Gajar Ka Halwa - Carrot Halwa
This luxurious dessert is a labour of love, especially if you are hand-grating the carrots! But it is truly worth the effort as the end results are exceptionally tasty, rich and comforting.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 4 hr
- Yield
- 10 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 4 1/2 lb carrots
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup ghee, for initial sauteing
- 1 cup ghee, for the sauteing at the end.
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 handful nuts (optional but highly recommended)
- 6 cardamom seeds (elaichi)
Instructions
- 1
Trim the ends of the carrots and grate them. If you have a food processor, you can use the grater settings to grate the carrots (this is what I did).
- 2
In a large pot, heat 1/4 cup of ghee on medium heat.
- 3
When heated, add the cardamom seeds and grated carrots and mix in.
- 4
Allow the carrots and cardamom to fry in the ghee for a short while, about 10 minutes.
- 5
Add the milk. Bring to an almost-boil then reduce the heat to medium.
- 6
Continue to cook, uncovered, until the milk evaporates. This may take between 2-3 hours, depending on how much moisture is in your carrots and on your heat. It took me 2.5 hours. You will need to stir occasionally, especially during the last 30 minutes, when the mixture becomes drier and may start to stick to the bottom of the pot. If you pull the carrots to one side of the pot and see some milk release from the sides within a few seconds, this means the halwa is still too moist and needs more drying out.
- 7
Once most of the moisture has evaporated, add in the ghee and sugar.
- 8
Continue to cook on medium heat, stirring often, for about 25 minutes. You may begin to see the carrots change colour to a deep autumn shade of orange and the ghee may begin to separate at the sides from the carrots - this is normal and what we want!
- 9
You'll be done when the mixture looks very glossy, deep orange and comes together in a fudgy mass. Turn off the heat and chop in half of your nuts.
- 10
Garnish with the remaining nuts before serving. Serve warm.