Carrot Dessert

• This is to make a very impressive dinner party dessert. It is best served warm, with fresh cream if desired, and can be made well in advance because it freezes very well.

Carrot Dessert

Ingredients
3 pounds 5 ounces carrots
10 tbsp ghee
2 ½ cups milk
¾ cup evaporated milk or khoya (see cooks’ tip)
10 whole cardamoms, peeled and crushed
8 – 10 tbsp sugar

To Decorate:
¼ cup pistachios, chopped
2 leaves varq (silver leaf) (optional)
 

1. Rinse, peel, and grate the carrots.
2. Heat the ghee in a large, heavy saucepan.
3. Add the grated carrots to the ghee and stir-fry for 15 – 20 minutes or until the moisture from the carrots have evaporated and the carrots have darkened in colour.
4. Add the milk, evaporated milk or khoya, cardamoms, and sugar to the carrot mixture and continue to stir-fry for a further 30 – 35 minutes, until it is a rich brownish red colour.
5. Transfer the carrot mixture to a large shallow dish.
6. Decorate with the pistachios and varq (if using) and serve at once.
    

Cook’s Tip
To make khoya, bring 3 ¾ cups milk to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan, watching the milk carefully so that is doesn’t burn. Reduce the heat and boil for 35 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The milk should reduce to a quarter of its volume, and when completely cooked should resemble a sticky dough.

A quicker way to grate carrots is to use a food processor.

Use pure ghee for this dessert, as it is rather special and tastes better make with pure ghee. However, if you are trying to limit your fat intake, use vegetable ghee instead.

Serves : 4 - 6