Halwa is an Indian sweet of Persian origin. There are many different kinds of Halwa and no one kind is like the other. Halwa can be made from different grains/ flours, lentils, vegetables, fruit and sugar/ jaggery, ghee, dried fruit, nuts, etc. The consistency can vary from dry and crumbly, through sticky or fudgy or thick enough to be cut into bars. Today’s post is about Gajar ka Halwa or Halwa made from Indian winter carrots.
So Halwa is different things to different people. Halwa (also halva or halvah) is made and eaten in the Middle East, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Albania to mention a few countries. It is reasonable to assume that this confection came to the Indian subcontinent with invaders/ traders from Persia.
Perhaps the most common Halwa in India is Sooji Halwa/ Kesari/ Sheera made with grainy wheat semolin. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, and will stay away from most Halwa especially. The exceptions to this rule are Badam or Almond Halwa, Gajar ka Halwa and Sohan Halwa.
This Halwa can be made with any kind of carrot, but the best Gajar ka Halwa is made with deep red, juicy and sweet winter carrots. Making Gajar ka Halwa was an annual end-of-the-year affair for me when winter carrots were in season. These carrots grow in the cooler climates of Northern India December, January and February. They are juicier and very sweet so halwa made from them is more carrot and less sugar.
Five years ago we moved back to Kochi from Goa, and winter carrots are a bit of a rarity here. This Halwa involves cooking grated carrots in milk till soft. Sugar is then added and then ghee and cooked till the Halwa is thick and moist. There are methods where you can cook the carrots with evaporated milk or condensed milk. I prefer to use full fat cow’s milk.
Grating the carrots is easier with a food processor than a manually with a grater. I also prefer to cook the grated carrots with milk in a pressure cooker. It can be done directly in a thick walled vessel on the stove or in the microwave.
Once cooked, Gajar ka Halwa can be put in airtight containers and frozen for upto two months. This is a good thing to do if you want to serve this Halwa once winter carrot season is over. If freezing, defrost and then warm the Halwa and garnish with nuts just before serving.
Gajar Ka Halwa
Ingredients
- 11/2 kg peeled and grated winter carrots
- 1 litre full fat cow's milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 to 3/4 cups ghee
- 1 1/2 tsps cardamom powdered
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup cashewnuts, almonds and pistachios slivered
Instructions
- Note : Do not grate the carrots very fine or your halwa will turn mushy, though it would still taste good
- In a small pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee and fry the raisins, over low to medium heat, till they puff up and just start browning. Add the leftover ghee while making the halwa.
- Pour the milk into a heavy bottomed and deep pan. Add the carrots and cook over medium to high heat while stirring frequently, till the carrots are done and the milk has reduced to less than half the original quantity.Alternatively, cook the carrots and milk together in a pressure cooker till just soft. It can be cooked in the microwave too.
- Put the cooked carrot-milk mixture and the remaining milk in a heavy thick walled pan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook down, stirring frequently, till the mixture is almost dry.
- Now add the sugar and keep stirring till its dissolved. Cook till the mixture is thick and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the ghee, in two separate lots, stirring well after each addition. Keep stirring until the halwa turns a slightly deeper red in colour and no liquid is visible at the bottom of the pan. The halwa should be soft and moist but not wet.
- Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the powdered cardamom and raisins. Allow to cool and store in the refrigerator or freezer. Garnish with slivered nuts just before serving.
- This recipe should serve about 10, depending on the serving size.
- Gajar/ Carrot halwa tastes best when served slightly warm. So just before serving, slightly warm the halwa. Many people in India prefer to serve/ eat this halwa warm with vanilla ice-cream but I prefer the halwa just as it is, warm and fragrant with cardamom.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
my ex-housemate loved this!! i am not a huge fan except if its accompanied by equal or more amounts of vanilla ice cream 😀
aarree thts my fav…yum yum yum!hi, loved reading u…would love to have u around at my place too.:)
Like Nags says i am also not a huge fan of carrot halwa and i have neve rmade them.Halwas i love to eat are the black ones and red ones.Don’t know if you buy vanith magazine, there is a full article on halwas and recipies there .
I love carrot halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.Nice presentation.
Funny how I thought of everything but carrot!!! till I saw an entry for FIC yesterday. and then I remembered something in my drafts – you’ll have it soon!I’ve made carrot halwa with the red carrots – they were available this year too, I just didn’t find the right time.
This sounds like something I would enjoy as do the nut ones!
added this to my “try” list.Looks yummmm..nice color:)Drop into my blog sometime:)
I’ve never tried halwa but it sounds a dish I would really enjoy! Lovely colours and great pics :0)Rosie x
Perfect orange.I have one too at FH but I don’t like reposting the same. Enjoy eating Gajar halwa!:)This dish also suits RCI Haryana.
This recipe sounds wonderful. I’ve never had halwa before. Maybe I should try to make some.
I just made gajar halwa with these carrots too….will be sending it to you for FIC as soon as I post it.
It’s been ages since I made this! I have a bag of baby carrots in the refrigerator. You just reminded me that they need to be used.:D
aaagh.. now that’s what I had planned on making for your event! Anyways I will put on my thinking cap and make something else
oops forgot.. The dish looks yummy…BTW it would never remain for 2 months at my house we would gulp it down soon..Love to have it warm with vanilla icecream
Winter carrot halwa!an absolute beauty! Love it
Love the halwa made with red carrots…Pic looks awesome..
My favorite of all halwas. The color came out bearutifully with these carrots. & u could save it for 2 months? it would have been all gone for me…a little bite every few minutes:-)
I made something with carrot yest , keeping the events in mind, luckily not Halwa! U got such a perfect color!
Before I visited Singapore, I wasn’t a fan of Indian desserts. But then I went to this fantastic restaurant where our waiter recommended this dish – my tastebuds were blown away! This combination of ingredients -especially the cardamom- is really not seen in Western desserts, so I was very pleasantly surprised. Thanks for this! Ever since tasting it, I’ve been wondering how to make it for myself 🙂
lovely color..
One of my favorite restaurants here in Michigan serves this as part of the normal Thali style dinner. Its called Ashoka and is in Troy on Rochester Road if anyone ever is near it. One of only two places I will ever eat Indian food locally. I really need to drive there soon.
What a lovely color – my all time favourite halwa too:) Made a low fat version yesterday for FIC!!
Lovely, delicious looking halwa. It’s the only kind I eat, but I never make it because mine never turns out as good as mom’s
My kinda dessert 🙂 Colourful!
ooooo yummy yummy!! I’ve made rice kheer and I think it was just lovely. I haven’t tried this carrot pudding just yet. one day I will!
what would I not do, to get my hands on that bowl! yummy!
It used be pretty much an annual dessert for us to. Mom always made it in the winters. We don’t get the red carrots here in US, so I rarely venture in to making this any more.You are tempting me though!
I can see a lot of you prefer the halwa with ice-cream. :)Yes, the colour is beautiful, but that’s because I useed the winter carrots. You don’t get quite the same colour or taste with the regular carrots.Navita, is that an invitation? :)HC, actually this is one of the few halwas I like. I don’t like those halwas you mention though my husband could make a meal of them.:DI don’t get Vanita here, but I do buy a copy at the station, every time we travel by train.Sra, I’ll look forward to that entry. So you do have a sweet tooth? :)Thank you, Chitra. I most definitely will.Thanks for that tip, Asha. RCI Haryana, it is then.Waiting for the entry, Jayashree.Uj & Soma, it doesn’t usually remain that long in mine either. Its just that every season, I make about 3 or 4 large batches! :DChris, gald to know you liked this. I hope you will give this a try.Jan, that’s nice. I’ve never been served this halwa with a thali meal so far but I wouldn’t mind it if they did.Harini, that’s great. This in a low fat version, is having your halwa and eating it too! :DI understand, Bharti.I didn’t make this the past 4 years because I couldn’t find these carrots.
I love gajar halwa and made sure it was on my list of desserts at our wedding. Now that we are in Delhi I make sure to make it during the winter months every other week. I make it a lot like yours and the secret I have found is to slow cook it till the milk almost turns into khoya! 🙂
Love this carrot dessert. The natural sweetness of carrots makes it great, even if some people tend to think that carrot desserts are weird.
wow.. what an unusual creation! I love carrots in all shapes an formats, although I tend to use them mainly raw. A wonderful contribution to this month’s WTSIM… thanks for your entry!
this sounds lovely, I love anything like this. Do you think butter could be used instead of ghee?
Bev,I have never tried using butter and I don’t think it would work as ghee gives this preparation a unique flavour.But you can make ghee from butter (unsalted preferably). Melt the butter and then let it cook over medium heat until it becomes clear and the solids start browning and the mixture gives off an aroma (not not let the solids burn). The clear golden brown liquid is the ghee. Turn off the heat and after it has cooled down a bit, drain it off and use. This process is also called clarifying or browning butter.
I have never heard of halwa before reading this posting, but it looks absolutely delicious.