Have you ever tried gajar halwa? It’s a bright orange Indian carrot pudding that’s absolutely decadent!
Gajar ka Halwa is a delicious and rich carrot pudding made by cooking carrots with ghee, milk, sugar and a bit of cardamom. It’s the perfect dessert to make for any celebration, including Valentine’s Day which is coming right up! It’s perfect for Easter too – after all, the Easter Bunny love carrots, right? Right. Make this sweet treat for your little bunnies (kiddos) if you’ve got ’em. Or enjoy it all on your own!
I can’t tell you how many times I had to make and re-make this recipe. The first time I made gajar halwa in my Instant Pot, I had my dad taste test it and was told to immediately try again lol.
This classic Indian dessert has been my dad’s favorite sweet since childhood. He knows what great gajar halwa tastes like and has very high standards. This recipe has his stamp of approval. Yes, there is quite a bit of ghee in the recipe but if you’re going to make gajar halwa then it should be done right.
This recipe is made in an Instant Pot and while it is much faster than my stovetop recipe, it will still require a bit of time and patience as you’ll need to stir the carrots in ghee to fry them a bit, which adds great flavor.
When my parents were visiting us in Pittsburgh about a year ago, my dad and I made this dessert no less than 10 times in one week just to make sure it was perfect since it would be going in my cookbook. We tested it using both dairy and dairy-free ingredients – so yes, you can make a dairy-free carrot halwa but the dairy version calling for ghee and milk is better. We ate a lot of it that week and froze a good amount of it too (p.s. this dessert freezes well!). During the trip, my dad taught me a couple secrets to making a proper carrot halwa:
- Wait to add the ghee until after you pressure cook the carrots as that helps give the halwa that desired dark orange/red color.
- You don’t need to use a lot of milk to make this dessert but don’t cut back on the ghee.
It was so fun creating this recipe with my dad. Before the visit, he would mainly cook on the stovetop but while testing this recipe with me, he saw firsthand how cool the Instant Pot is and now he uses his Instant Pot all the time, calling to tell me what new thing he made and how well it turned out. I also ask both him and my mom to test out my new recipes to let me know what he thinks. My parents live in another state but when we share our recipes over FaceTime, it feels like we’re right next to each other in the kitchen.
So thanks dad for helping me perfect this recipe and for all your help with my other recipes! 🙂 And a big thanks to my mom too – she is an phenomenal cook and helped me with another really special dessert in my cookbook: the most amazing recipe for meethe chawal! Find it along with other Instant Pot Indian recipes in my book, Indian Food Under Pressure.
Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa (Indian Carrot Pudding)
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This classic Indian dessert has been my dad’s favorite sweet since childhood. He knows good halwa and he loves this recipe. My dad actually helped me come up with the method for making this delicious, rich halwa. He taught me a couple secrets to making this recipe: 1. Wait to add the ghee until after you pressure cook the carrots as that helps give the halwa that desired dark orange/red color. 2. You don’t need to use a lot of milk to make this dessert but don’t cut back on the ghee.
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots, grated (approx. 4 cups)
- ½ cup whole milk (or full-fat canned coconut milk if dairy-free/vegan)
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons ghee (or coconut oil if dairy-free/vegan)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
- Chopped pistachios or other nut, garnish
Instructions
- Add the carrots, milk and water to the pot. Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 1 minute at high pressure.
- Open the valve to quick release any remaining pressure.
- Press sauté and add the sugar. Stir for 6-7 minutes, or until most of the liquid has reduced. Then, add the ghee and stir-fry the carrots for another 6-7 minutes, or until the carrots become dry and the ghee separates from the mixture. The carrots should look dark orange/reddish in color.
- Add the cardamom, mix well, then garnish with chopped nuts.
Notes
- You can stir raisins or any type of nut into this halwa if you’d like!
- I don’t use khoya when I make halwa, but if you’d like to use it, feel free to mix it in at the end when adding cardamom powder.
- If you are making this for a dinner party, serve a small portion of halwa with a large scoop of ice cream.
- If you want to make this dairy-free, you can use full-fat coconut milk and coconut oil instead of ghee (but it won’t taste quite as good).
How many does this recipe serve?
I’d say 3 to 4 — the servings are small but the dish is very decadent. You can also serve just a scoop of it with ice cream if you’re making it for a larger group!
Only pressure cook for 1(one) minute?
Yup, that’s right! If you’d like to join my IP Facebook group – several people actually shared pics of the halwa today! It will turn out great 🙂
Do you serve this hot or cold? Can you make it the day before you plan to serve it, and if so do you store it in the refrigerator?
Made your recipe and it turned out great! Thankyou for sharing. Trying again with double the quantity of carrots. Do I make any changes to the liquid used or cooking time?
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Nilu, so happy to hear that!! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂 If you double the recipe then I suggest doubling all ingredients but keeping the cook time the same. Enjoy! 🙂
Can I cook it without instant pot? If so how?
Looks delicious! How do you make it look so wonderful orange color? I have tried it (different recipe) once but it is much dull colored than yours here! I am thinking of using those tiny finger-sized ready to eat carrots. They look quite orange to me.
I also wanted to ask about khoya… Is it enough to add it as it is in the end like you mentioned? You really don’t need to cook it at all?
How about condensed milk? Will it make it richer somehow? 🙂
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Hi Samir! The orange color comes from roasting it in the ghee at the end – it’s a trick I learned from my dad 🙂 As for khoya or condensed milk – you can add it at the end and saute for a few minutes but I suggest tasting the halwa before you do. I think you will love this dish without those two things. It’s very rich thanks to the ghee! Let me know how it turns out for you!
Tried your carrot halwa recipe, and the result was superb! Replaced whole milk with a can of evaporated milk (just because I had that lying around in my pantry).
Excellent trick in getting that dark orange color!!! I went through several carrot halwa recipes online but found none that came close to this wonderful idea of roasting in ghee at the end. Thanks to you and your dad for sharing! Also loved the recipe for its simple ingredients (and the fact that it doesn’t require khoya to make it taste and look so decadent :))
Devansh, I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you for letting me know how this turned out for you – I passed this along to my dad as well 🙂 I really appreciate it!
Made your recipe and it turned out great!!!!
And the color is perfect thanks for sharing your trick
Chandu, so happy to hear that!! 🙂
Tried this recipe out yesterday and it was awesome. Thanks to you and your dad for the all the experiments. This recipe was spot on.
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Thanks Rema! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂 Will definitely pass this along to my dad too 🙂
If I add khoa do I add more sugar? How much khoa would be good enough for this recipe. I’m a rookie so need help 🙂
I just love this recipe, I have made it some many times. I was wondering if I double the amount of carrots do I double everything else and still give pressure for 1 min?
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes.
Fatima, so happy to hear that you like it so much 🙂 If you double it, double everything but leave the cook time the same. Enjoy!
Hi m I am new to the instant pot
We do not use ghee! Can we use normal butter as a replacement?
Also when you say stir fry at end end after adding the ghee, is this in saute mode as well?
Thanks
for bigger batch also the time would be same.
yes 🙂
Hi dear
Thanks for sharing this recipe
I tried in my new instapot
Came out very well and has awesome taste!!!
Thanks to you and your dad!!
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Anu, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Excellent recipe…my customization for a vegan version was to add about 3/4th cup or so of peeled raw and finely ground almond paste (soak them in boiling water and pinch the skin off first). Also added some kesar (saffron) and elachi (cardamom) and cooked it with the carrots. One thing to note is to put as little water in the paste etc. In my case, it was a little extra and I removed it and boiled it off on the stove. After releasing the pressure, removed the carrots and sauteed the nuts and raisins in Earth Balance (vegan butter substitute).
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Atul, that’s so great to hear 🙂 I’m glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing your vegan subs!
I don’t have an instant pot, so about how long would I need to cook this in a regular pot on stovetop?
Hi Donna! I actually have a stovetop recipe that calls for coconut milk but you can use whole milk instead: https://myheartbeets.com/carrot-fudge-indian-gajar-halwa-mithai/
Do you use baby carrots for this recipe?
Any carrots will work as long as they are grated 🙂
Ashley I get chopped carrots at my local Indian store and decided to try this recipe. Too lazy to make any effort to grate. I had one percent milk so used that with a little condensed milk and brown sugar. I pressure cooked for 8 mins and mashed the carrots. Then did the sauté etc. it turned out excellent. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Leena, that’s awesome! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
Can I use pre shredded carrots?
Yes – but just so you know, shredded carrots are thicker than grated so it may affect the consistency a bit. It’ll still be tasty though!
This turned out great the first time. Making it again, this time for a party so larger quantity. Thanks for the recipe !
Manu, so happy to hear that! Hope everyone loves it!
Thanks very much to you & your dad for this superb recipe! It’s my first time making it and my 11 year old boy and I just enjoyed a bowl together… yum!!
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I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you and your son 🙂
Hi Manali
My instapot never got up to pressure and then displayed the burn warning, any ideas?
Best
Kavita
Hi, my name is Ashley 🙂 I’m not sure… are you sure it was my recipe you were following?
Hi. I don’t use an insta pot, can I do the same with a pressure cooker with 1 whistle? Will it work the same without making the carrots very mushy? And the halwas, I like it dry with a texture. Hoping to try this soon
Delicious and pretty quick to make! Thank you
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I’m so happy to hear that you liked it! 🙂
Hi, this looks great and I would love to try it. I have one question though. When you measure 4 tablespoons of Ghee, should the ghee be melted or in solid form from fridge?
I keep mine on the counter at room temp and so it’s usually soft when I measure 🙂 I don’t think it’ll make too much of a difference either way though.
I tried this recipe today. Didn’t have a lot of carrots but made it with just one cup as I was really craving carrot halwa. Amazing taste! I can’t believe that it is so simple and tastes so great! Thanks for the recipe. Will make large quantity on the weekend.
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Manisha, that’s so great to hear!! I’m so glad you like it 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how the recipe turned out for you!
Hi,
I have to do a dairy free and natural sugar version!
Can i use dates and figs instead of sugar for sweetness and coconut milk for the carrots to cook in?
If you do that I’d probably make a paste first before cooking. I haven’t tried it this way but let me know how it goes!
Hi Ashley,
Can I use butter instead of ghee?
Yes you can use butter! I just prefer ghee out of the two because ghee has a nutty flavor to it!
Very good recipe!!!
Tweaked a little with the help of my mom… and it turned out the way my dad used to make!!!
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I had never made gajar halwa before but my husband had a craving and we just happened to have carrots in the fridge. We made it in about 15 minutes and it turned out pretty good!! I have followed a lot of your blogs and posts and what makes them stand out from everything else online are the tips! So please do continue to post them! Thank you!
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Nehal, I’m so happy to hear that you both liked the halwa!! Thanks for the kind words 🙂
The recipe was just delicious, can’t wait to make it for the entire family and more. The modification I made was due to ingredients I had at home: heavy cream instead of whole milk. The most satisfying part of this recipe: how quickly it is done! Thanks!!
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I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
I’d like to use maple syrup, date paste, or honey as the sweetener instead of sugar. Which would you suggest I try first? Thanks!
I’d go with honey 🙂
I am in heaven when I eat this dessert with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. I don’t have a pressure cooker but I do have a slow cooker. Would that work?
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Just made it by doubling the quantities. Came out great!
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Monica, I’m so happy to hear that!! Thanks for letting me know how the halwa turned out for you 🙂
Tried it yesterday. It came out wonderful!!! Delicious! Thanks for the recipe Ashley.
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Savita, so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how the halwa turned out for you 🙂
Tried it 2 weeks ago and took it to the office so that I can share with my friends. Everybody loved it.
Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe Ashley.
I am planning to make Badam Halwa this time but didn’t find recipe for the same.
Can you please share recipe for Badam Halwa if you have one?
Thanks again.
Anil
Anil, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how the gajar halwa turned out for you 🙂 I’ll add badam halwa to my list of recipes to make!
Oh my God. It was a hit.
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Pat, I’m so happy to hear that!
Thank you to you and your dad. I tried this recipe and it came out better than I expected. I just used milk instead of water.
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Dimpal, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
This is an amazing recipe- the halwa turned out so yummy, and took about half the time it takes on the stovetop. And the color is truly beautiful. I did add khoya at the end, and that also works very well- just makes it even richer. Thank you for making it so easy to make this delicious favorite dish for my family!
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Shahnaz, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for letting me know how the halwa turned out for you 🙂
Amazingly simple but delicious! Tried making gajar halwa for the first time in my life today with your recipe and I’m thrilled to say that it turned out great. Thank you!!
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Devyani, I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Wow this is great recipe I made it
Bidy, I’m so happy to hear that you liked the gajar halwa recipe!
Love this recipe! Halwa tastes amazing. Not too sweet, well cooked and not too heavy. Thanks a ton!
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Sowjanya, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Do you serve this hot or cold? Can you make it the day before you plan to serve it, and if so do you store it in the refrigerator?
You can serve it any way you’d like – hot or cold works! I personally prefer it hot/warm. And yes you can make it in advance, store it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve 🙂 It actually freezes well too!