Gajar Ka Halwa Recipe

Gajar Ka Halwa also known as Carrot Halwa is one of the most popular Indian desserts and is a delight during the winter months. It is specifically prepared during special occasions such as marriages, parties and festivals. A properly cooked Gajar Ka Halwa takes sometime to cook but the dish is worth the wait.

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Dessert, Food Recipes, Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 1 30

Total Time: 1 40

Servings:

Calories: 300kcal

Author: Meenu

Ingredients

Main Ingredients for Gajar Ka Halwa

750 g Carrot Gajar
1.5 l Whole Milk
12 tbsp Sugar Cheeni
15 g Cashew Kaju
10 g Almond Badam
10 g Raisin Kishmish
10 g Pistachio Pista
½ tsp Cardamom powder Elaichi powder
3 tbsp Clarified Butter Ghee

Optional Ingredients for Gajar Ka Halwa

100 g Mawa / Khoa / Khoya Optional

Instructions

Preparation Steps to make Gajar Ka Halwa

Pour milk in a clean utensil with thick base (else halwa may stick easily while preparing and ruin your dish) and put it on gas.
1.5 l Whole Milk
Finely grate carrots using grater in a separate utensil and wait for the milk to boil.
750 g Carrot
Slice / chop Cashew, Almond and Pistachios into small pieces.
15 g Cashew, 10 g Almond, 10 g Pistachio

How to make Gajar Ka Halwa

To make Gajar ka Halwa, once you are done with the preparation steps and the milk starts boiling, add grated Carrots to it and stir it to mix it well.
Make the gas simmer so that Gajar Ka Halwa cooks slowly. Keep stirring the halwa in sometime - usually 7 - 10 mins. This will ensure that Gajar Ka Halwa does not stick to the base of utensil.
While cooking you may see thin milk cream crust getting formed on the sides of the utensil. Use spatula to gently scrub it off and add it to the halwa. Let it cook and repeat this as and when enough crust is formed. This will make halwa thicker.
Once the milk will reduce to 1/4th and become thick it is time to add Sugar. Stir it well and cook it for 5 mins.
12 tbsp Sugar
Now it is time to add Clarified butter. Add Clarified butter to halwa and stir it to mix it well. Let it cook for another 10 - 15 mins.
3 tbsp Clarified Butter
If you would like to make more thicker and granular Gajar Halwa you may want to add Mawa. This is an optional ingredient and may give slightly different texture and taste to the dish. If you want to add Mawa then now is the time to add it. Before adding Mawa, first grate it and then add it to the halwa.
100 g Mawa / Khoa / Khoya
Now add Cashew, Almonds, Raisin, Pistachio and Cardamom powder to Gajar Ka Halwa.
15 g Cashew, 10 g Almond, 10 g Raisin, ½ tsp Cardamom powder, 10 g Pistachio
Stir Gajar Ka Halwa well so that the nuts mix properly and wait till the time there is very less milk left in the pan. Don't let all the milk evaporate else the halwa will be very dry and will not taste good.
Your Gajar Ka Halwa is now ready so turn off the flame. Sweet! Well, that is all you need to make Gajar Ka Halwa.

Notes

You can use skimmed milk to reduce calories especially if you are weight conscious
If you are Diabetic and still want to enjoy this dish you can use sweetener in place of Sugar however you may want to still take it in small quantity
If you are allergic to nuts you can either remove them completely or only use raisin
We did not use Mawa/Khoya in our recipe as it is an optional ingredient. If you use good quantity of milk, Mawa is optional.
We used fine granulated Sugar which gets mixed easily so you should ensure Sugar mixes well based on which type of Sugar is available to you.
Ensure you use fresh sweet Carrots to cook the dish.
The colour of this dish depends on the colour of Carrot used to cook the dish. We had Orange Carrots available and used it make the dessert. Usually in Indian sub-continent you get Red Carrots.
You can easily store halwa for 1 week in refrigerator.
This is a winter dessert as you will have access to good sweet carrots during the season.

Nutrition

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