Easy Carrot Halwa in Automatic Rice Cooker / Gajar Ka Halwa

Easy carrot halwa / gajar ka halwa with condensed milk, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream...is total indulgence.

I have already posted gajar ka halwa about two years ago and it is still one of the popular recipes on my blog, so you might wonder why another gajar ka halwa recipe....well, this one is quick and easy because it is made with condensed milk and is made in an automatic rice cooker....just wanted to show you that if you have one tucked away in your pantry /store, then dusting it off would be wise since making halwa in it makes life simple...plus there are many more you can do with it!

My automatic rice cooker has been with me for about 18 1/2 years....yes, that is a pretty long period of staying married to it....actually I got it as a weeding present, and I love cooking in it....the best one are making jams and squashes......though since mine is an old one...it does not have much features other than the cook mode and warm mode...I am sure new ones have a lot of features in it. The plus point in cooking in the rice cooker is that...it does not need much stirring....that means food does not stick to the bottom of the pan as it does with stove top kadai cooking...and that is a great boon for me...I just pop carrots in it with milk and do a bit of work on the blog......and then go back and check, add condensed milk....and give it a few stir to mix up...then back to blog ....I mean it does make life easy!!

It was back in the late eighties or early nineties, that these automatic cookers hit the Indian Market....and amma brought one in the early nineties....and she used to make so many wonderful dishes with it...and some days back during a casual chat with amma....she mentioned this rice cooker magic....and so here I am sharing this with you.

Basically rice cooker works by sensing moisture, so when the moisture evaporates, it will go to the keep warm mode......and what I like best is...as I mentioned earlier....it does not stick to the bottom of the pan....as much as it does with stove top kadai cooking....and that means less stirring...less hovering over it!!

And to those of you, who do not have one, no need to go and buy one.....you still can make in a stove top, just follow exactly my recipe or if you do not want to make with condensed milk...please go to the old recipe where only milk is used.

Notes: Adding sugar depends on how sweet the carrot is, so reduce a bit if the carrot is too sweet...

Author: Nisa Homey.

Cooking Time: 30-35 min

Ingredients:

Carrots: 3/4 kg/ 750 gms.

Sugar: 1/2 cup.

Milk: 1/2 liter.

Condensed Milk: 3/4 tin (I used Milk Maid)

Method:
Here is the automatic rice cooker I was talking about..

Carrots are peeled.

I used my food processor for grating, you can also do it with hand held grater.

Into the heated rice cooker, I added the grated carrots and milk. And the sugar. Keep the cooker on "cook mode".

Give it a stir and let it cook...cover it with the lid (this helps the carrots to cook faster)....for 10-15 min....just open the lid and check inbetween or give a nice stir.

Once the milk has dried up....add in the condensed milk.

Mix well and let it simmer away for another 10 min....or until it is dry...once it is dry and when there is no moisture, it will automatically go to the "keep warm mode"

Its almost done.

Heat 1 tbsp of ghee. Add in 1 tbsp of raisins, and 1 tbsp of crushed cashew-nuts, mix well . Then add in the 3-4 pods of cardamon crushed, and mix well.