Carrot Gulab Jamun Cups

Carrot Gulab Jamun Cups:

Two delicious sweets indeed it is way to haven.

Gajar ka halwa, also known as gajrela, gajar pak, and carrot halwa

Gajar ka Halwa (gajrela) is the perfect dessert to make for any celebration.

This is a carrot-based sweet dessert pudding from the Indian subcontinent. It is made by placing grated carrots in a pot containing a specific amount of milk and sugar, cardamom and then cooking while stirring regularly.

The carrot halwa recipe can be made in different ways.

The most common and traditional way is to cook the grated carrot in full cream milk and add mawa grate at the end.

One of the popular variants is carrot halwa made with condensed milk.

Moreover, you may also make it in a Pressure Cooker, but there is a risk of overcooking it.

This recipe is made in an Instant Pot and while it is much faster.

You also can make on stovetop.

I usually cook traditional way on stovetop by cooking it in full cream milk. And add grate mawa at the end.

This recipe is made in an Instant Pot and while it is much faster than stovetop. It will still require a bit of time and patience as you’ll need to stir the carrots in ghee to fry them a bit, which adds great flavor.

In this recipe, I have used orange-coloured carrots as I do not have much access to the red carrots and it does not test the same as back home.

Ingredients:

3 cup grate carrots

¼ ghee

¾ cup sugar

10 Raisins

10 Cashew

10 Almonds

2 cup heavy milk

½ cup khoya

¼ tsp cardamom powder

Instant Pot Recipe:

Peel the skin of carrot and grate finely. Then add the carrots, milk and ¼ cup water to the pot. Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 1 minute at high pressure. Open the valve to quick release any remaining pressure. Press sauté and add the sugar. Stir for 6-7 minutes, or until most of the liquid has reduced. Then, add the ghee and stir-fry the carrots for another 6-7 minutes, or until the carrots become dry and the ghee separates from the mixture. The carrots should look dark orange/reddish in color. Add the cardamom, Mawa and mix well. Garnish with chopped nuts and serve hot.

Stovetop Recipe:

Peel the skin of carrot and grate finely. Keep aside. Traditionally, Red carrot is used to prepare halwa, but I have use orange carrot here.

In a large skillet heat ghee and fry cashew and almonds. Fry until it turns golden brown. Keep aside.

In the same ghee add grated carrot and saute well. Saute for 5 minutes or until it changes colour slightly. Now pour milk and give a good stir. Let it boil for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Continue to boil until the carrots are cooked well and milk reduces. Once the milk thickens completely, add sugar and mix well and cook until the sugar dissolves and thickens. Cook until the halwa thickens and ghee releases from sides. Now turn off the flame and add Mawa, cardamom powder and fried nuts. Mix well making sure everything is well combined.

Finally, Gajar Halwa is ready to serve either warm or chilled, but I am using here as a filling so let make outer layer as a Gulab Jamun.

Tips:

Use a food processor to shred the carrots, it’s fast and easy.

If you are making just halwa, serve a small portion of halwa with a large scoop of ice cream.

If you want to make this dairy-free, you can use full-fat coconut milk and coconut oil instead of ghee (I still have to try, but heard it won’t taste quite as good).

Gulab Jamun:

Traditionally, gulab jamun is made using khoya which is nothing but milk solids.

I have bought khoya from Indian grocery stores in the freezer section.

Gulab Jamuns can also be made using milk powder but I prefer the jamuns made with khoya, taste just the best.

Ingredients:

· 1 cup finely grated khoya

· 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

· pinch cardamom powder

· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

· 1.5 tablespoons melted ghee

· 1-2 tablespoons warm milk as needed to knead the dough

Method:

In a large mix together grated khoya, all purpose flour, cardamom powder and baking powder. Mix until well combined.

Add melted ghee to the bowl. Use your fingers to mix ghee with the khoya and maida. Start adding warm milk, little by little until it all comes together as a dough. Don’t knead the dough too much. Just bring it all together to a smooth dough. Cover and let it rest for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes give a quick knead to the dough. Make a small ball out of it. Work with soft hands and squeeze the ball between your palms to shape it form a smooth round ball with no cracks. Make the dough like small puri's as shown in video using hand or you can use rolling pin and stuff the carrot mixture and close carefully. I have bake using cups you can make round shape or oval shape. I have air fry them as seen in video.

Repeat with the remaining dough. I got 14 balls.

Tips:

Dough:

The dough needs to be smooth and soft. So, add warm milk, little by little until you have a soft dough.

But at the same time, you also have to keep in mind that you don’t want to over knead the dough. Mix until the dough comes together and then let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

Gulab Jamun in to balls:

Use soft hands and do not apply too much pressure while rolling the balls. Work with soft hands!

The gulab jamun balls should be totally smooth without any crack. If you see cracks on top, knead again till it’s all smooth.

Frying the gulab jamuns on cook top:

The most important thing is to fry at medium-low heat. If you fry at high heat, the jamuns will not be cooked from inside and will also turn hard.

It’s best to first heat oil/ghee at medium heat for 5 minutes, then low the heat to low and then drop the balls in the oil.

Fry on low heat until they are nice dark golden brown in color. This will take time as you fry on low heat, be patient.

Air frying

Method:

I usually bake Gulab Jamuns. I have air fry them for 7 min in 350 f. If you need more dark than you can bake them about 10 min. Remove Gulab Jamuns and soak the gulab jamuns in warm (not hot & not cold) sugar syrup.

Let it soak in syrup for 30 minutes.

Than garnish with pistachios and serve gulab jamun warm or cold. You may also decorate them with edible silver leaf (chandi ka vark).

Sugar Syrup:

· 1.5 cups granulated white sugar 300 grams

· 2 cups water 16 oz

· 1.5 teaspoon rose water

· 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

· kewra essence optional

· 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Method:

In a wide a pan add sugar, water, cardamom powder, rose water and kewra essence. Bring it to a boil. Add lemon juice. Then lower the heat and let the syrup simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. Once it’s a little sticky after 5 minutes, remove pan from heat and set aside. Keep it warm.

Tips:

Don’t look for any consistency while making the sugar syrup. Add all ingredients for the syrup in a pan and once it comes to a boil, let it simmer for 5 to 6 minutes only. It should only be little sticky.

You don’t want to get to any thread consistency stage. The syrup might look thin to you after simmering for 5 minutes but that’s plenty.

It thickens up as it cools. You don’t want a thick sugar syrup to begin with else the jamuns will never absorb it.

There is trick adding the gulab jamuns to syrup as well while adding the jamuns to the syrup, make sure the syrup is warm but not hot.

The gulab jamuns will likely lose their shape if the syrup is too hot and they will not absorb the syrup if the syrup is cold. So warm is what you need.

If you keep all these tips and tricks in mind, you will end up with the most delicious melt-in-mouth gulab jamuns!