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    Home » Desserts

    Published: Dec 6, 2018 · Modified: Nov 14, 2022 by Wajiha · This post may contain affiliate links ·

    Traditional Gajar ka halwa (Carrot Halwa)

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    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

    ingredients for gajar ka 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

    How long does the gajar halwa last?

    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.

    What can I use instead of Khoya?

    Use full fat milk powder or soft unflavored cottage cheese or goat cheese.

    Can I make the halwa in a non-stick pot?

    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

    • 4 scoops of chocolate ice cream
      Easy Home-made Chocolate Ice cream
    • caramel tiramisu no coffee or alcohol
      Caramel Tiramisu – No coffee or alcohol
    • chocolate bars strewn with nuts and oats, sprinkled with some more nuts and peanut butter sauce
      Best No bake chocolate oat bars
    • a head on view of the no bake biscoff custard bar with more bars in the background blurred out, against a blue backdrop
      No-bake vanilla custard Biscoff bars

    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!

    carrot halwa served in various plates.

    Gajar Ka Halwa

    A popular traditional South Asian dessert made from carrots and milk, mostly consumed during winters.
    4.49 from 35 votes
    Print Pin
    Course: Desserts
    Cuisine: South Asian
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
    Servings: 20 servings
    Calories: 292kcal
    Author: Wajiha

    Equipment

    1 food processor

    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

    1. Keep a girdle (tawa) or an insulating pad below the pot to avoid stirring the halwa constantly.
    2. Khoya substitutes:
      You can find khoya at any South Asian sweet store. Or you could use milk powder instead. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1servingCalories: 292kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 6gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 125mgPotassium: 412mgFiber: 1gSugar: 33gVitamin A: 8548IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 182mgIron: 0.3mg
    Can’t wait to see your remakes! Tag meon IG with your pictures @butteroverbae
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Wafa says

      December 19, 2024 at 11:34 am

      Is the cups of sugar the standard UK measuring cup size for 1 cupv?

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        January 12, 2025 at 7:49 am

        yes Wafa, its the standard Uk measuring cup size.

        Reply
    2. Natasha says

      October 26, 2024 at 5:25 pm

      So much mehnat but so so worth it!!! Thanks for a fantabulous recipe xx

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        November 03, 2024 at 6:43 am

        ikr! 🙂 its work for sure!

        Reply
    3. Fizza Zafar says

      November 30, 2022 at 6:33 pm

      Absolutely love how this halwa turns out! Thank you for sharing wajiha

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 04, 2022 at 4:46 pm

        woohoo! always happy to hear how things turn out!

        Reply
    4. SidEmm says

      January 19, 2021 at 3:40 pm

      Hi approx how many carrots in 1 kg carrots?

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        January 19, 2021 at 9:41 pm

        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.

        Reply
    5. Wandaru says

      January 04, 2021 at 8:41 pm

      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

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        January 05, 2021 at 8:42 am

        for 4 people reduce the quantities given in the recipe to half. That would be 1/2 kg carrots

        Reply
    6. Salwa tariq says

      December 26, 2020 at 12:07 pm

      Ur recipes are just outstandingg

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 27, 2020 at 5:11 am

        awww Salwa thankyou so much!

        Reply
    7. Anonymous says

      December 25, 2020 at 4:33 pm

      It was yum!! Thanks for the recipe

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 27, 2020 at 5:12 am

        woohoooo!

        Reply
    8. Mahreen Noor says

      December 18, 2020 at 12:10 pm

      Thanks for this recipe ❤️
      I have tried your recipe and it turned out Amazing Mashaa Allah ????????????

      Looking forward to try more recipes ????

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 18, 2020 at 2:50 pm

        thank you so much!

        Reply
    9. Umm e dua faisal says

      December 14, 2020 at 5:08 am

      Yummy recipe and especially tips just want to ask i used nonstick pot am i doing right?

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 14, 2020 at 8:16 am

        non stick pot isn’t good for halwas. it won’t give you the right texture. Definitely go for stainless steel

        Reply
    10. Flow says

      December 13, 2020 at 2:42 pm

      Such good explanation and beautiful halwa

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 14, 2020 at 8:16 am

        thankyou so much!!

        Reply
    4.49 from 35 votes (33 ratings without comment)

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