Gajar ka Halwa Recipe in Hindi
Gajar ka Halwa is a winter delicacy that is loved by my kids. My younger son starts gently and firmly pestering me to make it as soon as red carrots appear in the market. You can make larger batches and keep as it easily stays for a week or more in the fridge though it is polished off sooner.
It requires only a few ingredients but it is generally a labour of love which requires slogging at the stove. Despite using condensed milk or Milkmaid instead of milk in the recipe, it still requires more than an hour of cooking time.
Here is my gajar ka halwa recipe:
Prep Time 45 minutes Cook Time 1 hour Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes Servings 12 Calories 294 kcal Author Rachna Parmar
Ingredients
- 1.5 Kg red carrots grated
- 1.5 can condensed milk I used 400 ml. Milkmaid cans
- 2 tsp. crushed cardamom seeds
- few pieces of cashews and raisins
- ½ cup ghee
- sugar optional
- 50 g. khoya or evaporated milk solids optional
Instructions
- Take a thick bottom pan or kadhai.
- Add grated carrot with condensed milk and cook together on medium to low flame. Keep stirring constantly. Carrots will release water. You have to cook till all water has evaporated. It took me about 40 minutes.
- Now add ghee, cardamom powder and sugar (optional) along with khoya (optional). I personally don't add additional sugar as the sweetness from the condensed milk and the carrots is adequate. But if you like it sweeter, add sugar.
- Cook more for about 15 minutes til everything looks well cooked. You can see the ghee making the halwa shine.
- Now add some chopped cashews and raisins and take off the flame.
- Serve the delicious gajar ka halwa warm, with ice cream, rabdi or as is. It is really tasty.
Recipe Notes
- You can use whole milk instead of condensed milk. It takes more time to cook off and form milk solids.
- Adjust sugar accordingly if you are using whole milk in place of condensed milk.
- Instead of grating carrots, I use my hand chopper to quickly get it into very small pieces thus saving the preparation time. Else grating 1.5 kilos carrots is very time consuming. Use your food processor if you have one.
- Use fresh red carrots which are naturally sweeter.
- You can reduce the amount of ghee by a little but not too much.
Here is my recipe of how to make gajar ka halwa
📖 Recipe Card
Gajar ka Halwa Recipe | How to Make Gajar ka Halwa
Ingredients
- 1.5 Kg red carrots grated
- 1.5 can condensed milk I used 400 ml. Milkmaid cans
- 2 tsp. crushed cardamom seeds
- few pieces of cashews and raisins
- ½ cup ghee
- sugar optional
- 50 g. khoya or evaporated milk solids optional
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Instructions
- Take a thick bottom pan or kadhai.
- Add grated carrot with condensed milk and cook together on medium to low flame. Keep stirring constantly. Carrots will release water. You have to cook till all water has evaporated. It took me about 40 minutes.
- Now add ghee, cardamom powder and sugar (optional) along with khoya (optional). I personally don't add additional sugar as the sweetness from the condensed milk and the carrots is adequate. But if you like it sweeter, add sugar.
- Cook more for about 15 minutes til everything looks well cooked. You can see the ghee making the halwa shine.
- Now add some chopped cashews and raisins and take off the flame.
- Serve the delicious gajar ka halwa warm, with ice cream, rabdi or as is. It is really tasty.
Video
Notes
- You can use whole milk instead of condensed milk. It takes more time to cook off and form milk solids.
- Adjust sugar accordingly if you are using whole milk in place of condensed milk.
- Instead of grating carrots, I use my hand chopper to quickly get it into very small pieces thus saving the preparation time. Else grating 1.5 kilos carrots is very time consuming. Use your food processor if you have one.
- Use fresh red carrots which are naturally sweeter.
- You can reduce the amount of ghee by a little but not too much.
Nutrition
Here is my recipe of how to make gajar ka halwa
Step by step Pictures
I grate my carrots in my hand chopper
Add condensed milk or milkmaid.
Add cardamom powder
Cook it down till all the milk has evaporated. Add ghee and khoya if adding. Cook some more. Then serve it hot after adding cashews and raisins.
Let me know if you try this recipe or if you have other tips for making this classic dish gajar ka halwa.
You may also like these other winter delicacies:
Matar ka Nimona Recipe
Aloo Matar ki Sabzi
Sarson Ka Saag
Makki ki Roti
Palak ka Paratha
Gajar ki Kanji
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Shilpa Gupte says
I, too, am planning on making this some day soon The red carrots have begun appearing now in the markets now! Adding Milkmaid gives it a different flavour….OOh, I am drooling just typing this comment! ;P
Rachna says
You should make it. Very simple recipe actually. The trick is in cooking it slowly and patiently. I don't like carrots going soggy or dissolving in milk.
Nabanita Dhar says
I did make gajjar halwa this winter, Well, S did ? Will try making it again after your post!
Rachna says
Oh nice. He did! You can try this one. It will cut the cooking time short.
Suzy says
My gajjar ka halwa days are over. I developed an allergy to raw carrots some years ago and I can only take very well cooked carrots in small quantities. Such a pity as gajjar ka halwa was one of my favourites especially the way my aunt made it, Yours looks delicious.
Rachna says
So sorry to hear that, Suzy. For me as well, I loved how my mum used to make it. This is her recipe basically.
Shailaja V says
Looks delicious! I hardly make sweets though, especially ghee versions, since V does not eat ghee. Gy has very little so I’d end up eating the lion’s share and let me just say it isn’t for the best.
Reminds me of my aunt, your recipe. She used to make amazing desserts!
Rachna says
Oh yes! This is insanely heavy on Calories. And I wouldn't want any low calorie versions of it. I am not too fond of sweets either but I make this one and besan laddoos mostly because the kids love them. I should make more kheer and other halwas too. 🙂
Soumya Prasad says
Condensed milk is such a savior, isn’t it? They make desserts so easy ?
I was looking for a good carrot halwa recipe and thank you for this, Rachna. My MIL makes this with MIL and it gets soggy and watery like payasam. I’ll make a batch using this recipe and send out some for her. Thanks again.
Rachna says
Glad to help, Soumya. Soggy and watery is so putting off.
Reema D'souza says
I love Gajar ka halwa! It has been some time since I had. I've gajar ka halwa cravings now after reading your post!
the bespectacled mother says
I didn't know there is an alternative to grating the carrots for the halwa. This is hardwork and I have thus refrained from making this halwa though I love it. Another dilemma was the khoya thing. I love it how easy you make the recipes that even a lazy, unskilled person at cooking like me wants to cook it up 🙂 I will try it over the weekend.
Rajlakshmi says
I wannttt this... Ages since I made some at home. Now I feel like making some today. thanks for the recipe.