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Sweet Carrot Dessert

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Carrots are usually served as a savoury or part of a savoury or salad dish. This free recipe exploits the sweet and distinctive flavour of the carrot in a novel way to make a delicious dessert dish. This recipe is based on a traditional Indian sweet that is sold all over that continent. It has a texture similar to soft coconut ice and is nearly as sweet. The most important ingredient in this recipe is patience, it can take a long time for it to cook! Serve it after an Indian curry or other meal, either hot or cold.

 

Ingredients for 4 servings:

  • 1lb (450g) carrots, peeled and shredded as if for a salad. A shredding attachment for a blender makes this easier work.

  • 1.5pints (850mL) milk

  • 7oz sugar, granulated or caster

  • 2oz unsalted butter (ghee can be used as an alternative)

  • 1oz sultanas

  • 1 level teaspoon (5ml) ground cardamoms

  • 2oz (50g) chopped nuts to garnish, we used unsalted pistachios but you can use almonds, walnuts or pecan nuts as alternatives. 

 

Method:

Put the milk and sugar into a fairly large heavy bottomed pan and start heating over a gentle heat. Stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved and then add the shredded carrots. Increase the heat slightly and bring to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally.
When boiling, adjust the heat carefully so that the bubbling is not too vigorous but the boil is continuous. Cook in this fashion, stirring and adjusting the heat fairly frequently until nearly all of the liquid has evaporated, perhaps an hour or more. This point can be tested by stirring to the bottom of the pan, if the bottom remains clear of liquid after the spoon is moved, it is ready for the next stage. Make sure that the mixture does not stick or burn.

Add the butter and adjust the heat until the mixture begins to fry, add the sultanas. Stir and fry for about 10 - 15 minutes after which the colour should have become slightly darker. Stir in the cardamom powder. Stir and fry for about 3 minutes more making sure that the mixture does not stick.

Remove from the heat and turn into the serving dish. Pour over the nuts to garnish.
Serve either hot or cold. If saving the dish for later, keep it in the refrigerator, it will keep for a couple of days.

Notes:

  • The long reducing time in the initial cooking stage can be shortened by increasing the heat provided that you are prepared to watch over the pan almost continually but do not let the mixture get too hot, particularly at the end as it will burn and stick.

  • A wider pan will assist in the reduction but make sure that the heat is evenly distributed over the base otherwise local hot spots will cause sticking.

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Updated 11/1/2006