I first met Jayaseelan, or Justin to us Yanks, on his third day of work with the ministry.

He had just started the job and was immediately thrown into a two-week video/photo trip working crazy hours and driving across his very large country of India. But he was a trooper and a gracious host.

I remember his mother-in-law gave us the most delicious chapattis — Indian flatbread — I’ve ever had. And that’s why I decided to make this recipe. I figure if Justin’s mom-in-law makes delicious chapattis, then Justin must make a delicious carrot milkshake. (I never did take logic in college.)

That’s Justin in the photo above. Don’t be fooled by that mild-mannered exterior. He’s an expert with a water gun.

^[3]View a larger image of the ingredient list ^[3]

For this recipe, all I had to buy was carrots and saffron.

That is until I got to the store and saw that roughly 10 saffron threads cost $17.99. Then I decided authenticity was overrated and cut the saffron.

First, I got my arm workout for the day by grating the carrots. If you have a Cuisinart, use it.

Next, I didn’t have a pressure cooker as the recipe called for, so I steamed the carrots in my rice maker. I subsequently burned my hand taking the lid off said rice steamer. Ouch!

Meanwhile, I boiled the milk and then added the sugar. 1 liter of milk is about 4 1/4 cups and 1/4 kg of sugar is about 1 cup.

After the carrots were steamed, I tried grinding them in my blender, but they didn’t get fine enough. So I added the carrots to the milk and used an immersion blender to get it to the consistency I wanted.

This worked perfectly, but I suspect a food mill would work too.

The recipe called for a “few cardamom,” which I assume means a few cardamom pods. I only had ground cardamom, so I added about 2 pinches for a half recipe.

I heated this all to boiling and then put it in the fridge to chill.

The verdict? Delicious!

I loved the texture and consistency of it – so smooth and frothy, as if there were ice cream in it. The two pinches of cardamom were just right, though I wish I could taste it with that expensive saffron, too.

It has a lot of sugar, but I figure the carrots even the score to make this a healthy treat.

My only complaint is that between the rice steamer, the blender, the pot, the bowl and the immersion blender, I now have a ton of dishes to do.

Thanks for the treat, Justin!