recipe of gajar ka murabba | candied carrots with clotted cream

Gajar ka murabba is an age old recipe that was popular in many parts of north India. Peeled whole carrots were cooked with a jaggery syrup till it gets nicely candied and then was served warm with fresh cream or malai.

Serving this gajar ka murabba with fresh cream or malai was an urban practice I hear. In rural areas whole carrots were skewered on bamboo sticks and were lowered into the huge kadhais in which the jaggery was made, after harvest of sugarcane crop.

So gur ki kadhai wala gajar ka murabba used to be a special candy that people would enjoy outdoors. Raw papaya was also candied in the same manner and I have heard these stories from friends belonging to Punjab, west UP and even north Bihar. No wonder everyone wanted to recreate that jaggery candied version of gajar ka murabba in their urban kitchens and the malai topping would be a natural thing in the plated version.

The caortenes of carrots and malai make a great food combination that facilitates nutrient absorption better. So here comes a dessert which is absolutely healthy and is absolutely a traditional dessert I must add.

Murabba generally is a sweet preserve of a fruit and is Indian version of soft candied fruit, the murabba can be made to look like a dry candy when it is made with higher amount of sugar, or it may be made like a chunky jam.

Many fruits are traditionally preserved to make murabba, amle ka murabba is the most common I have seen personally (my dad used to force us to eat the murabba, made in huge quantities every year), seb ka murabba, karonde ka murabba, bel ka murabba (my dad could not succeed in his attempts to make us eat this one), ananas ka murabba and so on ....

Basically any fruit can be preserved like a murabba (some of them having huge health benefits like amla and bel ka murabba). Some murabbas like this aam ka chhunda is used like a sweet chutney or a spread...

Carrots is a less preferred choice to be made into a murabba that stays for the whole year, but it is considered very healthy (tonic food) in winters It is best to be made in season I think and I always prefer making it in jaggery to get maximum flavors  and to make it differently flavored than gajar ka halwa, as we mostly have it with a topping of malai. It can be served without cream too.

Carrot murabba is also considered very healthy and healing food when taken with milk for breakfast, some cereal can be conveniently added to it for good reasons. Here I have made it like a dessert, which is very different from gajar ka halwa.

Traditionally, whole carrots are peeled, forked and cooked in jaggery or sugar syrup till the syrup becomes frothy with bubbles and the carrots look shiny and glazed nicely (600-700gm sugar / jaggery per kilo of carrots). After cooling, the carrot murabba is kept in airtight jars. The murabba can be spiced with cardamom, nutmeg or cinnamon etc according to your choice....


In my instant version, carrot slices are microwaved with crumbled jaggery to make a murabba and then it is served with a topping of homemade malai. I still prefer home made malai because it is fresh and you get more flavor for traditional preparations. Of course you can use fresh cream from a tetra pack if you don't get home made malai but I strongly recommend malai for this.

Microwave carrot murabba recipe

ingredients...
 (for two servings)

2 large carrots sliced obliquely to get large slices (about 500 gm)
1/4 cup of crumbled jaggery (more or less according to choice)
fresh cream or malai to serve 2 tbsp
chopped nuts a handful
candied ginger (optional) one slice

procedure...

Place the carrot slices in a large ceramic bowl, cover with the crushed jaggery and microwave for 2 minutes, it gets syrupy as the water from carrot slices is drawn out , stir and microwave again for 1-2 minutes. The jaggery syrup should froth into bubbles when you see it cooking. At this stage the carrot slices become almost candied and leathery, giving a nice bite ...

If you want them softer, you can cook just for 2 minutes and serve after cooling. But if cooked for longer and till the syrup is frothy and the carrots are leathery, it can be preserved and is more flavorful, as is seen in the right side picture.......

Cool and serve with a topping of malai and chopped nuts. I had some wonderful candied ginger so that was also chopped and topped onto it :)

The carrots slices get a good bite after being cooked in a thick syrup, as no water is added and the syrup is formed from the water released by carrots.

Pan cooked carrot murabba 

 Chop the carrots in 3-4 pieces as per choice and cook with jaggery and some water in low flame. The carrots release their own water and get cooked slowly into shiny candied chunks of deliciousness. The quantities will remain the same as the microwave recipe but you need to add a little water in this case, this quantity takes about 15 minutes on very low flame. 

The jaggery gives it a depth in flavor, the cream makes it so melt in the mouth when you are biting into the candied carrot slices, nuts give it additional texture and the candied ginger bits lend a burst of another deep flavor to it....

I got this wonderful candied ginger from a Uttarakhand stall at trade fair this season, it's so good I can't stop using it in my cooking. In the picture it is below the packet of black currants , those white roundels.

Apart from these candied ginger I bought a lot of sTuff  from trade fair, from stalls of different states. I got black currants, banana chips, methi khakhra, walnuts, cashews with skin on (not in the picture) and that place mat made of palm wood which I have been using since then for my photos....

Delhi international trade fair is a great place to go to when you want to buy authentic stuff form the artisans themselves, apart from these food items I bought a lot of kantha work kurtas, some kalamkari and ikat fabric etc. etc.

India International Trade Fair is a great place to be if you are interested in the traditional arts and crafts of India and some other participating countries. I get my green tea, filter coffee, coconut milk powder from Tea, Coffee and Coconut Boards of India stalls respectively. Getting the real stuff is so easy there, and you can get all types of fruit preserves, achars, spices and murabba too.

But you wont get gajar ka murabba anywhere as much I know. You have to make it at home and you must I suggest. It is tastier than you think and a very convenient quick dessert for family. 

gajar ka halwa

Gajar ka halwa or Gajrela was made several times at home and I think this was one of the most frequent dessert during winters. Though my mother was very fond of khuskhus ka halwa and mewe ka halwa so those were also made but gajrela was always made in large batches and we used to eat it at room temperature mostly. Probably because that was not the age of microwave ovens to reheat food within seconds.

 Hot gajar ka halwa was served in parties or at sweet shops. 

There are so many sweets available in Banaras that one gets disillusioned after entering a sweet shop. Honestly speaking I had never seen so many varieties of sweets when we were in Chandigarh, the only time we used to see and eat sweets used to be the family weddings.

In the earlier days sweets were made in huge quantities during weddings and since the celebrations and rituals used to last 4-5 days there was a constant making of sweets in one portion of our grandparents' house. Everyday there would be a new set of sweets for guests, it was an integral part of khatirdari (welcome).

During these family weddings pani pilana or offering water to someone always accompanied a plate of 4-5 different sweets served on a terracotta platter or a leaf dona. Such was the tradition of sweets or mithai that you never offered water to someone without some mithai. I remember sitting by the halwais as a little girl and watching how they made those sweets. Even in those days I couldn't eat mithais but watching them make trays and trays full of mithais used to entertain me or may be I used to entertain those mithai makers too.

Every season has it's own special sweet, winters bring the gond and dry fruit laddus, kaju katli, badam katli, patisa etc, while the summer sweets are lighter chhena sweets like cold rasmalai, rasgulla and sandesh etc. Of course there were loads of all season mithais too.

In winters gajar ka halwa is a common sight on the display of sweet shops in Banaras, and in many other old cities, usually laden with dry fruits, khoya and a layer of ghee making it look glazed. Gajar ka halwa is mostly served hot so some of the chaat bhandars of Banaras do a brisk sale of gajar ka halwa during winters.

I make it lighter at home, with a little little lesser khoya so that the taste and color of red carrots is more prominent. I don't want to drown the flavour of carrots in khoya.

ingredients

carrots- peeled and grated 1 kg
sugar 200 gm or according to taste
full cream milk 2 kg (or 1 kg milk and 100 gm khoya)
chopped nuts as required

preparation

In a large thick bottomed pan boil the milk and keep stirring till it reduces to half, add the grated carrots and keep cooking on low flame, stirring in between till it becomes dry and collects in the middle of pan.

Add sugar, green cardamom powder can be added too, I don't add it because I like carrot's own flavor more. It will become a bit watery after adding sugar but keep cooking till carrot shreds appear shining and glazed. It is cooked now. Add a tbsp ghee and bhuno for a few minutes to make the halwa sondha.

If using khoya, add the khoya along with sugar and bhuno till the halwa looks glazed and danedaar (granular) khoya looks interspersed with carrot shreds.

Garnish with chopped nuts and serve hot or at room temperature. It can be stored in the fridge for a fortnight.