Carrot Cake with an Indian Flavor

"A characteristic sweet of southern India is carrot halvah, a rich, sweet reduction of carrots and spices that is almost fudgelike in consistency. This cake falls somewhere between this traditional treat and the popular American carrot cake. It has a dense texture and the unexpected flavor of cardamom, yet doesn't require the tedious cooking and stirring of a halvah.

"Special Indian dishes are often decorated with silver foil — a microscopic thin sheet of edible, flavorless real silver, available in Indian groceries. We have cut edible foil into decorative shapes — a tedious business that must be done in a completely draftless room -- but more manageable solid toppings are customary.

"Serve this nontraditonal ending to your Indian meal with coffee that has been brewed with a few cardamom seeds."

Rub a round cake pan that is 9 inches in diameter and 1-½ inches in height with the vegetable oil and then dust it very lightly with flour. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Sift 1 cup flour with the baking soda and salt.

Beat the eggs well in a large bowl. Add the cardamom, sugar, and clarified butter. Keep beating until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Add the sifted flour mixture to the ingredients in the large bowl and fold it in gently with a spatula. Add the carrots, pistachios, almonds, and raisins. Fold them in gently as well.

Turn the cake batter into the oiled and floured cake pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden red. Decorate top iwth edible silver foil.

Your Carrot Cake with an Indian Flavor is ready. Good luck!