Gajar ka Halwa
A delicious winter dessert where seasonal red carrots are simmered in milk and sugar till they turn into a fudgy consistency. Also called carrot pudding, it's even more amazing when served with vanilla ice cream.
Servings: 12 people
Ingredients
- 1 kg red carrots peeled & grated, approx. 7 cups, see note 1
- 1 ½ - 2 litres milk 6 - 8 cups
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 2 tablespoons ghee divided
- ⅓ cup cashew nuts slit in half
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- ⅓ cups almonds slivered
Instructions
- Add grated carrots & milk to a large kadhai, bring to a boil, simmer and cook on low heat. This is a slow process where the carrots cook in the milk and the milk reduces. This is a gradual process and generally takes anywhere between 3-5 hours based on the quality of carrots. Stir occasionally to avoid the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- When carrots have cooked & most of the milk has reduced to only about 10% of the quantity (the carrots will have cooked to a fudgy consistency and you won’t see any milk), add sugar & cardamom powder and keep stirring & cook till it comes to a halwa consistency. This will take another 20 minutes. It’s important to keep stirring more often because as the sugar and the carrots caramelise, the halwa can stick to the bottom and burn.
- Add a tablespoon of ghee and roast for an additional minute or two.
- While the halwa is roasting, heat the remaining tablespoon of ghee in a pan and add cashews and raisins. Saute for a minute or two till the cashews are a light golden. Pour these nuts on top of the halwa and mix.
Video
Notes
- Choose fresh, tender, red carrots that are thin and long for best results in this recipe.
- Grate using the wider holes on your grater for best results. If the carrots are grated on the narrow holes, they will turn too mushy while cooking.
- Use full-fat milk or whole milk for the best texture of halwa.
- Thick bottomed kadai should be used to avoid the halwa getting stuck to the bottom of the kadai.
- Keep an eye on the halwa as the milk tends to stick to the pan sometimes & might get burnt.
- Halwa stays good for 3 weeks when refrigerated in an airtight container. It can also be frozen. Reheat the halwa with a splash of milk for best results
Nutrition
Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 108mg | Potassium: 527mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 14131IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 197mg | Iron: 1mg