Gajrela

It’s straight gajrela dreams here. Fall or winter, you need this delectable delight.

Creamy, fresh, warm, and sweet, gajrela is the best dessert you could ask for. It’s a bit time consuming but well worth the effort. I find that there are certain foods that are easy to describe and others that are so simple that it’s nearly impossible to capture them in entirety, this is one of those dishes. Just a few simple ingredients, butter, carrots, milk, sugar, cardamom, and almonds, yet together it’s the perfect melange of flavors, textures, and sentiment.

Gajrela is the quintessential Punjabi dessert, right up their with besan de laddoo and kheer (yes, they’re both ours, so piss off naysayers). Picture the scene, without the disgusting pollution and inversion, a brisk 10 degree (yes, Celsius) day, the smell of cardamom, sugar, and milk, wafting through the house, hot tea, and warm beautifully embroidered pashmina shawls. With a bit of bird hunting on the side, but that seems non-nice, so I’ll leave it out. Winter is a great time in Punjab. The heat is finally gone, there’s a slew of holidays – which always means loads of food, lots of joy to go around, and people dressed up. It’s a fine time to be alive.

Nothing too perilous here, just follow the recipe, stir often, and it’ll be delicious. Off you go my pet, eat well and make merry.

Love dessert as much as we do? Try these:

Gajrela

Course: DessertCuisine: PunjabiDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

15

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp butter

• 2 1/2 lbs carrots, grated coarsely

• 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste

• 6 cups whole milk

• 2 tsp cardamom, powdered

• 1/4 cup slivered almonds

• pistachios, to garnish

Equipment/Specialty Items

• OXO Good Grips Box GraterBox Grater
• Green CardamomGreen Cardamom

Directions

• In a large pot melt butter over low heat.
• Add carrots and saute for 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
• Add in milk and cardamom. Bring to a simmer, over low heat, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally to ensure the milk doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Once the milk has reduced by approximately 75% (approximately 1 hr), stir in sugar and continue to cook until the pudding reaches desired consistency. I prefer mine to be stiffer like a rice pudding but it’s up to you. Don’t forget to stir occasionally to ensure the milk doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Once desired consistency is reached, stir in almonds and cook for 3 minutes.
• Garnish with pistachios and serve or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

• Gajrela can be served warm or cold. To reheat just pop it in the microwave for a minute.
• You can keep this in the fridge for up to one week.

Nutrition Facts

• Total number of serves: 8
• Calories: 559kcal
• Carbohydrates: 36.8g
• Protein: 6.5g
• Fat: 46.3g
• Saturated Fat: 27.4g
• Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g
• Monounsaturated Fat: 0g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Cholesterol: 115mg
• Sodium: 344mg
• Potassium: 522mg
• Fiber: 8.2g
• Sugar: 18.2g
• Calcium: 211mg
• Iron: 4mg

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