One of the most popular Indian winter sweet treats, Gajar Ka Halwa. Carrots cooked in milk and evaporated milk solids, sweetened with sugar and garnished with lots of nuts.Learn how to make quick and easy Gajar Halwa under 30 minutes, without khoya in Pressure cooker on Stove top .
Cuisine Indian Cuisine, North Indian Cuisine, Punjabi Cuisine
Ingredients
500gCarrots
200gKhoyaif using
250gRicotta Cheeseif not using Khoya
1CupMilk
2-3TbspGhee
4-6TbspSugaror as required
Mixed Nuts as required
Instructions
Wash and rinse carrots. Peel the carrots and grate. This is the most time-consuming step if you are grating by hand. I use my food processor which gets my work done in 1-2 minutes.
In a pressure cooker, add carrots and milk to it. Cook the carrots with open lid for 5-6 mins, close the lid and cook until 2 whistles. Switch off the flame. Wait for the pressure to subside. Open the lid and keep on low flame for the rest of the liquid to evaporate.
Meanwhile, take ricotta in a microwave-safe bowl add a tsp of ghee, and microwave it for 2-3 minutes or till all the liquid evaporate. Add to halwa along with ghee and raisins , nuts and cook on medium flame, stirring frequently. In case you are using Khoya in place of Ricotta, add to the carrots along with ghee. Keep stirring in between.This will take around 10-20 minutes.
Add sugar and mix well. Cook till all the milk/liquid content evaporates from the carrots and you get a nice crumbly halwa.
Garnish with more chopped nuts and serve hot.
Notes
For Vegan option...
Add Almond Milk instead of Milk.
Replace khoya/ricotta with 1/2 Cup Almond Meal.
Replace Desi Ghee with any dairy-free unsalted butter.
I have tried making halwa with almond milk so am not sure about how, soy milk and coconut milk work(the after taste) in gajar halwa as I have not used these for making halwa.
If you have nut Allergies, replace Almonds and Cashew nuts with sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.If adding Khoya, do not add ricotta cheese, it is a substitute for Khoya.Incase, if you do not have Khoya or Ricotta either, add 3/4 Cup of Milk Powder