CARROT HALWA,, // GAJAR HALWA

Carrot Halwa | Gajar Halwa Recipe | Punjabi Gajar Ka Halwa

Carrot Halwa or Punjabi Gajar Ka Halwa with step by step photos. Carrot Halwa is made across India for all the festival celebrations like Diwali, Sankranti, Holi and for family celebrations as well.

Gajar Halwa in my opinion is the ultimate Indian dessert or sweet ever. I would even declare it the King of Indian sweets. There could be nothing more perfect than a bowl of warm carrot halwa on a cold day during Winter.

The chewy, caramelized carrots slow cooked in an open vessel for almost an hour is a treat in itself not only to kids but to adults as well. Its surprising that a dessert could taste so heavenly with just a handful of ingredients.

Gajar ka Halwa always takes me back to the time while I was working as a recipe tester for an electric rice cooker company. We used to make it daily, a number of times to get the timings and consistency perfect to get it printed in the cook book. I got so thorough that I can cook carrot halwa with my eyes closed in sleep as well.

There are several ways by which you can cook this carrot halwa. You can use pressure cooker or the microwave to cut short the process of cooking but the real taste lies in taking the time and painstakingly cooking it over low flame continuously in an open pan. Its incomparable.

Mostly I use my electric rice cooker as I do not like to spend much time in making this halwa however much I love it, but this time challenged and pushed myself to cook it the traditional way as my entire family loves when made the traditional way.

I was so happy to see fresh Delhi Carrots in the shop from which I used to buy vegetables a few weeks ago, Halwa is what I could think of immediately.

I have always felt that these carrots are much more juicier and sweeter than the regular ones and when made into a halwa these carrots give the dessert a more bright and deep orangish hue that the regular ones fail to give.

I also personally prefer these carrots only to make halwa as I can always cut short on the sugar and depend on the natural sweetness of the carrots which are at any given time more healthier. But if they are not available at your place or when not in season, by all means use the regular carrots.

Carrot Halwa Recipe with Step by Step Photos:

1. Wash and trim both the ends of the carrots. Lightly scrape the outer skin using a peeler. Grate the carrots using a grater. I used my food chopper.

2. Heat a thick bottomed pan with 3 tbsp ghee and roast broken cashew nuts till golden brown. Drain and keep aside. Add the grated carrots and mix well. A wooden spatula works well.

3. Saute for 15-20 mins over low flame till the raw smell of the carrots disappear. Add all the milk and mix well. Increase the flame to medium and cook while stirring often.

4. After 15 mins the carrots would have cooked well absorbing the milk an thickened considerably. Now add the sugar and mix well.

5. After adding the sugar once again the mixture will become liquefied. Cook over low flame till the halwa once again starts to become thick.

6. After 5-7 mins, add crushed cardamom pods, remainig ghee, roasted cashew nuts and mix well. Cook over low flame for another 5-7 mins till the halwa comes together in a ball without sticking to the sides. Garnish with almond slivers and serve either hot or cold.

Carrot Halwa | Gajar Halwa Recipe | Punjabi Gajar Ka Halwa

 

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

The Ultimate Indian dessert of Carrot halwa with step wise pictures.

Author: Radhika

Recipe type: Dessert or sweets

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• Carrots – ½ kgs or 5 nos approx.,
• Sugar – 1 cup (200 gms)
• Whole Milk – 1+1/2 cup ( 300 ml)
• Ghee (clarified butter) – 6 tbsp
• Cashew nuts – 10
• Almonds (badam) – 7 (optional for garnishing)
• Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Instructions:

1. Wash the carrots and trim their edges. Scrape the skin lightly and grate all the carrots using a grater and keep aside. I used my food chopper.
2. Soak the almonds in some warm water for 15 – 20 mins. Peel the skin off and chop them into slivers and keep aside.
3. Chop the cashew nuts into small pieces and keep aside.
4. Heat a heavy bottomed pan or urli and add 3 tbsp of ghee. When it becomes warm, add the chopped cashew nuts and roast over low flame till golden brown. Drain them completely, transfer to a plate and keep aside.
5. Now to the same pan, add the grated carrots. Simmer the flame completely and sauté for 15-20 mins. The color of the carrots would have completely changed and it would have gotten cooked completely. But the most important thing is the raw smell of the carrots would be completely gone by now.
6. Now add the milk to the cooked carrots and increase the flame to medium. Let the carrots cook in the milk till the entire mixture almost becomes dry. Keep mixing in between to avoid the carrots sticking to the bottom of the pan. This should take 15-20 mins.
7. Now add the sugar and mix well. Once you add the sugar, the entire mixture would once again become liquefied or of loose consistency.
8. Once again keep cooking till the entire mixture becomes thick. The sugar would begin to caramelize the carrot and milk mixture and the you can see that the consistency becoming sticky. This should take 15 mins.
9. When the halwa becomes dry, add the remaining 3 tbsp ghee, cardamom powder, roasted cashew nuts and mix well. Cook for 5 more mins while mixing continuously and the halwa will come together in a mass. Switch off flame and take off stove.
10. Serve hot or warm in individual bowls sprinkled liberally with almond slivers.

Notes:

The first step to getting a good tasting halwa is sautéing the carrots in ghee. The raw smell must not be there at all. If you hurry up with this step, your halwa will taste raw.
The sugar quantity can be adjusted according to personal taste. I felt that 1 cup was just perfect without being overly sweet.
I used the seeds of 2 cardamom and pounded them well in my mortar and pestle and discarded the skin off.