Gajar halwa- 'Fat-free & Sugar-free'! Oh Yeah!!! ( Carrot Pudding)

Yeah! That's true! And trust me, it tastes decent enough too! In fact made two batches of gajar halwa today to experiment/ compare. Half of the grated carrots were used for nice rich creamy halwa and the other half for diet halwa. And it feels nice to say diet halwa was no disappointment. Of course you can't expect the diet one to beat the real stuff, but can you imagine eating gajar halwa to your heart's content with absolutely NO guilt! This is like dream come true! 

Its super quick, super super low calorie dessert. Don't need many things to make it! You still don't believe me when I say its awesome, do you! ;) I am in awe myself! Try it out!


You can also try the regular Gajar Halwa recipe which has all the richness your guests may be looking for!

You need: (serves 2)

Carrots – 300 grams (grated - use the thick grater in your food processor or hand grater)

Sugar-substitute – 4- 6 Tbsp (adjust to taste)

Non-fat milk powder – 12- 14 Tbsp

Cardamom powder – pinch (since there are very few ingredients, be careful while adding as even a little cardamom gives a lot of flavor)

Butter flavored spray or spread  - Totally optional (just to give it a glossy texture, treat this like make-up to please your eyes! :) )

Dry fruits- Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins, Cashew nuts (totally optional)

1. In a pressure cooker add the grated carrot and a tablespoon of water. Give pressure on high flame. Switch off as soon as the second whistle goes off. Immediately ease the pressure by either lifting the weight or running under cold water. Be careful if you are using a big pressure cooker and the carrots are very few, they may burn by the time the second whistle happens. So depending on the kind of cooker you have adjust the timing.The idea is to quickly get the moisture out of the carrots and not cook them too much. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can use a wide pan to dry out the carrot moisture. Do not cook with a lid on, that's it! 
2. Now you can either continue cooking in this pressure cooker or transfer to a non-stick pan. I just continue in the pressure cooker to avoid extra cleaning. Just that you will have to be a little extra watchful to not let it burn or stick to the bottom when it dries out. 
3. Once all the moisture has disappeared, add the sugar and milk powder and stir well. 
4. Once it's almost dried up add the cardamom powder and adjust sugar and milk powder to taste. Some like it real sweet, and some don't. 
5. If you feel it looks too crumbly and dry, just dissolve a little milk powder in some water and add. Mix well and adjust the consistency. But this preparation will be kind of crumbly since there is no fat!! No Fat - Ah nice!
6. Spray the butter flavored oil (e.g., PAM)  or the butter flavored vegetable oil spread at this stage and switch off. Mix well. (this is totally option as mentioned before)
7. Adding dry fruits is totally optional.  

* While there is a lot of debate over sugar substitute not being good for health,  I use Truvia as a sugar substitute whenever required. Not that I am endorsing this product but it does claim to be made from plant extract. I still need to read up more to know how genuine these claims are. Till then, Truvia it is!