Delicious Gajar Ka Halwa (Indian Carrot Dessert)

Classic Indian Gajar Ka Halwa - Mouthwatering Dessert
Carrot halwa pinit

Winter is synonymous with gajar ka halwa in our house. One of the most delicious desserts ever! Wouldn’t you agree? I can eat gajar ka halwa every day! For non-Indians gajar ka halwa is a traditional sweet dish made in India using primarily carrots as its core ingredient. Anyway, I definitely ended up making it at least twice a week during the last winter, when carrots were in abundance!

For Baby C’s first birthday, along with her birthday cake, I made gajar ka halwa also for her – her first time tasting it. Needless to say, she loved it! We gave her very little of it though, since I am not comfortable giving her sugar based desserts as yet. I follow a super simple recipe, which does not take long to make and trust me, it will be a big hit, every time! So, here goes:

Delicious Gajar Ka Halwa (Indian Carrot Dessert)

Gajar ka halwa was initially created during the Mughal period, and the latter part of it's name comes from the Arabic word "halwa," which means "sweet, and it is cooked with carrots (in Hindi: gajar), hence the name (meaning pudding of carrot or Halwa of carrot).  Regardless it is now become a staple dessert throughout India and found in almost all festivities in various forms.

Fun facts about Carrots:

  1. The first documented carrots were actually purple or white in color and we can still find different shades of carrots
  2. Carrots are 88% water
Carrot halwa
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Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 15 mins Rest Time 10 mins Total Time 35 mins Difficulty: Beginner Servings: 4 Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Instructions

    Chop the almonds into fine pieces and grate the carrots

  2. Take some ghee in a pan, fry the almond slivers a bit and keep them aside

  3. Now add some more ghee to your pan, add the carrot and fry it for couple of minutes

  4. Add the milk and let the carrot boil/cook in the milk

  5. Keep stirring the carrot to make sure it does not get burnt

  6. Once the milk has evaporated, add the condensed milk to the carrot and turn the flame to low

     

  7. Now keep cooking the carrot with the condensed milk, until the liquid dries up

  8. Add the cardamom powder

  9. Depending on how you want the halwa, you can keep frying it, adding some more ghee, till you reach the desired consistency. We like our halwa well fried, no liquid at all

  10. Finally add the almonds and give it a good mix and serve!

Note

Carrot ka halwa can be eaten both hot and cold depending on your preference.

Keywords: gajar, carrot, halwa, Indian, sweet, dish, dessert

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