Gajar ka halwa is a rich and yummy sweet delicacy that is perfectly a treat for your taste buds. It contains beautiful and tasty small carrot shreds. The sweet dish is flavoured with fresh cardamom powder and it is loaded with an array of rich dry fruits that makes it the most popular winter sweet in India.

There are different ways to prepare gajar ka halwa. However, today’s recipe is one of the best recipes to make ‘Gajrela’ at home. Gajar ka halwa is generally made on special occasions due to its delicious and rich taste but actually you do not need to wait for an occasion to savour this lip-smacking sweet. It can be easily prepared at home and does not need any special cooking skill. The recipe we are sharing today takes this halwa to the next level of taste and texture.

Here is the recipe

Serves: 8

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 60-90minutes

Ingredients

Carrot: 2 kg

Full cream milk: 1 litre

Khoya: 500 grams

Sugar: 500-750 grams (as per your desire to make it sweet)

Cashews: 15

Almonds: 15

Raisins: 25-30

Green cardamom powder: 1 tsp (freshly ground)

Pure ghee: ½ cup

Method

Peel off carrots and wash them thoroughly. Grate the carrots in a big container. Take a big thick-bottomed pan. Add milk and grated carrot and turn the flame on. Mix well occasionally. When the milk starts boiling, turn the flame medium-low and let the carrots cook stirring them occasionally.

In the meantime, chop cashews and almonds coarsely. Heat one tablespoon of pure ghee in a separate pan and fry chopped cashews and almonds. Grate the khoya and keep aside. When the carrots absorb the milk completely and the halwa becomes almost dry, add grated khoya, freshly powdered green cardamoms, raisins, fried almonds and cashews and mix well on medium-low flame.

Add sugar and stir well. Let sugar get absorbed completely while cooking and mixing it with halwa for few minutes until the moisture left by sugar completely gets dried away. Add pure ghee and cook halwa on low flame for 10 more minutes stirring occasionally. Serve hot.

Tips to make perfect gajar ka halwa

Buy red and juicy carrots to give the halwa the perfect colour and best taste.

To make gajar ka halwa, always take a thick bottom pan as the halwa keeps on cooking on low flame for a long time. So it should not get burnt.

Add milk while cooking the grated carrots to give the halwa a creamy texture.
Cook halwa on medium flame so that it gets cooked properly and does not taste raw at all. Stir it occasionally.

Add lots of dry fruits to give it a rich taste. Fry dry fruits before adding them in halwa. It will make the dry fruits crunchy from outside and tastier to eat.

Pour sugar at the end when the carrots are properly cooked and the milk gets completely absorbed. It will give the halwa the perfect texture and taste.

Add pure ghee 10 minutes before turning the flame off. Mix well and cook on medium-low flame while stirring occasionally. It will give the halwa a royal fragrance and taste.

Gajar ka halwa can be served as a sweet accompaniment to main dish or just serve it with namkeen and tea or coffee. It is a classic sweet for any celebration or relish it without any occasion.