All good things start with sweet tooth - Carrot Halwa!!

I am a sucker when it comes to sweet. Tend to feel guilty when I eat those extra calories. But sometimes when you open the fridge, all you get is the same veggies like carrots, cucumber, tomatoes. Today I used those carrots which sits easily for almost a month.

Always try to make sure you buy your groceries from near farmers market or in organic sections.

So I used Splenda (type of sugar free) packets, about 10 to make this recipe. This on didn't have Sucralose so I used it. Today, we celebrate a festival called as Ugaadi which stands for Starting (Aadi) of a New Year (Yuga). This sweet is to commemorate Ugaadi festival, and yes, on a lighter note!

Carrot Halwa is the easiest of the desserts that can be made with minimal ingredients and is the most fail proof recipe. If you are an amateur, this is the best one amongst sweets. It has a coarse pudding texture which makes it easy for anyone to eat. Here is my method of preparation.

Serves 3-4

Preparation time 35-40 mins

Ingredients:

• 6-7 Medium sized carrots 
• About 3 cups of 1% or 2% milk (I used 2%)
• 3 tsp ghee or melted butter
• 2 tsp raisins (optional)
• 2 tsp broken raw cashews (optional)
• 2 tsp sliced raw almonds (optional)
• 10 packets of Splenda
• 3 tsp sugar
• A pinch of cardamom powder or cinnamon powder (optional)

Method:

• Peel the carrots and grate it using a small sized grater. Smaller the grater, easier to cook.
• In a non stick pan, heat the ghee and add raisins, cashews and almonds and reduce the heat to low.
• Remove the nuts and raisins from the pan without removing the ghee and keep it aside. Do not switch off the stove.
• To the same pan add the grated carrots and fry for 5 to 10 mins.
• Add the milk to the pan and increase the flame to medium. Allow it to boil.
• When the milk mixture starts to raise reduce the flame to low. Let the milk evaporate.
• Once the milk completely evaporates increase flame to medium and add Splenda and sugar and keep stirring until all the sugar melts and mix in the cardamom or cinnamon powder.
• Decorate with the nuts and raisins.

Enjoy hot or chilled (or with vanilla ice cream). Enjoy the sweetness guilt free