The BEST gajar halwa you’ll ever make and it needs a few simple ingredients! This North Indian carrot halwa (aka Gajrela) is made traditionally (the old-fashioned way) so it’s time-consuming but the result is super delicious.
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❤️About This Recipe
Taste & Texture:
- Carrot halwa is rich and creamy (from milk granules coated to carrots).
- It’s perfectly sweetened with sugar.
- It has a melt-in-your-mouth kind of texture.
- Also, gajar halwa has a flavor of sweet carrots.
- You’ll get crunchy nuts or juicy raisins in every bite.
Consistency of gajar halwa:
- At most places, you’ll get a thick, spoonable, and pudding-like soft (but not runny) consistency.
- But in many North Indian households, gajar halwa has a slightly runny yet thick pudding-like consistency (between kheer and halwa). That is called gajrela.
Gajar halwa is made during the winter months. Traditionally, it is made with red carrots (Delhi carrots) and those are in season during winter. These red carrots are sweeter and juicier than regular orange carrots. Though carrot halwa can be made with any type of carrots and you’ll still get good results.
The Traditional Method Of Making Gajar Halwa:
- It requires 4 main ingredients (ghee, carrots, milk and sugar). Rest are garnish and flavor ingredients.
- The process takes more than an hour (as milk is evaporated slowly on low flame. Plus, all the moisture from carrot, sugar and milk has to be evaporated and the mixture should be thickened like halwa).
Other Quick Ways To Make Carrot Halwa:
- You can make carrot halwa with condensed milk.
- You can make carrot halwa in instant pot (or pressure cooker).
- You can make it by adding khoya.
🧾Ingredient Notes
Here is a pic of the ingredients you’ll need to make traditional gajar halwa. Measurements and details are given in the recipe card below.
- Carrots: If you get red carrots then I highly recommend using those. I never get those where I live. So I have used regular orange carrots.
- Ghee: It adds a nice flavor to the halwa.
- Milk: Always use full-fat whole milk.
- Sugar: If using red carrots (which are sweeter) then reduce the sugar amount slightly.
- Nuts, Raisins: I have used almonds, cashews and raisins.
- Saffron: It adds a nice flavor to the gajar halwa. You can skip it though.
👩🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
1) Heat the ghee in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Once hot add chopped cashews and almonds. Fry until golden brown.
2) Drain excess ghee and remove it to a bowl.
3) Add raisins into the same ghee and it will puff up in a few seconds.
4) Drain excess ghee and remove it to the same bowl, keep it aside.
5) In the remaining ghee, add grated carrots and mix.
6) Saute for 7-8 minutes or until it starts to soften.
7) Add heated milk. (Note: I recommend heating the milk in a microwave or in a pan on another stove rather than adding cold milk from the fridge).
8) Crush the saffron strands and add.
9) Let the milk come to a boil and let it simmer on medium-low heat. Since we added heated milk, it will start simmering right away.
10) During the simmering process, milk will bubble up and froth up.
11) Do stir every 5 minutes and scrap the sides and bottom of the pan as milk solids are stuck on the sides.
12) Keep simmering and stirring until all the moisture is evaporated and it becomes thick. During the end (when it becomes thick), you need to stir often and then constantly.
Image #9) Milk starts simmering, #10) after 15 minutes simmering. #11) after 30 minutes of simmering. #12) after 45 minutes of simmering.
NOTE: Take this simmering/cook time as a guideline. This time varies depending on the size and thickness of the kadai, your stove flame intensity, and the quantity of halwa you’re making.
13) Add sugar and mix.
14) As it melts halwa becomes runny again and continue cooking with stirring occasionally.
15) And stir constantly when it starts to thicken and cook until all the moisture is gone and it gets thick halwa consistency. This step took around 8-10 minutes for me.
16) Turn off the stove and add roasted nuts and raisins.
💭Expert Tips
- Grating Carrots:
- I prefer using a food processor for grating purposes as it makes the task easy and gets done in minutes.
- If doing by hand then use a box grater (with larger grates). Do not use a small size grater otherwise grated carrots will get cook faster and almost disintegrate into the halwa and you’ll miss the texture and bit in gajar halwa.
- Sugar Amount:
- At home, we prefer just enough sweetness for desserts (many Indians prefer slightly more sweetness for desserts). The given measurements make the halwa just sweet. So increase the amount according to your sweet preference.
- Reduce the sugar amount slightly if using red carrots as they are sweeter than regular orange carrots.
- Scaling the recipe:
- You can halve the recipe and the cooking time will be slightly less.
- You can double the recipe and in that case, the cooking time will be more. In this recipe, I made gajar halwa recipe with 1 lb (around 500 grams) of carrots and it took me around 1 hour 15 mins. If you make it with 3 lb carrots then it will take around 2 hours.
- Roasting carrots in ghee: This step helps to bring out the flavor of the carrot. Plus, when milk is added to roasted carrots the milk won’t curdle. Sometimes, if milk is added to raw carrots then the chances of milk getting curdled are high.
🥣 Storage & Serving:
- In the refrigerator, gajar halwa stays good for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Because of its longer shelf-life, people usually prefer to make a large batch.
- In the freezer, it stays good for up to 2 months.
- At the time of serving, reheat the carrot halwa in the microwave for a few seconds (or until warmed up). However, it can be enjoyed chilled.
Check Out Other Halwa Recipes
Did you try this gajar halwa recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.
📋 Recipe Card
Gajar Halwa Recipe (Carrot Halwa)
Ingredients
- 1 lb Carrots Around 500 grams or 4 cups loosely packed grated carrots (peeled, washed and grated)
- 2 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)
- 5 Almonds chopped
- 5 Cashew nuts chopped
- 8-10 Raisins golden
- 2 ½ cups Milk full-fat whole milk
- 4 strands Saffron crushed between thumb and index finger
- ½ cup Sugar (⅓ cup if using red delhi carrots)
Instructions
- Heat the ghee in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Once hot add chopped cashews and almonds. Fry until golden brown, drain excess ghee and remove it to a bowl.
- Add raisins into the same ghee and it will puff up in a few seconds. Drain excess ghee and remove it to the same bowl, keep it aside.
- In the remaining ghee, add grated carrots and mix. Saute for 7-8 minutes or until it starts to soften.
- Add heated milk. (Note: I recommend heating the milk in a microwave or in a pan on another stove rather than adding cold milk from the fridge).
- Crush the saffron strands and add.
- Let the milk come to a boil and let it simmer on medium-low heat. Since we added heated milk, it will start simmering right away.
- During the simmering process, milk will bubble up and froth up. Do stir every 5 minutes and scrap the sides and bottom of the pan as milk solids are stuck on the sides.
- Keep simmering and stirring until all the moisture is evaporated and it becomes thick. During the end (when it becomes thick), you need to stir often and then constantly. (It took me around 45 minutes.)
- Add sugar and mix. As it melts halwa becomes runny again and continue cooking with stirring occasionally. And stir constantly when it starts to thicken and cook until all the moisture is gone and it gets thick halwa consistency. This step took around 8-10 minutes for me.
- Turn off the stove and add roasted nuts and raisins.
Notes
- I prefer using a food processor for grating purposes as it makes the task easy and gets done in minutes. If doing by hand then use a box grater (with larger grates).
- Do not use a small size grater otherwise grated carrots will get cook faster and almost disintegrate into the halwa and you’ll miss the texture and bit in gajar halwa.
- At home, we prefer just enough sweetness for desserts (many Indians prefer slightly more sweetness for desserts). The given measurements make the halwa just sweet. So increase the amount according to your sweet preference.
- Reduce the sugar amount slightly if using red carrots as they are sweeter than regular orange carrots.
- You can halve the recipe and the cooking time will be slightly less.
- You can double the recipe and in that case, the cooking time will be more. In this recipe, I made gajar halwa recipe with 1 lb (around 500 grams) of carrots and it took me around 1 hour 15 mins. If you make it with 3 lb carrots then it will take around 2 hours.
Pallavi
Loved recipe soooo much
Kanan
good to know. Thank you.