Amisha's Gajjar No Halvo

Arguably India's favorite dessert? Definitely, the greatest halva out there. Gajjar no halvo (in Gujarati) or gajjar ka halva (in Hindi) is a winter delicacy across India, made extra special when made with super-sweet, deep-red 'Delhi carrots'. Use the freshest, seasonal carrots here, none of that commodity carrot stuff!

Ingredients

600 gms carrots, peeled, tops cut and washed
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (97g) ghee (clarified butter)
2 cups (480g) whole milk
1/2 cup (120g) heavy cream
10-12 Baraka Green Cardamom pods, ground to a powder in a coffee grinder
1 1/2 teaspoons (3.5g) freshly grated Anamalai Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri Saffron, crushed
12 raw almonds, sliced thin
15-20 raw pistachios, sliced thin
10 raw cashews, sliced thin
1/3 cup (50g) golden raisins

Garnish:

10 raw almonds, sliced thin
15 raw pistachios, sliced thin
1/2 teaspoon ground Baraka Green Cardamom

Methods

Grate the carrots by hand, with a fine grater. You could use a food processor or use the thick side of a grater but I do prefer the texture of the halvo when the carrots are grated fine. This is the secret to making velvety, smooth, melt-in-your-mouth halwo, I promise! Grating carrots takes about 15 to 20 minutes but it is worth all the effort.
In a large non-stick pot, on medium heat, add in the ghee. Add in the grated carrots and saute for 10 minutes. The water from the carrots will start to reduce. Now add in the milk, heavy cream, sugar, ground cardamom, nutmeg, saffron and stir gently. The milk should evaporate and reduce after 25 minutes. Add in the raisins and half of the sliced almonds/pistachios and mix gently.
The mixture will be bubbling, so keep stirring occasionally so as not to burn it. Saute for another 10 to 15 minutes. The mixture will reduce a lot to less than half from the original amount of carrots, all the milk will be evaporated and the color of the halwo will be a dark orange. And when the halwo looks like a mushy clump, you know the halvo is done.
Remove it onto a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining pistachios and almonds and sprinkling of the ground cardamom. Serve warm.
You could also spread it on a jelly roll pan, and even it out with an offset spatula. Sprinkle the sliced pistachios and almonds, and sprinkling of the ground cardamom. Let it get cold in the fridge for a couple of hours and then serve it cold too.