Gajar Halwa, Carrots Cooked in Milk

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g carrots (6 carrots of about 100 g each)
• 600 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 60 g caster sugar
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 10 g unsalted butter
• 30 g raisins
• 20 g flaked almonds

🍴 Utensils

• Peeler
• Grater
• Large heavy-based sauté pan
• Spatula
• Small frying pan
• Bowl

📖 Steps

1. Peel the carrots, trim the ends and grate them on the fine side of the grater. The finer the grating, the softer the carrots become and the more easily they absorb the milk as they cook.
2. Put the grated carrots and milk in the sauté pan. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, keeping an eye on it, as milk boils over quickly. A wide pan is ideal: the milk evaporates faster than in a tall saucepan.
3. Lower to a medium-low heat and simmer gently for 35 to 40 minutes, uncovered. Stir every 5 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides with the spatula, so the milk doesn't stick and burn.
4. Meanwhile, soak the raisins for 10 minutes in the bowl of hot water to plump them up, then drain. Toast the flaked almonds in the small dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden.
5. When there's almost no liquid milk left in the bottom of the pan, add the sugar and cardamom. The sugar melts and releases a little liquid: keep cooking for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes away from the sides.
6. Add the butter and drained raisins and stir for 2 minutes over a low heat: the halwa turns glossy and deep orange. It should be soft and moist, neither dry nor runny.
7. Serve warm or cold in small bowls, sprinkled with the toasted almonds. The halwa keeps for 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container and reheats in 1 minute in the microwave.