Gazar Halwa

Ingredients:

Carrots - 2 kg, cleaned, scrubbed, and grated to shreds(red carrots)

Sugar - 1 medium bowl(4 cups)

Milk- 3-4 kg(thickened)

Almonds - 15, blanched and cut

Cashew nuts - 15

Elaichi seeds (from 3-4) - roast on tawa and then grind it.

Ghee or butter - 2 tablespoons (preferably Indian ghee)

Method:

1. Grate the carrots and then put it in a kadai to cook. It will leave lot of water and get cooked in it. Don't add milk in the starting or gajar will become black. Later Add 1/2 cup milk if you want.

2. Take milk in a heavy-bottomed vessel and let it thicken. Let it be thickened to be turned into khoya. Or else one can use khoya made earlier/ from outside, just fry it in ghee to soften and crumble it nicely.

3. Once the water from carrots have dried up, add sugar to it and add 1 spoon ghee to it and let it cook nicely till they thicken nicely.

4. Add khoya when there is no trace of water and Keep stirring and then add nuts.

5. When done add elaichi powder and kevda and close the kadai with a plate .

6.Serve hot

Alternative method.

One can cook this halwa in milk too. Put milk in kadai and cook till it thickens and condenses into half. Then add the carrots. and keep stirring and removing milk from sides till water dries up. Then use the same process as above. Add 100 -250 grams of khoya in the end.

Baby Vegetables with carrot puree

This is a Masterchef Australia dish

Ingredients

100g butter

750g trimmed baby vegetables, such as artichokes (halved, dressed with lemon juice), turnips, red and golden beetroot, female zucchini flowers, leeks, shelled peas, peas in the pod, radishes, yellow and red grape tomatoes

2 tbs peeled pistachios

olive oil, to drizzle

Micro-herbs, such as basil and rocket, to garnish

30g butter

2 carrots, coarsely grated

800ml olive oil

2 brushed potatoes, peeled, cut into 1cm slices

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

250ml milk ( i used 1/2 cup)

6 garlic cloves

Method

Step 1:

For the carrot puree, melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add carrots and a generous pinch of salt. Stir mixture every couple of minutes until the carrot starts to soften. Cover with a lid and cook for about 6 minutes or until very soft. Transfer to a blender, puree until smooth.

Step 2:

For the potato wafer, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat and cook potato for about 25 minutes until soft, taking care not to let the oil get too hot. ( Cook for 25 minutes even if they get done in 5 minutes to make the wafer )

Remove potato and drain, reserving the cooking oil. Transfer to a blender with ¼ cup of the cooking oil and puree until smooth. Using a pastry scraper or palette knife, spread a thin film of the warm potato puree onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Set aside in a dry place for 12 hours (preferably overnight). or else I baked it in a oven for some minutes and they were done. Tricky part is to spread flat...I used hand to spread it thinly too.

To finish the potato wafer, pour vegetable oil into a saucepan until one-third full. Heat over medium-high heat until 150°C. Carefully peel the dried potato off the baking paper and break into shards. Place into the oil and fry until lightly golden. Drain on paper towel and season with sea salt.

Step3: For the poached garlic, pour milk into a small saucepan and add the unpeeled garlic cloves. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and gently simmer for 2-3 minutes or until soft. Drain. Peel garlic and set aside.

Step 4:

For the vegetables, add the butter, just enough water to cook the vegetables and a good pinch of salt to a deep frying pan, over medium-high heat. Depending on the vegetables you choose, add in the order of what will take the longest to cook. Start with the artichokes, baby turnips, and golden beetroot and cover with a lid. If using baby red beetroot, cook separately in salted boiling water until tender. Then after a few minutes, add the leeks and female zucchini flowers. Baste the vegetables with the stock. Next add the shelled peas in the pod, radishes, then the tomatoes. Finally, add the pistachios and a drizzle of olive oil.

i used brocolli, some beans, tomoto, some mushrooms, beetroot, baby radishes, green capscicum....i avoided putting water and dizzled just 1/2 tsp for radish.

Step 5:

To serve, smear some of the carrot puree onto a large serving platter. Top with the baby vegetables, poached garlic, potato wafer and micro herbs. Herbs I used were pudina powder and oregano.

Gajar Matar Aloo Sabzi

Ingredients:-

Carrot- 1 kg

Cumin seeds(jeera)- 1 teaspoon

Kalonji- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Potatoes-2

Matar (Sweet Peas)-1 cup

Onions-1-2

Tomotoes-1-2

Green chilly- 1(optional)

Tumeric powder-1/4 teaspoon

Red chilly powder-1/2 tsp(optional)

Salt-1/2 teaspoon

Oil- 1 cooking spoon

Water-1 tablespoon(optional)

Coriander leaves

Recipe:-

1. Wash the carrots and peel it nicely and then cutting it into cube shapes.

2. Heat oil in a cooker and add jeera to it and then kalonji

3. Add onions to it and add green chilly .

4. Add potatoes pieces to it and fry it nicely and add tumeric powder, red chilly powder and salt.Cook potatoes for some time so its done.

5. Add carrots and mix it nicely and then cover it with a small plate so that it let out water. Also add tomotoes at this time

6. Once it leaves water add if less water add1 tbsp water or else not and then close lid of cooker.

7. Allow it to cook till it leaves 2-3 whistles and then close it.

8. Once steam is let out of cooker, cook it nicely to strain all remaining water. Also add mattar this time and cook and Also mash the carrots during this time.

9. Check for salt and add if needed.

10. Decorate with coriander leaves.