Carrot halwa or gajar halwa – A slow cooked traditional Indian halwa or pudding made by simmering carrots in milk. Carrot halwa, popularly known as gajar ka halwa or gajrela makes its presence in most special occasions like festivals, celebrations and parties. It is one of the classic Indian sweets that would not fail to impress anyone.
Most Indian households would not fail to make this during the winters as carrots are in full season. Carrot halwa is a sweet pudding made by simmering fresh grated carrots in full fat milk. It is then sweetened and flavored with cardamoms.
There are 3 different ways of making carrot halwa
1. Traditional method using whole milk
2. A rich version using khoya
3. A quick method using condensed milk which I shared here gajar ka halwa using condensed milk.
Tips to make best carrot halwa or gajar ka halwa
1. Always use fresh, tender and young carrots that are less fibrous. If needed taste them before cooking.
2. Use full fat or whole milk to get a tasty carrot halwa.
3. Keep stirring constantly while the gajar ka halwa is cooking otherwise the milk may get scorched and burnt. This will alter the flavor of carrot halwa.
Most often delhi gajar is used to make gajar ka halwa. However you can use any variety of carrots that are available. But make sure you use young tender gajar which lends a sweet aroma and yield a soft mouth melting halwa.
More Halwa recipes
Rava kesari
Moong dal halwa
Badam halwa
Lauki ka halwa
Carrot halwa recipe
Carrot halwa | Gajar halwa
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients for carrot halwa
- ½ kg carrot or gajar (prefer young carrots)
- ½ liter milk (or 2 cups) full fat
- ½ cup sugar (+ 2 tbsp optional) (prefer organic)
- 4 cardamom pods or elachi or (skinned and powdered)
- 2 tbsps ghee or clarified butter
optional ingredients for gajar halwa
- Handful mixed nuts pista, cashew & almonds
Instructions
Preparation for carrot halwa recipe
- Choose tender or young carrots that are fresh.
- Wash carrots under running water. Peel them and grate in a food processor or with a hand grater. Set this aside.
- Dry roast nuts on a low heat until crunchy. You can also chop them first and fry in ghee if you prefer.
- Set aside to cool and chop them.
How to make carrot halwa
- Next bring milk to a boil in a heavy bottom pot or deep pan.
- Add grated carrots and begin to stir.
- Cook until the milk has completely evaporated. Keep stirring constsntly in between to prevent burning.
- Add sugar and stir. Sugar would release lot of moisture.
- Cook until half the moisture evaporates.
- Add ghee and stir well.
- Continue to cook until the moisture evaporates and the halwa thickens. If you like you can add grated khoya at this stage. Stir and cook for just 2 to 3 mins.
- Garnish carrot halwa with nuts. Serve Warm or chilled.
Method 2 – Gajar ka halwa using khoya.
- For ½ kg carrot, we will use only about 1 cup milk. Then ½ cup grated khoya or mawa. ½ cup + 2 tbsp sugar. Follow the same method mentioned above and then add khoya towards the end. Stir the carrot halwa until khoya melts.
Video
Method 3 – carrot halwa using condensed milk
Notes
Nutrition
Preparation
1. Wash carrots thoroughly under running water. Peel and grate them. A food processor quickens the process of grating. So if you own one, you can use it.
2. Make sure you use a heavy bottom large pot or pan for this recipe as it helps to prevent the halwa from sticking to the bottom and burning. However a pressure cooker too works well.
On a low heat dry roast nuts until crunchy for garnishing. A few pistachios, cashews and almonds would do great. You can also fry them in ghee. But dry roasting eases the chopping work. Cool and chop them.
3. Next to the same pan, pour milk and begin to heat it.
How to make carrot halwa
4. Add grated carrots. Another method is to saute the carrots in ghee until a nice aroma comes out then pour milk to it.
5. Stir and cook on a medium flame. Keep stirring to prevent burning at the bottom. Since I used a heavy bottom pan, I didn’t have to stir very often. But I suggest consistently keep checking otherwise the halwa will stick at the bottom.
6. You will have be cautious always towards the end. Especially when the milk has almost evaporated.
7. Cook until the milk completely evaporates.
8. Next add sugar and stir.
9. Sugar melts and carrot halwa turns gooey once again. Stir and cook. When the moisture is half evaporated, add ghee and stir well.
10. Stir and cook until the halwa thickens. Just before you finish off, add cardamom powder.
Finally garnish carrot halwa with nuts. Serve chilled or warm.
Ally says
Good evening, will be trying out your recipe tomorrow, will let you know of the outcome. Thanks for the recipe.
Amina says
Thank you for your time and help. I love the way you have prepared all the food,
swasthi says
Welcome Amina
Thank you so much
Shrey says
Thanks mam for such an recipe. It turned out awesome.
Hend says
Hello..
I tried your recipe yesterday, it was peeeeeerfct, it was my first time to make Gajar ka halwa, and in Dubai it’s very rare to find the sweet red carrots, when I saw them yesterday, I bought them and searched for a recipe. I made 1 kg and I put 1 cup of Sugar based on one comments I read. It was perfect.
Thank you so much
swasthi says
Hi Hend
You are welcome. So glad to know gajar ka halwa turned out good. Thanks for the mention about sugar. I have added a note on it.
🙂
Maria says
I love all the receps.
Deepthi says
Hi Swasthi,
This was one of the very first recipes i tried from your site.. It came out very very well and everyone really liked it a lot… Thank you for the detailed recipe…
I needed a suggestion,, did you try vegan version of this, actually the guests who are coming over this time are vegan,I wanted to know if I can just replace the milk with coconut milk in the recipe…Or if I need to make any further modifications
Thanks,
Deepthi
swasthi says
Hi Deepthi,
You are welcome. I did try with almond milk earlier. It turns out good. You can try with 1/3 cup almonds soaked very well for 4 hours. Blend to a very very smooth paste first and then add water and make it 2 cups. I haven’t tried with coconut milk. Thanks for trying the recipes. Happy Diwali.
🙂
Deepthi says
Thank you very much for your prompt response Swasthi..I didn’t have almonds then, only had coconut milk so took the risk.. It came out well luckily 😊… Everyone liked it very much.. Thank you again for the recipe
Megha says
Hi Swasthi. Hope you are doing fine. I made carrot halwa today and it turned out amazing. I also tried your butter chicken recipe and it was tasty as well. Couldn’t post the comment there so posting it here. I’ll be definitely trying other recipes in future. Lots of love .
swasthi says
Hi Megha,
I am doing good. Thanks for asking. Happy to know halwa and butter chicken turned out good. Thank you very much for the comment. Yes do try more recipes.
🙂
Chan says
The recipe is awesome – I tried at home and it turned out really tasty. Thanks 🙂
swasthi says
Welcome Chan
lakshmi says
Tried today it was delicious , my husband n kid liked so much. Thank u very much for ur woderful recipes. Will u plz share palathalikalu recipe if possible in simple way
swasthi says
Welcome Lakshmi
Glad to know you all liked it. Yes I will try to share it. Thanks for the comment.
Shw says
I tried the recipe & it turned out really delicious. The only change I made was reducing the sugar quantity (otherwise it would have been too sweet for my taste). Thank you for this recipe 🙂
swasthi says
Welcome Shw,
Happy to know it turned out delicious. Thanks for the comment
Thasneem says
Hi Whenever I want to try new recipes. I search it in ua blog. Ua recipes are simple and delicious. I recommend my friends also ua blog. Even they loved ua recipe. Keep going. Thank you wonderful recipes
swasthi says
Welcome Thasneem
Thanks a lot for following the recipes.
🙂
Rehma says
Hi akka
Hope u n family are doing very well.
I went to India. I’m back now.
I tried beetroot halwa. It’s pretty simple and delicious. Can I prepare gajar the same way?
swasthi says
Hi Rehma
Glad to see your comment after a long. Yes we are all doing good. Hope you had a good time in India.
🙂
Yes you can make gajar halwa too the same way.
Rehma says
Thank u
Will try it
Kim says
I made the carrot halwa for a holiday brunch with my family and it was definitely a crowd pleaser. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I spent some time in India on an extended business trip and I’m excited to see so many of my favorite dishes here. Planning to try more.
swasthi says
Welcome Kim
So glad to know you.
🙂
Yes do try the recipes
shamanth says
I tried it yesterday it was good
Thank you
swasthi says
Welcome Shamanth
Glad to know it turned out good
Ananya abhi says
Hi Swasthi,
How are you doing? I made this carrot halwa and your pista ice cream. Such a great combo and everyone must try it. The carrot halwa turned out superb and the ice cream too. Thanks for the good recipes. God bless
swasthi says
Hi Ananya,
I am good. Thanks for asking. So glad to know the halwa and ice cream turned out good. Loved your idea of carrot halwa and pista ice cream. Never thought of pista ice cream with the halwa. Thanks a lot for the comment
🙂
Sowmya Kamath says
Tried it today and it was awesome 🙂 Thank you Swasthi for a wonderful recipe 🙂
swasthi says
Welcome Sowmya
Glad to know you liked it
🙂
Shushma says
Delicious carrot halwa. I made with without mawa and condensed milk. Thank you it turned out so yummy
paridhi says
I have tried halwa with a little change by adding dates nd it came so well ^_^
swasthi says
Thanks for trying paridhi
I think you had made this last month too. So glad to know you liked it.
🙂
paridhi says
Yeah But this time with a little change by using dates 🙂
paridhi says
I tried it nd it comes really well but I used condensed milk instead of sugar
swasthi says
Thanks for trying paridhi
Tara says
All your recipes are so good that I try without referring any other recipe. Made this from scratch for a party along with your veg dum biryani raita masala vada and all turned out great. Thanks a lot.
swasthi says
Welcome Tara
So happy reading your comment. Appreciate your comment and feedback. Thanks
prabharaj says
Wow everything so yummy mouth watering
swasthi says
Thanks
Priya Suresh says
Who can resist to that bowl of yummy halwa.
Chitz says
One of my favorite sweet !!
Amrita Vishal says
Such a favorite halwa, love the colours
bhavani Archana says
hi <br /><br />this dish is very delicious and easy to make<br />thank u for sharing me a sweet dish which is very sweet
Kalpana Sareesh says
creamyylicious..
kitchen queen says
lip smacking and yummy carrot halwa.
Sangeetha Priya says
delicios halwa, love the neat presentation here 🙂
Sebeena Loyd says
love gajar ka halwa always.
Rafeeda AR says
my favorite all the time… 🙂
Archana Potdar says
Can I have some? Delicious