Gajar Ka Halwa | Carrot Halwa | Carrot Pudding
Gajar ka halwa is a special Indian dessert, it is a North Indian delicacy, mainly Punjab but is popular in all parts of India. Today it is a well known sweet dish around the globe. Gajar means carrot, and halwa means pudding. Carrot halwa is a common dessert served during special occasions, festivals, or get-togethers in India. And North Indians welcome the winters with this delightful dish.
Gajar ka halwa is made with carrots, ghee, sugar, dry fruits, and a generous amount of condensed milk (Khowa). If you do not have condensed milk, you can use regular milk as I did in this recipe. The presence of ghee makes it taste delicious, as the carrots blend with ghee and release its juice. It takes time to prepare this awesome dessert as you need to keep stirring the carrots continuously until it’s completely done.
This sweet, creamy, and mouth-watering Indian pudding is garnished with ghee fried dry fruits like cashews, almonds, and raisins. I usually grind almonds and cashews coarse before frying them.
Gajar ka halwa goes well with ice-cream while the halwa is hot, this combination is the best. The same recipe can be followed for other types of halwas like bottle gourd, beetroot, etc, with slight variations. I hope you will enjoy making this wonderful dessert for your family and friends.
Recipe Card for Gajar Ka Halwa
Gajar Ka Halwa | Carrot Halwa | Carrot Pudding
Course: Dessert, Lunch, DinnerCuisine: IndianServings
4
servingsPrep time
15
minutesCooking time
30
minutesTotal time
45
minutesIngredients
2 cups of grated carrots
3 tablespoons of clarified butter (ghee)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
8-9 crushed almonds
8-9 crushed cashews
12-15 raisins
Directions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a non-stick pan.
- Add grated carrots, mix it well and then add sugar and mix them well.
- Add milk and cardamom powder and let it cook. Keep stirring.
- Close the lid and let it cook for 5 mins.
- In another pan, heat 1 tablespoon ghee.
- Add the raisins, crushed almonds and cashews. Stir it well until raisins turn golden brown.
- Place the fried dry fruits with the carrot mixture in the other pan. Keep stirring until the milk evaporates.
- Gajar ka halwa is ready. Serve it hot with vanilla ice-cream.
Notes
- Crushing the almonds and cashews will give a creamy texture to the halwa. If you do not like it crushed, you can either chop it or use it as a whole.
- Do not finely grind the cardamom to make it thicker. The halwa tastes better that way.
- You can use red food color if you want the halwa to look red. If you like, you can add two strands of saffron (kesar) too.
- You can use Condensed milk (khowa) instead of regular milk.
How to make Gajar Ka Halwa step-by-step?
Step 1: Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a non-stick pan.
Step 2: Add 2 cups of grated carrots to the ghee and mix it well. Now add ½ cup sugar.
Step 3: Mix it well. Keep stirring until the sugar melts and blends well with the carrots and ghee.
Step 4: Add ½ milk and let it cook. Keep stirring constantly.
Step 5: Add cardamom powder and cover the pan with a lid.
Step 6: Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in another pan.
Step 7: Add about 10-12 raisins, coarsely ground almonds, and cashews to the ghee.
Step 8: Once the dry fruits turn slightly golden brown, add them to the carrot pudding and mix them well. Gajar ka halwa is ready. Garnish it with more dry fruits and serve it hot with ice-cream.
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