Beetroot Halwa is a rich, healthy, and vibrant popular Indian dessert made with grated beetroot, full-fat milk, sugar, cardamom powder, and nuts in an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker or Stovetop. This beet halwa recipe is also known as chukandar ka halwa in Hindi and is generally made during the festival or any celebration.
Halwas are easy and delicious Indian desserts that have a pudding-like texture. The best part is that you can make halwa from lentils to various fruits and vegetables, turning them into healthy desserts.
Today, I am sharing a delicious halwa made from beetroot. Beets are an excellent source of folate, manganese, potassium, and copper. They are also a known source of magnesium, phosphorous, vitamin C, iron, vitamin B6, and dietary fiber. Some of my favorite halwa recipes made from vegetables are carrot halwa, lauki halwa, and pumpkin halwa.
Beetroot contains an ample amount of sugar, so this dessert requires less sugar. This Indian beetroot pudding dessert doesn't taste beetroot at all, so even beetroot haters will love this dish, trust me. You can either warm it or eat it cold.
Also, check out the Stovetop pot recipe instructions below for those who do not have an Instant Pot.
More Beetroot Recipes, from my blog
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Ingredients
- Beetroot: Choose fresh and tender beetroots.
- Ghee: Adding a good quantity of ghee, enhances the taste and texture of the halwa. I highly recommend not cutting down the quantity of ghee for this recipe.
- Milk: I used full-fat dairy milk, you can also make use almond milk, if you are vegan.
- Sugar: I used refined sugar.
- Almond Flour: I used almond flour, which is readily available at Costco and Indian grocery stores. It enhances the taste. You may also use khova/mawa instead.
- Cardamom powder: I used freshly ground cardamom from 3 whole green cardamom pods.
- Mixed nuts: Used cashews, raisins, and pistachios.
How to Make Beetroot Halwa in an Instant Pot
Take 4 medium-sized beetroots, peel the skin, and grate the beets using a grater or food processor. I used a thick shredder/grater attachment.
Press SAUTE button on Instant Pot. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee to the pot. Once hot, add ¼ cup of cashews, and stir fry till they are light golden brown. Remove and keep aside.
Add 4-5 cups shredded beetroot and saute for about 3-4 minutes till the raw smell disappears.
Next, add 1 cup of whole milk to the pot, close the lid, and turn the pressure valve to the SEALING position.
Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 4 minutes. When the instant pot beeps, Quick Release the pressure. Open the lid.
Add ½ cup sugar, ½ cup almond flour, 2 tablespoons raisins, and remaining 2 tablespoons ghee. Mix well.
Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté (High) and cook for 6-8 minutes until all the liquid is mostly absorbed (evaporated) and ghee separates from the halwa.
Add ½ teaspoon cardamom powder, roasted cashew nuts, and mix well.
Serve pressure cooker beetroot halwa warm or cold and garnish with some pistachios.
Note: If you are not adding almond flour or khoya, you can increase the amount of milk while cooking beets.
Stovetop Pot Method
- In a large Kadai, add 1 tablespoon of ghee into the pot, once hot, add cashews, and stir until they are light golden brown. Then add raisins and fry til they plump. Remove and keep aside.
- Add the shredded beetroot and sauté it for about 3-4 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
- Next, add milk to the pot and stir well. Cover with a lid, boil for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring on medium-low flame.
- When 75% of the liquid is evaporated, add sugar, almond flour, and remaining ghee. Mix well.
- Cook for 6-8 minutes until all the liquid is mostly absorbed (evaporated) and ghee separates from halwa.
- Also, add cardamom powder, and roasted cashew nuts, raisins. Mix well. Serve beet halwa, warm or cold.
Tips & Variations
- Using fresh and juicy beetroot will help to reduce adding more sugar.
- You can reduce sugar if you want it to be a lighter version. You can use coconut sugar, jaggery, or brown sugar instead of refined sugar.
- I added almond flour to make the dish more healthy and rich. However, if you don't have one, you can add either milk powder or khoya/mawa, too.
- If you add condensed milk, then reduce sugar by 3 tablespoons or skip the sugar altogether.
- You can follow the same pressure cooker beetroot halwa recipe for carrots as well.
FAQs
You can replace sugar with dates. Blend ½ cup of dates in milk and add dates puree once beetroot has cooked in milk.
Replace ghee with coconut oil and use full-fat almond milk or coconut milk in place of dairy milk (but the taste will vary a bit).
Beetroot Halwa stays good when refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
More Instant Pot Indian Dessert Recipes
Beetroot Halwa(Instant Pot & Stovetop)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4-5 cups beetroot shredded
- 1 cup full fat milk (or almond milk)
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup almond flour (or milk powder, mawa)
- 3 tablespoons ghee
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ¼ cup cashews
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 2 tablespoons pistachios garnish
Instructions
- Take four medium-sized beetroots, peel the skin and grate the beets using a grater or food processor. I have used a thick shredder/grater attachment.
Instant Pot Method:
- Press SAUTE button. Add one tablespoon of ghee into the pot, once hot add cashews, and stir fry till they are light golden brown. Remove and keep aside.
- Add the shredded beetroot and Saute with the leftover ghee for about 3-4 minutes till the raw smell disappears.
- Next, add milk into the pot, close the lid, and turn the pressure valve to the SEALING position.
- Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 4 minutes and When the instant pot beeps, Quick Release the pressure. Open the lid.
- Add sugar, almond flour, raisins, and remaining ghee. Mix well.
- Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté (High) and cook for 6-8 minutes until all the liquid is mostly absorbed (evaporated) and ghee separates from halwa.
- Add cardamom powder, roasted cashew nuts, and mix well.
- Serve instant pot pressure cooker beetroot halwa warm or cold and garnish with some pistachios.
Stovetop Pot Method
- In a large Kadai/Pot, add 1 tablespoon of ghee into the pot, once hot add cashews, and stir fry till they are light golden brown in color. Remove and keep aside.
- Add the shredded beetroot and Saute with the leftover ghee for about 3-4 minutes till the raw smell disappears.
- Next, add milk into the pot and stir well. Cover with a lid, boil for 20 minutes stirring occasionally on medium-low flame.
- When 75% of the liquid is evaporated, add sugar, almond flour, raisins, and remaining ghee. Mix well.
- Cook for 6-8 minutes until all the liquid is mostly absorbed (evaporated) and ghee separates from halwa.
- Also, add cardamom powder, roasted cashew nuts and mix well.
- Serve beet halwa, warm or cold, and garnish with some pistachios.
Notes
- Using fresh and juicy beetroot will help to reduce adding more sugar.
- Can reduce sugar if you want it to be a lighter version. You can use coconut sugar or jaggery or brown sugar instead of refined sugar.
- I have added almond flour to make the dish more healthy and rich, however, you can add either milk powder or khoya/mawa too.
- If you add condensed milk then reduce sugar by 3 tablespoons or skip the sugar completely.
- You can follow the same pressure cooker beetroot halwa recipe for carrot as well.
Nutrition
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Radha
It came out very well
bhavana
Nice!glad you liked it and thanks for sharing.