Carrot Halwa (Gajar ka halwa) is a rich Indian dessert recipe made with fresh carrots, milk, and sugar with a generous amount of ghee in an Instant pot Pressure cooker or stovetop. Perfect to serve during festivals and special occasions.
As winter begins, every Indian household gets ready to prepare all the delectable seasonal delicacies. Our kitchen is overflowing with mouthwatering dishes, including gajak, til patti, saag, achaars, and an endless list of others!
Today, I am sharing one item that everyone looks forward to and craves the most throughout the winter, none other than gajar (or carrot) ka halwa.
I have grown up seeing my parents and grandparents make this delectable halwa. When it is prepared, we all enjoy filling our bowls with it without caring about the world. Other Halwa recipes you may love are beetroot halwa, lauki halwa, badam halwa with almond flour, and sooji halwa.
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What Is Carrot (Or Gajar) Halwa?
Gajar ka halwa is a classic Indian dessert made of shredded carrots, milk, ghee, a generous amount of refined sugar, and some nuts. The end product is an orange-hued dish that is sweet, textured, and popular in North Indian homes throughout the winter.
I have prepared this carrot halwa recipe in my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot DUO60 6 QT.
Carrot Halwa Ingredients
- Ghee: Adding a good quantity of homemade ghee, enhances the taste and texture of the halwa. I highly recommend not cutting down the quantity of ghee for this recipe.
- Carrot: Choose fresh and tender carrots. You can also use Indian red carrots.
- Milk: I used full-fat dairy milk, you can also make it with almond milk, if you are vegan.
- Almond flour (or khova): I used blanched almond flour that is easily available in Costco and any Indian grocery store. It enhances the taste. You can also use mawa/khoya.
- Cardamom powder: I used freshly ground cardamom from 3 whole green cardamom pods.
How to Make Carrot Halwa in an Instant Pot
Take eight large carrots, peel the skin, and grate them using a grater or food processor. I used a thick shredder/grater attachment. I got 5 cups of shredded carrot.
Sanitize the Instant Pot parts well before making the sweet dish.
Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee to the pot. Then add the shredded carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of carrots disappears.
Add 1 cup whole milk and mix well.
Close the Instant Pot with the pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
Once the pot beeps, do a QUICK RELEASE. Open the lid and turn the pot to SAUTE (HIGH) again.
Then add ½ cup sugar (adjust to your taste), ½ cup almond flour (or ¼ cup of mawa/khova), ½ teaspoon cardamom powder, and the remaining 3 tablespoons of ghee, and cook until all the milk has been reduced (evaporated). It takes approximately another 5-6 minutes.
Garnish with 2-3 tablespoons sliced almonds or pistachios.
Serve Instant pot pressure cooker carrot/gajar ka halwa hot, warm, or you can also serve it cold.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
- Follow the same steps as Instant Pot for a stovetop pressure cooker. Close the lid. Place a whistle and cook for 1 whistle on medium flame. Allow natural pressure release, and all other steps remain the same.
Stovetop Method
- In a large kadai, heat 1 tablespoon of ghee. Once hot, add the shredded carrot and saute for about 3-4 minutes till the raw smell disappears.
- Next, add milk to the pot and stir well. Cover with a lid, boil for 15-20 minutes, occasionally stirring on medium-low flame.
- When 75% of the liquid is evaporated, add sugar, almond flour, cardamom powder and remaining ghee. Mix well.
- Cook for another 5-6 minutes until all the liquid is mostly absorbed (evaporated) and ghee separates from halwa. Garnish with nuts and serve carrot halwa warm or cold.
Expert Tips
- If you are not adding almond flour or khoya you can increase the amount of milk while pressure cooking carrots.
- To make the gajar halwa richer, you can add condensed milk after the pressure cooking and adjust the sugar quantity accordingly or add khoya/khova instead of almond flour.
- Sanitize the Instant Pot steel insert, lid, and sealing ring before making sweet to avoid milk curdling. I always keep an extra sealing ring for sweets separately.
- I highly recommend adding sugar after the pressure cooking, sometimes impurities in the sugar can curdle the milk and spoil.
Variations
- You can replace sugar with organic jaggery or brown sugar.
- If you don't have cardamom, replace it with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, replace dairy milk with almond milk and ghee with coconut oil.
Carrot Halwa stays good when refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
More Instant Pot Dessert Recipes
Carrot Halwa (Gajar Ka Halwa) - Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons ghee
- 5 cups carrot (fresh & tender), shredded (about 8 large carrots)
- 1 cup full-fat whole milk (or almond milk)
- ½ cup sugar (adjust as per your taste)
- ½ cup almond flour (or ¼ cup of mawa/khova), optional but recommended
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 2-3 tablespoons sliced almonds (or pistachios)
Instructions
- Take eight large carrots, peel the skin and grate them using a grater or food processor. I have used a thick shredder/grater attachment.
Instant Pot Method:
- Sanitize the Instant Pot parts well before making the sweet dish.
- Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Add one tablespoon of ghee into the Pot.Then add the shredded carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of carrots disappears.
- Add milk and mix well.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
- Once the pot beeps, do a QUICK RELEASE. Open the lid and turn the pot to SAUTE (HIGH) again.
- Then add sugar, almond flour, cardamom powder, remaining ghee, and cook until all the milk has been reduced (evaporated). It approximately takes another 5-6 minutes.
- Garnish with sliced almonds or pistachios. Serve gajar ka halwa hot, warm, or you can also serve it cold.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method:
- In a stovetop pressure cooker, add 1 tablespoon of ghee into the pot, once hot then add the shredded carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of carrots disappears.
- Add milk and mix well. Close the lid. Place a whistle and cook for 1 whistle on medium flame.
- After pressure has released naturally, open the lid and add sugar, almond flour, cardamom powder, remaining ghee and cook until all the milk has been reduced (evaporated). It approximately takes another 5-6 minutes.
- Garnish with sliced almonds or pistachios. Serve carrot halwa hot, warm or you can also serve it cold.
Notes
Variations & Tips
- Can replace sugar with jaggery or brown sugar.
- If you don't have cardamom, replace it with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- I highly recommend adding sugar after the pressure cooking, sometimes impurities in the sugar can curdle the milk and spoil.
- To make the gajar halwa richer you can add condensed milk after the pressure cooking and adjust sugar quantity accordingly or add khoya/khova instead of almond flour.
- If you are not adding almond flour or khoya you can increase the amount of milk while pressure cooking carrots.
- Sanitize the Instant Pot steel insert, lid, and sealing ring before making sweet to avoid curdling of milk. I always keep an extra sealing ring for sweets separately.
Nutrition
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