Tarts – the little containers for desserts are by themselves great to taste. This egg-free version of tart, is made up of the simplest ingredients like flour, butter, water, sugar and salt. This is a miniature version of the tarts which is otherwise referred to as tartlets.

 

Carrot Halwa –  This is a traditional sweet dessert prepared largely in the Northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, mainly during the winters. There are different ways to prepare the same sweet.  Few prefer to use khoya, few prefer to use milk / condensed milk whereas few prefer to keep it vegan. I remember my days in Kanpur wherein during winters, the bright red fresh Delhi carrots were available for throw away prices and this used to be our favourite pick from the weekly market. Back home, my mom used to prepare this amazing dessert, in her own style, which I shall share at a later point in time!!!

You need not necessarily have Delhi carrots to prepare this dessert. You can pick any carrots available in the local market. But yes, make sure that the carrots are fresh and tender.

Tarts normally serve as a pastry base for fruits or custards or creams or jams or any other topping of your liking. I thought, why not Carrot Halwa!

Yup ! they both gel well together. Why don’t you give it a try ?

Quick Video :

 

Tart (Without tart mould) (Eggless tarts):

Preparation time: 5 + 20 minutes

Baking time: 15 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

Servings: 24 tarts

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour: 1 3/4th cup

Butter: 3/4th cup

Salt: 1 tsp.

Sugar: 1 tsp.

Ice cold water: 4 tbsp.

Method:

• In a bowl add the all-purpose flour, butter, salt and sugar and mix well till crumbles are formed

• Now add the ice cold water slowly and knead gently. Add the water in installments as you proceed with the kneading

• Refrigerate it for 20 minutes

• Remove the dough bowl from the refrigerator and knead again

• Make small balls and flatten it using a rolling pin. Using any round shaped mould, mark the edges and remove . Place the flatted dough in the muffin tray or if you have a tart mould, place inside it. Do ensure to prick it using a fork or a tooth pick before putting the trays in the Bake oven

• Bake in a preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 200 deg Celsius

• Once baked, remove the tarts out and let it cool

• You can relish tart with jam or cream or any fruit or confectioneries. It tastes heavenly with the Carrot Halwa. Do try it out !!!

Carrot Halwa:

Preparation time : 10 minutes

Cooking time : 45 minutes

Total time : 55 minutes

Ingredients:

Grated Carrot: 5 cups (I used about 15 small sized carrots here)

Milk: 1.5 cups (Full fat milk will be a better option)

Sugar: 2 cups

Cardamom: 8

Cashew: Few

Raisins: Few

Sliced Almonds: Few

Salt: A pinch

Ghee: 5 tbsp.

Method:

• In a heavy bottomed pan, take 2 tbsp. of ghee and fry the dry fruits until golden brown and keep aside

• In the same pan, add the grated carrot and on medium flame, fry the carrot till the water evaporates (On medium flame, it takes about 7 to 8 minutes)

• Add about 1.5 cups of milk to it and continue cooking on medium flame for about 15 to 20 minutes. The carrot cooked in milk leaves a great taste in the mouth! The milk reduces and the halwa starts to thicken. This is when you have to proceed with the next step

• Add sugar and mix well. Let it cook on medium flame for another 10 minutes

• Add little ghee, cardamom, ghee roasted dry fruits and a pinch of salt. Mix well. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes

• Transfer the contents to a serving bowl and keep aside
• You may even relish the dessert hot as is or with ice cream or now, with tarts !!!

Carrot Halwa tart :

 

Method :

• In a spoon scoup out a small amount of carrot halwa and fill it inside the baked tart

• Garnish it with chopped almonds or any dry fruits of your choice and serve it fresh !!!

Note :

• Carrot halwa can be stored and consumed for upto a week and if you refrigerate it, even more !!!
• You can save the baked tarts in an air tight container and relish it for upto 2 weeks.
• You may even freeze the dough for upto 3 to 4 weeks and use it to prepare the tarts freshly as and when required
• Do ensure that the water used is ice cold. One of the main ingredients in the preparation of the Eggless tart is the butter. If the water used in kneading the dough isn’t ice cold, the inherent butter melts making the dough stickier and hard to roll
• Using sieved flour gives the desired texture to the tart
• I have not greased the moulds before placing the rolled tart sheet. You may opt to, if it is required in the mould that you use

Carrot halwa tart stories :

Back in Germany, Fasching is a very colourful festival. It is basically a German style Carnival. Even in the peak cold winter, you will find people dressed in the most scariest or the funniest of the clothing leading colourful parades and processions with music, dance, celebrations and fun. There is no fixed day of celebration for this festival as per my understanding. I see these celebrations starting in various places as early as January and goes on until the Easters. I had been to one such celebration with a local friend of mine here and as part of our discussion I happened to ask her about this festival. She said that this festival was in a way to bid the winter good bye and welcome the spring. In few places, it also symbolises driving away the evil spirits. That’s why the scary masks are worn !!!

Well, in my daughter’s kindergarten, they had celebrated this for a week – Fasching week. As part of this, my daughter too dressed up differently – once as a bunny and most of the times – as princess, as she preferred being one, wearing the gown, crown and other related accessories !!!

As part of the event, the kindergarten had organised a buffet on one of the days wherein the parents could contribute with any dish. Generally, Germans don’t prefer spicier food. And so, the best bet for me was to prepare some dessert. Preparing something that they are familiar with was the next best thing to do as they too would be aware of what they are eating without many surprises!!! Now, I also wanted to give an Indian touch to it. What better could I think of than the fusion of tart with Indian Carrot Halwa !!! Yes, it was liked and appreciated by all. My daughter was pleasantly surprised on being told that this time she could eat the halwa along with the cup!!! And she went around telling the same to her friends too !!!