Make easy Gajar ka halwa with khoya in just 55 minutes with khoya. It tastes exactly like the halwa you get from Sweet shop! So Good!
Gajar means carrot in Hindi and Urdu, gajar halwa is an Indian dessert garnished with nuts and dry fruits like almonds, pistachios, cashews and raisins.
Gajar ka halwa is an North Indian and Pakistani traditional sweet also known as Indian carrot pudding. This carrot halwa recipe is made with khoya, AKA mawa.
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Taste
This halwa is a winter delight as fresh, sweet, and Indian red carrots are profuse in winters. The recipe of this carrot halwa is very balanced and gives you perfect halwa that is neither too sweet nor bland.
This halwa is not too heavy with ghee and khoya and has a perfect combination. This recipe is for 1 kg so you can easily double or triple the recipe.
Why this recipe works?
If you make halwa with milk, the cooking time is very long. So to reduce cooking time, I'm using khoya in this recipe. And this is the same method used by most commercial restaurants. So, this is also restaurant/ sweet shop style halwa.
You might also like my sooji halwa, carrot cake, sheer khurma and mango kulfi.
Ingredients
You need fresh carrots, milk, sugar, and ghee as the main ingredients to make this rich Punjabi dessert.
- Carrot:The most important tip for making the best gajar ka halwa is to use red (not orange), juicy and preferably Pakistani carrots. They taste best, give that perfect texture. So, putting extra effort into finding the right carrots is totally worth it.
- Ghee: Halwa is best made in ghee which is Indian clarified butter. If you can't find ghee then use unsalted butter. You can also mix oil and butter. Making halwa in oil is not recomended.
- Cardamom powder: This ingredient is commonly used in all traditional Indian desserts. If you do not have cardamom, add saffron.
- Milk: The milk in the recipe provides liquid in which carrot gets tender.
- Khoya: Khoya is simply solid crumbled milk made by evaporating milk until almost solid. You can find the recipe of khoya on Spice up the curry blog. I used store-bought khoya, also spelled as khoa and khova. You can easily get it from any Indian/ Pakistani Sweetshop.)
- Sugar: You can add less or more sugar to taste. The carrot also lend natural sweetness to halwa.
- Raisin: Raisin are completely optional.
- Mixed nuts: Garjar Halwa is always garnished with almond and pistachio slices.
How to make?
The pictorial shows the making of a 2 KG carrot halwa. The recipe card has a recipe of 1 kg halwa so you can easily double or triple the recipe. The cooking time will increase as you double the recipe so look for a visual indication of each step.
- Wash and peel carrots. To peel scrape the carrots with edge of knife to remove thin roots and very little skin. (No need to use a peeler or remove too much of skin).
- Grate carrots with big holes of grater, the most strenuous part of this recipe is grating carrots. (You can also finely grate carrot in a food processor. It's not a traditionally used method, I don't recommend that if you are picky about texture.)
- Heat desi ghee or clarified butter in a kadai or thick based skillet and add cardamom powder, give it a stir.( You may use 3-4 whole cardamom but crush it to open the pod skin for enhanced flavors.)
- Next, goes in shredded carrots. Cover the pot and cook for 5-10 minutes until soft.
- Colour of carrot changes, it is soft and reduced in volume.
- Add milk and sugar. The sugar will melt and there will be a lot of liquid in the pot. Cover the lid and cook for 15-25 minutes on medium heat till water dries. Keep stirring at intervals.
- Now, most of the water has dried. You'll notice some oil separating at this point.
- At this stage, add half of crumbled khoya and mix well.
- Cook (bhunnofy) for 5-7 minutes till oil separates profusely. Be careful after this point as halwa can easily get burnt after adding khoya. So cook on low heat or keep a griddle / tawa under your pot. Stay alert!
- In a pan, dry roast nuts until crispy.
- Add remaining khoya, roasted nuts and soaked raisins to the pot. Cover cook for 5 minutes. Stir carefully without over mixing the khoya. (This cooking step will develop some steam (dum) in pot and cook remaining khoya).
- You can save some nuts and khoya separately to garnish later on individual servings.
How To Store?
Room temperature: Gajar Halwa in cold places can stay good for up to 24 hours. Make sure the halwa is kept in a cool and well-ventilated place.
Frigde: The gajar ka halwa can stay good for upto 10 days in the fridge.
Freezer: You can freeze halwa for upto 3-4 months only. Freeze in flat layer in zip lock bags with small portion size for easy thawing and heating. To reheat add little milk and heat in a pan until hot.
The whole process of halwa making is time-consuming, I highly recommend making a large batch and freezing the excess in small portions. You can make about 2-3 kg halwa in winter and freeze most of it. I particularly, recommended freezing so you eat halwa in small portions. I also send some to friends and family.
Tin Canning: It is popular method to take canned gajar ka halwa from India and Pakistan to foreign country as gift or to be enjoyed later. You will need to put an extra layer of oil/ghee on top halwa in the can to increase the shelf life of gajar ka halwa.
The extra fat can be removed before reheating. You need to be extra careful is cooking and removing moisture from halwa.
The canned gajar halwa can last upto a year but the color is not as vibrant as fresh. I don't recommend canning for more than 2 weeks for best taste. Consider storing the halwa cans in the fridge or freeze as soon as possible.
Variations
This is the easiest and quickest carrot halwa recipe. Some popular and personally tested variation to this recipe are replacing khoya with
- Malai or fresh cream: Fresh cream from milk is precursor for both ghee and khoya. If you have fresh malai consider using in this recipe. Adjust ghee and khoya in the recipe as needed.
- Milk Powder: You can skip khoya for milk powder in this recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ghee is best choice of fat for halwa. I don't recommend making halwa with oil. You can mix some ghee and oil, if needed. Or consider using unsalted butter for making halwa and some oil. Remember you'll need more butter than ghee mentioned in the recipe as water from butter will evaporate in cooking
Yes, you can garnish halwa raisins or serve just as it is. It still tastes amazing.
No, you need very juicy East Indian red carrot that are crispy to bite like radish and quite sweet similar to beetroot.
My Other similar recipes:
If you try this gajar halwa recipe, I'd LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments. Your 5-ratings motivate me to do my best. Stay connected for more recipes and videos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube.
📖 Recipe
Gajar Ka Halwa
Ingredients
- 1 kg carrot, peeled and grated
- ¾ cup ghee, (clarified butter) (see notes)
- ¾ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ½ cup milk
- ¾-1 cup sugar , less or more to taste
- 2¼ cup khoya, crumbled (250 grams)
- 2-3 tablespoon raisin
- ¼ cup mixed nuts , for garnishing; almond, pistachio, cashew
Instructions
- Melt ghee in a thick bottomed wok and add cardamom powder.
- Then add grated carrot. Cover and cook for 7 minutes on medium high heat till carrots are soft.
- Remove lid, cook for 15-20 minutes to burn excess water, stirring in between.
- Now, add sugar and milk. The sugar will melt and get watery. Dry all water by cooking for 10 minutes. Keep stirring.
- Then add half khoya and cook further for 7-10 minutes. When you see ghee separates profusely from sides of pan. Add dry fruits, nuts and remaining khoya.
- Cover lid and let it simmer on low flame for 5 minutes. Gajar halwa is ready.
Notes
- Carrots: The most important tip for making the best gajar ka halwa is to use red (not orange) and juicy.
- Sugar: Carrots vary from region to region so adjust sugar if required.
- Khoya: is simply solid crumbled milk made by evaporating milk until almost solid. You can find the recipe of khoya on Spice up the curry blog. I used store-bought khoya, also spelled as khoa and khova. You can easily get it from any Indian/ Pakistani Sweetshop.) Instead of khoya, you can use 3 cup milk powder.
- Ghee: You can reduce ghee up to ½ cup. I have made gajar halwa with vegetable oil too. Taste differs a lot but you can use it. You can also use unsalted butter instead of ghee.
poorva nimkar says
I JUST LOVED THIS RECIPE
Everyone in my family loved it too!!! It tasted exactly like a halwai made Gajar ka halwa. I had made it a number of times last winter, was revisiting the site as I want to make it again now. Thank you Mariam for this wonderful recipe. Look forward to more from you...
Mariam Sodawater says
Hi Poorva, thank you for sharing your experience. I was going through rough patch and had taken a break from blogging. Now, I'm struggling with motivation. Your words mean a lot and provides the needed motivation.
samreen mohammed says
i want to know how make perfect gulab jamun
Karishma Desai says
Tried cooking gajar mawa halwa for the first time. Follow the recipe and found it to be extremely easy and it turned out to be delicious to everyone's delight. Thank you so much. I wasn't confident in myself, so made only a bowl full of it. Next time, I'll make in large quantities.
Mariam Sodawater says
Ohh! I'm so glad you liked it. With large quantities, cooking time will increase. I always make extra and freeze it for
later. Thanks for the feedback and rating.
Jannatul says
The best gajar ka halwa recipe I've ever followed. Really easy instructions to follow and photos were so helpful. My halwa came out perfect, my husband said its better than the ones from the shops or restaurants! I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to eat with. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Recipe 52 says
Thanks a lot for leaving this lovely feedback. I'm glad it helped. 🙂
Sharon says
I made the garja halwa it was so tasty that I kept checking to see how it tasted and I finished half of it .
Mariam Sodawater says
Hi, I'm so glad you liked it. Thanks for leaving a lovely comment. Now, you got me tempted too and soon I'll be making it again.
Rashid says
I really like gajar ka halwa and thanks for sharing this easy recipe.
Recipe 52 says
Thanks for the feedback! ???
Michelle says
This recipe is a real gem! Perfect instructions, easy to follow and my gajwar halwa came out most delicious! My husband said he liked that it was smelling like a sweet shop in the house. Definite recipe to keep and use from now on! Authentic taste 100%! 5/5! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Recipe 52 says
Ooh my goodness! Such lovely words, thank you so much for feedback. ?