Nothing can match the popularity of Gajar ka Halwa. The transition of the carrot halwafrom an uncommon, exotic dish to a regular winter dish for the masses is a fascinating story. Orange carrots, apparently, did not come about till the 17th century, when, as the story goes, Dutch horticulturalists developed the strain to honour William of Orange.
Before that carrots, indigenous to Afghanistan, were purple in colour, also red and yellow. The orange carrot apparently (and quite naturally) became a trendy, pretty food, and sweeter too. As it began trending in Europe, it was inevitable that some of it also found its way to Mughal India through trade with the Dutch. It began to be grown in Punjab as a winter harvest, and as cooks experimented, the popularity of Gajar ka Halwa was hard to match.
It inspires much passion and nostalgia till today. At Gaggan's Bangkok, one of the most interesting desserts is a pretty flower, which reveals itself as a granny's Gajar ka Halwa when you bite into the petals.
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