Carrot halwa recipe – 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.
For more halwa recipes, you can check
Suji halwa
Jaggery Moong dal halwa
Moong dal halwa
Banana sheera
Carrot halwa recipe
Carrot halwa recipe | Gajar ka halwa | How to make carrot halwa
Gajar halwa or carrot halwa is a classic sweet dish from Indian cuisine made with carrots, sugar and milk. It is flavored with cardamom powder. Usually delhi carrots are used but any kind of carrots can be used.
Ingredients (240 ml cup used)
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 (prefer organic)
- 4 cardamom pods or elachi or (skinned and powdered)
- 2 tbsps ghee or clarified butter
optional ingredients for gajar halwa
- ¼ to ½ cup khoya or mawa (optional)
- Handful mixed nuts pista, cashew & almonds
How to make the recipe
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.
Next bring milk to a boil in a heavy bottom pot or deep pan.
How to make carrot halwa
- 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 in the step by step pictures.
Recipe Video
Preparation for carrot halwa recipe – step by step photos
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.
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.
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.
🙂
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.
🙂