Published as a guest post on Great British Chef's website : Beetroot Halva

This recipe was also published on the Great British Chef's websiteLovely week - all vegetarian and very foodie! I was a finalist in Vegetarian Cookery School's Best veggie breakfast competition with my tradition Pakistani breakfast with my own twists...l!!!  The highlight of the week was a lovely trip to my favourite UK city Bath to attend Rose Elliot's cookery class at the Vegetarian Cookery School in Bath. A great way to spend a day in the  National Vegetarian Week. The class was inspirational and educational and of course delicious, Rose Elliot is a pleasure to be around and to learn from. The Cookery School too is always inspirational and I can not wait to teach my Autumnal Pakistani Feast - teach foodies Pakistani food, vegetarian style! And no trip to Bath is complete without a stop at the gorgeous relaxing Thermae Bath Spa - in and out  four aromatherapy steam rooms and natural thermal heated pools left me really to eat more and feeling rather air-headed....More food: Next it was dinner at Demuth's which was outstanding, The  great thing was that I got to spend the night there and actually met up with some wonderful twitter friends namely Simi of Simi's Kitchen, a foodie extraordinaire. - dinner with her and her lovely friend's was magical.  I am really blessed to have found such great friends through social media, who would have thought.Back to food and speaking of vegetables and my week of eating them, I spend a lot of time thinking about how much I grew up loving them. There was nothing my family couldn't conjure up an amazing dish from any obscure vegetable. We had turnip kebabs, okra pullao, lentils mixed with nearly every veg and meats mixed in too. Really I think the cross of Lucknowi genes and Punjabi ones has lead me to be quite the eclectic Pakistani when it comes to creating uses for all vegetables whether it be in sweet or savory dishes. My mother loved making a classic Pakistani dessert recipe, the Gajar (carrot) halva. Of course, as my mum is never satisfied with regular recipes, shes sought to make her's with full cream and very little milk. Mostly it is made with milk and then khoya is added in the end. The fact that khoya is not something you'd want to prepare at home the use of cream helps create the richness a halva is known for. I have used the recipe of my mum's carrot (Kajar) halva and substituted it with my favourite earthy veg, Beetroot. A vegetable dismissed for being too healthy, too boring. Really it is much more that that. A vibrant bold root with the earthiness of the soil - like as if it was created from earth itself. Richness of colour, a vegetable that can be eaten completely. No waste at all. I love this root and here is a recipe I created from using my mother's carrot halva and my adoration for the strong rich bulb.Serves about 8-10 people, take about 45 minutes to and hour to prepare and cook.500 g beetroot, peeled and grated400 ml double cream100 ml fresh milk100 g caster sugar1 tsp cardamom seeds1 tsp clovesDecorate: with some chopped pistachios, freshly ground cardamom and silver leafMethod:1. Boil the milk and cream together, add the grated beetroot, cloves and cardamom seeds. Cook on low heat and keep stirring occasionally and keep an eye on the pan. Cook this until the milk/cream gets absorbed into the beetroot mixture (takes about 25-30 minutes on medium low heat). Now add the sugar and keep stirring until it is all mixed in well2. Once the halva is thick, deep red and all the cream/milk and sugar is absorbed, pour into a serving dish, decorate and either serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream or serve cold with some delicious hot masala chai!