Sweet talk

I can’t boast about being a great cook. Some of my brutally honest friends will vouch for that. But I can’t help but gloat over my very successful attempt at making gajar ka halva (carrot halva) for a pot-luck lunch. Carrot halva is an extremely popular dessert served throughout India. It is made out of grated carrots, slowly cooked with milk over a low heat, flavored with nuts and raisins, infused with the aroma of crushed cardamoms. Mention the word to any Indian, and you will probably hear a heart-felt account of childhood memories involving cold winter days and a house smelling like heaven and mom cooking them their favorite dessert 🙂

I followed this recipe from Radhika‘s blog called ticklingpalates.com, which features a superb collection of Indian vegetarian recipes.

Fun fact: check out what Wikipedia talks about the etymology of the word halva – turns out ‘Halva’, or a slight variation of the word, used to describe some kind of sweet in about 30 different countries!

Update: Incidentally, my post is just apt for the Daily Post’s prompt – “Local Flavor“!