Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients:
- 3 packed cups Carrots, peeled and grated
- 4 cups Milk
- ½ - 1 cup Condensed Milk (Optional, but recommended)
- ¾ - 1 cup Sugar (as per taste)
- 1½ - 2 tbsp Ghee
- ¼ cup Dry Nuts (Any or combination of slivered almonds, pistachios, cashew nuts and sultanas)
- 6-8 Green Cardamoms, peeled and seeds crushed to fine powder
- A generous pinch of Saffron, dissolved in 2 tbsp of warm water or milk
- Method:
- Heat ghee in a pan/pressure cooker and add dry nuts to it. Roast them on low flame till they start to change colour and turn golden. Remove them from the pan with slotted spoon and keep them aside in a bowl.
- In the same pan, add grated carrots and sauté them on low to medium flame for 5-6 mins or until the carrots change colour to deep orange and their raw smell disappears.
- Next add milk to the pan/pressure cooker and mix them well. If using a pressure cooker close the lid and let it pressure cook for 2-3 whistles on medium flame. If using a pan, let it cook for 20-30 minutes on medium to low flame until the carrots are cooked through and also the milk reduces to ¾th of the quantity (that is from 4 cups to 3 cups). Make sure that you stir the mixture once in a while.
- Once the carrots are cooked through and the milk has reduced in quantity and thickened, switch off the flame and let the mix cool down a bit. Take half of carrot using slotted spoon and grind it to smooth paste in a mixer grinder or food processor.
- Add this to the kheer along with sugar and bring the mix to gentle boil, about 3-5 mins, on medium flame.
- Mix in condensed milk, crushed cardamom powder, saffron and roasted dry nuts and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
- Serve this delicious Carrot Kheer/Payasam hot, warm or chilled as a dessert and enjoy! I personally prefer to store it in refrigerator for at least 3 hours and serve chilled :)
