Rima Pathak Rosa

Layered Carrot and Almond Barfi

The crisp chill of autumn makes me nostalgic; it takes me back to Dussehra and Diwali season when the sound of devotional music, chaos of giddily merry shoppers and aroma of deliciously aromatic street treats fill the autumn air. Gifts abundant and studying rare, it is the time of the year eagerly awaited by kids and grownups alike. And, unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of delicious food, some home-cooked, some procured from the many food-stalls that dot the streets with their best fares. With a variety of sweet and savoury treats on offer, one is truly spoilt for choice and among all things eaten with gusto, would be a big thali of assorted sweets that are beautifully perfumed with heady spices and ghee and enjoyed enthusiastically with milky masala chai and as dessert to mark the end of every meal that is complete with curries, biryanis, parathas, kebabs and many such divine delights. It’s truly the most festive and happy time of the year; much like Christmas for us Indians. Among all the lovely things that my mom would make to mark this festive and auspicious time of the year, Badam (Almond) barfi and Gaajar (carrot) Halwa hold a special place in my heart. Subtly sweet and wonderfully aromatic, I would eat loads of them and often quite messily. I would crumble a barfi into a bowl of halwa and tuck in gleefully as my mom would half-heartedly reprimand me for being such a messy little kid while smiling kindly. Strange and messy as it was, the combination, in my opinion, is divine. And, now, as I live oceans away from India and my mom, I have made a ritual of making my layered Badam (Almond) and Gaajar (carrot) Barfi during Dussehra and Diwali to celebrate beautiful memories of my childhood. Here, in London, there is no sound of devotional music, no chaos of giddily merry shoppers and no aroma of deliciously aromatic street treats emanating from food-stalls but there is joy in my heart as my home fills with the familiarly festive aroma of saffron and cardamom as they perfume these barfi that brings two of my favourite autumn treats into a neat little bite.