Gajar Ka Halwa
Gajar Ka Halwa or Gajar Halwa, our dessert today, is from beautiful Punjab. A traditional Indian dessert made of shredded carrots and milk. Low in calories, creamy pudding, perfumed with saffron and cardamom. It is similar to my Rice Kheer Recipe (Indian Rice Pudding).
What is Gajar Halwa?
Gajar Halwa is a delicious and creamy Indian dessert, made of simple ingredients like milk, carrot, and sugar. Gajar Ka Halwa is served and made on special occasions and on festivals. There are different variations of this dessert. Some make it with cream; others make it with Khoya.
Gajar Halwa Ingredients
Carrots. Use red and orange carrots are fine.
Butter or ghee.
Water.
Sugar.
Whole milk.
Saffron and cardamom.
Low in Calories And amazing
Usually, a serving of gajar ka halwa has 450 calories or maybe more. My version of gajar halwa has 224 calories, but you get to enjoy the same delicious taste. I promise that you’ll lick the spoon clean after tasting this dessert!
How to make a good Gajar Halwa?
- Use whole milk. Gajar ka halwa is a rich and creamy dessert, using low-fat or skim milk will change the texture and flavor.
- Use orange color or red color carrots. These two types are sweet and mostly used in making this dessert. Depending on the season, at times carrots might not have enough sweetness, it’s best to taste the carrot before using it in the recipe, this will help you adjust the amount of sugar.
- After adding the milk, keep a close eye on the dessert. The milk, if not stirred occasionally it will burn and stick to the bottom, which will ruin the dessert.
- Use ghee instead of butter for more flavor, and if you want more richness, add one tablespoon cream at the end instead of butter.
- Finely grate the carrot; it will cook faster, saving you more time.
Please Review and Rate
If you have tried this Gajar Ka Halwa recipe and liked it, please give it a 5-star rating and leave a comment below with your experience!
Gajar Ka Halwa – Carrot Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cups grated carrot
- 2 ½ cups hot water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup milk
- Pinch of saffron optional
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
Instructions
- In a hot pan, melt the butter.
- Add the carrot. Stir over medium heat, for 4 minutes.
- Add hot water and let it simmer until the water evaporates.
- Add sugar. Stir. Add milk, saffron, and cardamom. Stir occasionally.
- Gajar ka halwa is done when the milk evaporates but the mixture is in a creamy consistency.
- You can add a tablespoon of butter and stir if you want this dessert to be richer.
- Gajar ka halwa is best served warm.
What an unique pudding! I love the bright vibrant colour.
Thanks Angie, Hope you try it, it tastes amazing 🙂
i want to make this. i had it at a restaurant and it’s so good!
Do you know that I never ever had gajar halwa. My mom never made it. She as well as I make milk halwa though. Love the pop of orange color here and you managed to make it low calorie? Brilliant!
My mom hardly made desserts for us, so I’m compensating now 🙂 … I love Indian sweets and Gajar Ka Halwa is one of them but I only go for homemade, store bought are mostly dry!
yummy looking gajar halwa!! thanks for reminding me now…its carrot season now!!
Thank you Suja. You’ve got a lovely blog 🙂
Thanks Muna! I made this the other night and every body in my family loved it. It’s definitely a new comfort food of mine. I think I should have finely grated the carrots though. It didn’t look quite right. But the taste was amazing and I loved how it was low-calorie.
Hi Sanam, I’m glad you and your family liked my low calorie version of Gajar Ka Halwa 🙂 …. You are right about finely grating the carrots, that contribute in making it creamy in texture! Hope you try my other recipes too!
This looks like such a yummy breakfast idea, carrot! Great photos xx
Oh, yes it can go well with coffee 🙂
I have never had Indian food before.
This look absolutely amazing! I love sweet potatoes and yams so I am sure I would scarf this down!