Gajar Ka Halwa

How to make Gajrela | Gajar Ka Halwa Recipe with stepwise photos | Carrot Halwa | Winter Special Indian dessert made with red carrots. 

Hi,

How's life going on!  I wish you all a happy New Year. Let health and happiness follow you and yours through the coming year..

I'm going to share this recipe one more  time in my food blog with some changes. From now on, all my recipes will be more informative to help you make the perfect and delicious food..

The main mantra to make very delicious Gajar Ka Halwa will depend on cooking technique, and fat content used in this food preparation, that could be  ghee, milk, mava, peda, milk powder or even condensed milk.. 

Did you know that the most important and tricky thing in this recipe is cooking the main ingredient I.e. Carrots. I still  remember I've been simply refusing carrot Halwa to eat from my school days and never actually enjoyed eating it as the main reason I always found something not perfect as not able to figure out what it could be in those days..  If you can relate to this, then this Gajar ka Halwa recipe is for you and will surely solve all your queries and help you to make perfect Gajar ka Halwa. 

The answers to your queries...

What is Gajar Ka Halwa!

Gajar ka Halwa is a  winter special Indian dessert made with freshly grated red carrots, milk, sugar, ghee and flavoured with green cardamom.

Why does my well-cooked Halwa taste like a raw carrot mix?

This is the main thing to work on this recipe to get the perfect Halwa.. Carrot cooking is a bit tricky thing and the cooking technique depends mainly on the freshness and water content of carrots. 

Why should I stick to this recipe! 

A very good question indeed. You need to follow my recipe because the end result is  absolutely fantastic. Trust me, whoever tastes this halwa will come back and ask you for the recipe.. 

Why condensed milk is not added in your gajar ka Halwa as that makes it super yummy and time saving as well..

Well, there's no problem with condensed milk.. But I do have a problem with sugar, which is added in the condensed milk, which makes it undesirable sweet as gajar has a natural sweetness, so you need to be cautious. It is better to go with full cream milk, thickened milk or Khoya..  

Why you used the pressure cooker in your halwa recipe?

Well, pressure cooker not only save cooking time, but give the desired results and enhance the taste as well.. Moreover, I use my Phillips Food Processor to grind the carrots, which gives a thickness of 6mm, so pressure cooking works for me.

What kind of myth attached to this Gajar ka Halwa recipe!

The sugar content is very high and Gajar ka Halwa is not a healthy food selection..

You agree to that! 

Absolutely not.. I don't think so. I religiously make Gajar ka Halwa in every winter season and for 1 kilogram of carrots I just need 60-80g of sugar and this sweetness is absolutely perfect for my family.

Suggestions or guidance..

Always use seasonal and winter special red carrots to prepare this recipe.

Once the milk begins to reduce - concentrate and continue stirring and don't shift focus on anything else.

Finally, add sugar to the recipe.

Pay attention to the carrots pressure cooking time and  allow 1-2 whistles.. If the water content of the carrots is low, add half a cup of water to prevent it from burning. 

Let's get started 

Recipe details 

Cuisine - Indian 

Preparation time 15 minutes 

Cooking time 45-60 minutes 

Ingredients needed

• 2 kg red carrots 
• 1500ml of whole milk.
• 5-6 green cardamom
• 4-5 tbsp cooking oil
• Handful of cashew nuts.
• 100 g poppy seeds - khus khus.
• One ladle/karchi ghee.
• 120 g sugar or as you wish. 
• 15-20 saffron strands
• 5-6 chopped almonds to garnish. 
  
  If going with 1 kg gajar
• 1 kg carrots
• 750ml full cream milk
•  3-4 green cardamom
• 3-4 tsp cooking oil
• 50 g poppy seeds
• Handful of broken cashews 
• 60-80 g sugar or as you wish
• Few saffron strands 
• 2-3 tbsp ghee
• 4-5 Almonds for garnish - sliced 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Method 

Step 1 Mise en place

Carrots - rinse - peel - grind.

Milk - cook over low heat for 15-20 min and cook until milk is 10-15% reduced.

Cashew nuts - roughly chopped 

Almonds - cut - keep aside for topping. 

Step 2 Cooking time 

Heat the cooking oil/ghee in a pressure cooker over medium heat.  Stir in crushed green cardamom.

Stir-fry 5 seconds, then add the grated carrots, poppy seeds and cashews. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.

Close the cooker lid, allow 2-3 whistles depending on the shredding thickness of the carrots.. 

Open the lid of the cooker, add the boiled milk, mix well, add saffron strands, cook over low heat. 

 Keep stirring from time to time until it dries, i.e. the milk is reduced by 90-95%. 

Add sugar and mix well.. Cook once more until the milk dries out completely. 

Finally, add the ghee and simmer for 2 minutes..  

Garnish with your choice of nuts. Serve hot. 

Quick recap..

Recipe video link