Sugar free gajar halwa or diet gajar halwa or low calorie halwa.
Winter means season of gajar ka halwa or carrot pudding. In India gajar ka halwa is a famous and most popular dessert during winter.
Normally gajar ka halwa made with full cream milk, lots of ghee or clarified butter, khoya or dried milk and fry fruits. Grated carrots cooked with full cream milk till dried up. Then cooked again with lots of ghee and khoya. Yes this halwa must be mouthwatering. But what about diabetic and diet conscious people?
So here is a gajar halwa recipe for diet conscious people.
Its made with toned milk and sweetened with dates and raisins. I have added khoya or dried milk in it which is also made of toned milk. Get the homemade khoya recipe here.
I have used only 1/2 teaspoon ghee or clarified butter for flavour. You can omit it or add more ghee for taste. Choice is yours.
Dates are small and sweet fruits and have a surprisingly low glycemic index. Studies have been done to determine the effects of consuming dates on blood sugar levels. They concluded that eating dates does not cause a spike in the blood glucose levels.
In fact, they are extremely healthy – packed with an array of vital nutrients.
Apart from containing a high amount of fructose, they also contain an opulence of fiber and nutrients like vitamins A, K, and B-complex, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. The presence of these nutrients in dates helps prevent constipation, heart diseases, intestinal problems, anemia, and diarrhea, among other conditions
Source
Enjoy this winter delicacy but diabetic patients should eat once in a day. Its necessary to eat a balanced diet and just moderate your intake.
You have to make it in a similar way of normal gajar halwa. Just replace sugar with dates and raisins. And use low fat or toned milk to make it. Believe me taste is too good just like with sugar gajar halwa. And its low calorie. So enjoy this gajar halwa without any guilt.
Recipe
Gajar or carrot – 1/2 kg
Toned milk – 3 cup
Dates – 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoon, finely chopped
Raisins – 3 tablespoon
Dry roasted almonds – 2 tablespoon, sliced
Khoya or dried milk – 1/3 cup
Ghee or clarified butter – 1/2 to 1 teaspoon, optional
Cardamom powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Fried cashews and sliced almonds to garnish
Method
1. Wash, peel and grate the carrots. Clean and soak the raisins in little water.
2. Mix milk, chopped dates and grated carrots in a heavy bottom or nonstick pan or wok.
3. Cook till milk reduces to half. Stir occasionally.
4. Add raisins and cook till the halwa dried up.
5. Now add ghee, khoya or dried milk, and dry roasted and sliced almonds. Get the recipe of khoya here.
You can add 1 – 2 tablespoon or more ghee if you want. I have added only half teaspoon for flavour. Or you can skip ghee of you are on a restricted diet.
6. Fry the mixture well till dried up completely and colour changed. Add cardamom powder and mix well.
7. Garnish with almond slices and fried cashew nuts.
8. Serve hot or cold. Or keep in refrigerator for later. You can refrigerate it for 8 – 10 days.
Happy cooking. Be healthy be happy 😊
Notes
1. You can use full cream milk if you like.
2. Add any dry fruits of your choice.
3. If you don’t have khoya or dried milk, skip it and increase the amount of milk.
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