Carrot Halwa Cheesecake - No Bake

The long weekend has heralded a hopefully long winter in Dubai. The winds are chilly and my hands are invariably reaching out to the woolens. The sky is clear and occasional clouds pass by as I look up and pray that at least one would sprinkle showers as they go by. I have not been that lucky yet! It is that time of the year when we reach out to those soothing hot drinks and soups. Yet the crazy part in each of us would want to grab hold of an ice cream or something chilled. ( although the angel in your head would speak of possibilities of falling sick - the devil in you doesn't care)

The call for making a cheesecake has been there since the last mango season. The season passed by and no cheesecake was made. While discussing the menu for Christmas, Shibin was quick to suggest a cheesecake and since mango is not in season now, I was left pondering on the flavor. I was quickly taken back to one of the episodes of Dhe Chef - a Malayalam channel cooking reality show where one of the contestants happened to make a carrot halwa cheese cake.  So there it was done!!

The cream cheese I have used is homemade - I picked up the recipe from the blog - Sharmispassion . I increased the quantity of lime juice added to 3 tbsp as against the 1.5 mentioned in the blog to get the desired consistency. Why do you need to buy cream cheese, if you can make it at home!! It is cheaper and not so tedious. Head over to her blog, if you want to give it a shot and below is my cheesecake recipe.

Ingredients

For Carrot Halwa

1. Carrot - 1 and half cup grated
2. Sweetened condensed milk - 100 ml
3. White sugar - 2 tbsp
4. Ghee - 4 tbsp

For cheesecake

1. Digestive Biscuit - 8 -10
2. Butter - 3 tbsp melted
3. Cream cheese - 1 cup
4. Thick cream - 1/3 cup
5. Sugar -1/4 cup powdered
6. Rose essence - 1 tsp
7. Salt - 1 pinch

Method

Carrot Halwa

• Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a saucepan and add the grated carrot. 
• Add the condensed milk and combine. Let it simmer on low flame till the raw taste of the carrot goes and the milk content reduces by 80%.
• Add sugar and remaining ghee. Stir till it combines well and the moisture content dries up.
• Set aside to cool

Cheesecake

• Put the digestive biscuits into a ziploc bag and crush it using a rolling pin till coarse
• Combine this with melted ghee. Layer the bottom of 4 glasses with this mixture and press down using spoon. Let it refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Whisk the thick cream until peak is formed. Add in the cream cheese and combine well.
• Add in the sugar, salt and the essence and combine.
• Add about 3 tbsp of the carrot halwa to the cheese mixture and fold this in.
• Scoop spoonfuls of the cheese mixture into the glasses. Gently tap down the glass on tea towel to level the cheese layer.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Finally, top the cheesecake with carrot halwa and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
• Serve chilled.