Gajar Kheer | Carrot Payasam | Carrot Pudding

Kheer / Payasam needs no special introduction .Almost every Indian meal, be it South Indian or North Indian has a kheer or payasam in the menu . The list is endless when we consider the varities of Kheer or Payasams that are dished out in our country . We are experts in making kheer/pudding with all possible ingredients that blend with regular milk or coconut milk and sugar or jaggery.

Carrot payasam,is a very healthy variant of payasam/kheer/pudding made using fresh carrots. This payasam uses very little sugar as the carrots are naturally sweet and just a teaspoon of ghee for garnish which is also optional .

I generally make this gajar kheer when the spread is very heavy and this balances the dessert segment without much added sweetener or ghee.
This paysam can be made for any get togethers,,festivals or even as Prasad during Navratri,Gokulashtami etc

You can either use the orange ooty carrots or the Delhi Laal Gajar for making this payasam . Just before you cook the  carrots ensure that the carrots are washed well and peeled thoroughly. 

Classic Recipes using Carrot on my blog 

Carrot Pumpkin Soup
Carrot Rice 
Carrot Sambol (Srilankan recipe)
Carrot Kosambri 
Carrot Halwa

Preparation Time : 5-10 mins
Cooking Time : 20-25 mins
Serves : 3-4
Complexity : Simple

Ingredients
3-4 medium sized carrots - peeled and cut into halves
4-5 cashews/kaju/mindhiri paruppu (optional)
2 cups of milk ( 350-400 ml approx)
2-3 tablespoon sugar (adjust depending upon sweetness of carrot)
pistachios finely chopped
1 tsp elaichi powder
2-3 tsp fresh grated coconut.
1 tsp ghee

Method

Pressure cook the carrots and cashews in 1/2 cup milk  and cool for a while.

In a blender ,add the cooked carrots with milk,sugar,grated coconut and blend finely until its smooth and creamy.

You may add a little milk incase you find it difficult to blend.

Transfer the carrot mixture into a big vessel,add the remaining milk and mix well and simmer it on low flame until the mild raw flavor of the carrots are lost totally and you get a nice aroma.

Add the cardamom powder at this stage ,mix well and turn off.

Roast the pistachios in ghee and add it to  the payasam. 

You may serve this warm or chilled. I personally like it chilled as its very flavourful.

Note : You may substitute jaggery for sugar . Adjust the quantity of jaggery depending on  jaggery 's sweetness. 

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This post was originally published in March 2017 with some really amateur clicks when I did not know much about food styling and photography.  Today (1/10/2022) as part of the Foodies_Redoingoldposts  group activity, I got the opportunity to click some decent photos of the recipe and also update the write up . Hope you all enjoy reading and viewing the modified content. 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#74