Welcome winter with this gajar ka halwa recipe
I was eyeing the halwa from afar and made my way to the table.
Amrita looked at me and said, “Legend has it that the Sikhs from Punjab introduced the carrot halwa to the house of the Mughals. The emperors enjoyed its vibrant colour, flowery aroma, and slightly chewy texture and it gained popularity far and wide spreading sweetness throughout the empire. So, technically, since it was my ancestors who introduced carrot halwa to the world, I will share some with you.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“My grandfather, some centuries earlier, was a cook in the royal kitchens of the Emperor Akbar, and sweet delicious carrot halwa is his genius. The Mughal Empire was at its zenith, a dynasty that was splendid and modern, and looking for trade with the rest of the world,” declared Amrita emphatically. "The orange carrot had already spread far and wide to Europe, the Middle East and South Asia with the advent of the Dutch East India Company to the subcontinent in the 17th century. That’s when my ancestor developed sweet carrot halwa in the kitchens of Akbar the Great," she added.