Gajar ka halwa or Carrot pudding is the thick, luxurious, nutty, and indulgent dessert we all wait for in winter in India/Pakistan. We get these beautifully reddish, sweet winter carrots, that we cook with milk, sugar, and fats to create this iconic halwa. My halwa recipe is the traditional method, which I’ve hacked to make it simpler for today’s busy life!
Gajar ka Halwa and Fried Fish are two almost compulsory things we brown people make in winter.
Technically, South Asian desserts, like halwas are a little time consuming to make. But it turns out, this halwa is one of the easier ones of the lot. If you are looking for easy South Asian desserts, you might want to check out this delicious Shahi Tukda (bread pudding) recipe too.
What is Gajar ka halwa?
“Gajar ka halwa” or Carrot halwa is a traditional Indian/Pakistani dessert, made with carrots, milk, fats, and sugar. Even though there are quite a lot of quick-fix recipes out there that claim “it’s just as good”, but I’ve tried them and I tell you no they are not even close.
Having said that, I learned a new trick for halwas, where you don’t have to stir a lot during cooking(check step by step below)!
Ingredients for Halwa
- Carrots – The star of the show is the deep red South Asian carrots. But don’t despair. We’ve tried this recipe with regular carrots as well and it works!
- Ghee – Ghee or clarified butter is the fat that the carrots will cook in. You can use unsalted butter instead of ghee.
- Sugar – You can adjust the sweetness even after the halwa is ready.
- Green Cardamom – This imparts aroma to the halwa.
- Milk solids/khoya –
- The other magic ingredient in this halwa is called the Khoya or Khoa. Khoa is evaporated milk solids created by heating the milk in an open sauce pan.
- It is used in various Indian/Pakistani desserts. It adds texture and flavor to the halwa. You can even make Khoya at home (click here to know how) or, just simply buy it at an Indian/Pakistani dessert shop.
- If you can’t get your hands on khoya, I would recommend using full fat milk powder or some soft unflavored cottage cheese.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Traditional Method to make halwa
Making this halwa back in the day was a complete upper body workout. The chef would manually grate the carrots (sometimes 3 4 kgs in one sitting) and then stand right next to the pot stirring constantly and cooking down the milk for as long as it takes.
But thanks to technology and hack culture, we are going to make it the same way with 25% amount of the effort. Let’s go!
STEP 1: Peel the carrots and wash them.
STEP 2: Put the carrots in a food processor.
NOTE: The traditional gajar ka halwa uses grated carrots. You can use the grated attachment in the food processor for that texture. I prefer the chopped up version.
STEP 3: Chop the carrots fine.
STEP 4: In a large thick bottomed pot, add milk
STEP 5: Add green cardamoms. Allow the milk to come to a boiling point at medium to high heat.
STEP 6: Add the chopped carrots to the milk.
STEP 7: Let them cook at medium to low heat for 30 to 40 minutes and stir occasionally once or twice.
STEP 8: The milk will be reduced to at least 25% of its original quantity.
STEP 9: Add sugar.
STEP 10: Add ghee.
Now comes the part of “bhunayi”. Bhunayi is the process of stirring the halwa constantly from this point forward until its ready. It takes 30 minutes at the very least.
HACK: Here’s the hack. Keep a gridle or a ‘tava’ below your halwa pot. This avoids any burning. Now relax and only keep an eye on the halwa. Now you don’t have to worry about stirring constantly. You can stir once every 5 to 6 minutes.
STEP 11: Stir the Halwa occasionally and let it cook until all the milk is completely evaporated. Stirring the halwa is called “bhunai”. Make sure you scrap the bottom of the pot every time you stir.
STEP 12: When halwa is cooked, you will see ghee separating on the edges of the pot.
STEP 13: Add khoya (milk solids) and gently mix.
STEP 14: Sprinkle chopped nuts.
Expert Tips
- Obviously the best tip is to add a girdle (tawa) or an insulating pan below your pot, like we do for pulaos (aka dum pe pakana). This neat little trick will prevent your milk from ever burning, plus you will not have to stir your halwa as often.
- This is a very forgiving halwa, even after you have completely cooked the halwa and feel like you need more sugar, you can always go back and add more.
- I personally let the halwa cook an extra 5 minutes even when the ghee has separated, it just makes the texture so much more perfect!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can refrigerate the halwa once cooled, for upto 3 weeks. These halwas have long shelf lives. You can even freeze them for upto 3 months.
Use full fat milk powder or soft unflavored cottage cheese or goat cheese.
Generally, non-stick pots are being avoided based on recent health studies, but please do your own research. Halwas just generally don’t cook well on non-stick pans. I’d recommend a stainless steel pot.
More desserts to try
Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!
Gajar Ka Halwa
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 kg carrots peeled and washed
- 2 liters milk
- 2 cups sugar or to taste
- 1 cup ghee
- 4 to 5 whole green cardamom
- 250 gm khoa (evaporated milk solids) optional (see notes)
- 1 cup chopped pistachio or nuts for garnish
Instructions
- Peel the carrots and wash them.
- Use a food processor to chop the carrots fine. For a more traditional halwa use the grate attachment to give you grated carrots.
- In a large thick-bottomed pot, add milk and green cardamoms. Allow the milk to come to a boiling point.
- Add the chopped carrots to the milk. Let them cook at medium to low heat for 30 to 40 mins and stir occasionally.
- Once all the milk is reduced to atleast 25% or even less, add sugar and ghee.
- Stir the the Halwa occasionally and let it cook until all the milk is completely evaporated. Stirring the halwa is called "bhunai". Make sure you scrap the bottom of the pot everytime you stir.
- When you see a little ghee being seperated at the bottom of the pot, turn of the heat and sprinkle some KHoya or Evaporated milk solids on the halwa.
- Garnish with chopped pistachios and serve
Notes
- Keep a girdle (tawa) or an insulating pad below the pot to avoid stirring the halwa constantly.
- Khoya substitutes:
You can find khoya at any South Asian sweet store. Or you could use milk powder instead.
Natasha says
So much mehnat but so so worth it!!! Thanks for a fantabulous recipe xx
Wajiha says
ikr! 🙂 its work for sure!
Fizza Zafar says
Absolutely love how this halwa turns out! Thank you for sharing wajiha
Wajiha says
woohoo! always happy to hear how things turn out!
SidEmm says
Hi approx how many carrots in 1 kg carrots?
Wajiha says
i’d love to answer that. But that is hard to approximate because the sizes of carrots available to you and me can be completely different. A very crude estimate would be somewhere between 8 to 12.
Wandaru says
what would the proportions be for smaller serving size, like 4 people? I was thinking of using 1/2 liter of milk and 1 cup sugar
Wajiha says
for 4 people reduce the quantities given in the recipe to half. That would be 1/2 kg carrots
Salwa tariq says
Ur recipes are just outstandingg
Wajiha says
awww Salwa thankyou so much!
Anonymous says
It was yum!! Thanks for the recipe
Wajiha says
woohoooo!
Mahreen Noor says
Thanks for this recipe ❤️
I have tried your recipe and it turned out Amazing Mashaa Allah ????????????
Looking forward to try more recipes ????
Wajiha says
thank you so much!
Umm e dua faisal says
Yummy recipe and especially tips just want to ask i used nonstick pot am i doing right?
Wajiha says
non stick pot isn’t good for halwas. it won’t give you the right texture. Definitely go for stainless steel
Flow says
Such good explanation and beautiful halwa
Wajiha says
thankyou so much!!