Main Ingredients:
- 1½ Grated Carrots
- Raisin
- Almonds
- Cashew nuts
- Cardamom powder
- Pistachio
- Ghee
- 300g Sugar
- 1 litre full cream milk
Do you remember the good old days when the entire family would gather and cook together? A beautiful picnic kind of vibe, right?
Just like that, today my mother-in-law and I decided to cook together. Under her guidance, we will see how to make carrot halwa. People in Punjab also call it “gajrela” she told me a fun fact.
Gajar or Carrot halwa is a traditional Indian dessert which is generally prepared by smoldering carrots with milk. No Indian feast can miss this dish in the menu that’s how much people love it in India.
This is an Indian version of a pudding kind of dish.
This dish can be seen in Indian households mostly in the winters. And trust me! Having Gajar Halwa during winters is another level of joy.
Generally, the process of making carrot halwa includes milk, carrots, sugar, ghee and some dry fruits of your choice. For extra flavors some people use cardamom as well.
In this recipe, we will be using the traditional way of cooking the halwa that means we will use full fat/full cream milk and not any processed product like khoya, condensed milk, etc.
Some people take half an hour to make this dish, some people make it in one hour and some people finish things off in just forty minutes. In the end, it all depends on your cooking skills.
Remember, that no matter how much time you take to cook it, its not an issue, but compromise with taste in any kind of hurry.
Here’s how to make Gajar Ka Halwa (Carrot Halwa)
Before moving forward, here’s a little secret – This is not my recipe, its my mother in law’s recipe.
A pan and some ingredients
Take a pan and add 2 tablespoon ghee and then 1½ Kg grated carrot and cook it at medium flame. Don’t forget to stir continuously so that the carrots fry properly. After some time, the moisture will complete vanish.
The delicious magic of milk and sugar
Now, add 1 litre full cream milk to the pan. Mix it and cook it for a few more minutes. Next, add 300g sugar to it and fry it all for some time as you continuously stir it. The outcome will be a marvelously tasty dish, trust me on this!
You will notice water in the pan after mixing sugar. Here, you need to keep stirring and cooking the halwa until it completely absorbs the water.
Dry fruits on this halwa are like a cherry on the cake
Finally, add ½ tablespoon of ghee to the halwa in the pan and mix it for some time.
To give your carrot halwa the most delighting flavors, add cardamom powder and all the dry fruits including – Cashew Nuts, Raisin, Almonds (chopped) and pistachio to it.
Mix it all with the halwa and done!
Your delicious Gajar Ka Halwa is Ready.
Happy Cooking!
