to take it. 

Carrot Halwa

Grated carrot thickened in milk and sugar can only amount to one thing - rich carrot halwa. I tried making this halwa in a non-traditional way and it kind of back fired. I used thinly sliced carrots (to save my wrist from repetitive strain injury from grating), added fat-free milk (to make it slightly lower in fat), added less sugar, and refrained from adding any ghee or clarified butter. The resulting halwa, if you can call it that, tasted like sweetened carrots, but it didn't look anywhere close to an appetizing dessert.

So, after a stern reprimand to myself, I redeemed the halwa by making it the traditional way -  using whole milk, some ghee, required amount of sugar, and most importantly - finely grated carrot. Do not even think of using the prepackaged thinly sliced carrots.

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

1. 5 cups grated carrots
2. 4 tablespoons butter or ghee (clarified butter)
3. 5 cups whole milk (if you are adamant on trying lower fat milk, it will take forever to "thicken" and reduce)
4. 3/4 - 1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet the carrots are and how sweet you would like the halwa to be. I put 1 cup)
5. 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
6. handful of nuts and raisins (pistachios, cashews, raisins roasted in a couple of teaspoons of ghee)

Preparation:

1. Saute the grated carrots in butter/ghee for 10 minutes on medium heat. The carrots will soften and turn slightly yellow
2. In the meanwhile, boil the milk in a non-stick pot until the milk reduces to half its quantity. It took me 30 minutes on medium heat for the milk to reduce to half. Again, since there's hardly any fat in low fat milk, it will take longer for the milk to reduce. Keep stirring the milk every so often so that it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the cooked carrot to the reduced milk and cook for another 30 minutes  or so on medium heat until the milk completely absorbs into the carrots. Keep stirring every few minutes.
4. Now, add the sugar and stir well. Keep stirring for 10 minutes or so (on medium heat) until the whole thing thickens and leaves the sides of the pan. 
5. Remove from heat. Add cardamom powder and roasted nuts and mix well. 

I personally think carrot halwa is better served warm than chilled.