Winters are here and so are all the gorgeously fresh veggies and fruits. I love this season and the bounty it brings. I keep telling everyone that I wished Delhi had 6 months of moderate winter, it would have been amazing, but aah, that’s wishful thinking at best! Okay, enough digressing, now let me tell you about this amazing dessert that we have all grown eating since our childhood and we still can’t enough of it. This is our very own Gajar ka Halwa (Carrot Dessert) also known as Gajrela, Carrot halwa, Gajar pak, and so on.

It is best paired with Makki ki Roti and Sarson ka saag which is the quintessential combo for winters.

VARIATIONS:

It is a really humble and easy dessert to make though surprisingly there are a lot of variations of making it. I will highlight some of the variations below. All of these are valid foolproof recipes that you can try based on the availability of resources and time.

1, Milk source – You can either add full cream milk and cook it and condense it while cooking. I like this version since it’s the lightest on calories. Alternatively, people also use Khoya or Mawa – this is added in the version you see in sweet shops as it makes it rich and tasty. You can also add condensed milk, then you don’t have to spend a lot of time concentrating and don’t need to add any additional sugar as well.

2. Cooking Process – You can pressure cook the grated carrots to make the halwa faster, or you cook slowly cook them in a Kadhai or wok like I love to do. think the halwa tastes way better this way.

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 35-40 minutes
SERVINGS: 7-8
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Medium

INGREDIENTS: 

  1. Carrots – 1 kg
  2. Milk – 1 Litre
  3. Sugar – 1/3 cup (or more to taste)
  4. Ghee – 1 tablespoon
  5. Nuts – 1 tablespoon (almonds, cashews, pistachios, etc.)
  6. Silver wark – 1 foil, optional

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

  1. Grater
  2. Kadhai

RECIPE:

  1. Peel carrots and thoroughly wash them and let them dry slightly.
  2. Grate the carrots next and leave the lowest bit since it’s too hard.
  3. Boil one-litre full cream milk in a kadhai/wok, then add the grated carrots.
  4. Cook the carrots for 15-20 minutes on medium heat and keep stirring constantly.
Cook grated carrots in milk on a low flame
Cook grated carrots in milk on a low flame

5. Then cook on low heat for 15 minutes or so for another 20 minutes until the carrots are perfectly cooked.
6. Add a tablespoon of ghee and sugar and mix well.
7. Cook on low-medium heat until most of the milk condenses and dries and mixes well into the halwa.
8. Garnish with nuts and silver wark if you like.

Enjoy Gajar ka Halwa hot enjoying the winter sun!

Gajar ka Halwa
Gajar ka Halwa