Cook with Compassion: Carrot Kheer

I first met Jayaseelan, or Justin to us Yanks, on his third day of work with Compassion India*.

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.

View a larger image of the ingredient list

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!

*NOTE FROM EDITOR: This content honors Compassion’s historical work in India. While we no longer have an India sponsorship program, we are grateful for the lives changed and meaningful work achieved through our sponsors and donors in our nearly 50 years there. For a detailed explanation of the end of our sponsorship program in India, please visit: compassion.com/india-update.