Growing up in North India, Carrot halwa is one of the deserts that is very close to my heart. I remember my mother making this Gajar ka halwa with the vibrant red color carrots that are available during winter.
For the third day of the Blogging marathon with the theme ‘Pick one and make three’, I chose to make a very famous Indian dessert Gajar ka halwa or carrot halwa.
After moving to Southern India we did not find this carrot too often and my mother used to make it with the regular orange-colored carrots. Although the taste is not compromised by using either of the carrots, the color does make the dish more appealing to the eyes.
I made this with the regular orange carrot, but the only new thing that I learned when making it was learning to make the khoya from the ricotta cheese.
I am not a big fan of ricotta and always stayed away from this. Recently I came across a youtube video of an authentic carrot halwa recipe by a person called Balwinder Singh.
His recipe was very inviting and I wanted to try it right away. The only thing standing between me and halwa was the fact that he made the khoya with ricotta.
I finally decided that I am going to try his exact same recipe and it worked GREAT! The halwa tasted delicious and I was carried to my homeland. So here I am sharing this recipe with you all.
Preparation time – 20 mins
Cooking time – 1 hr 30 mins
Difficulty level – medium
Ingredients to make Gajar Ka Halwa – serves 10 – 12
- Carrot – 2 lbs (approx 1 kg)
- Milk (I used 2 %) – 4 cups or 1000ml
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Nuts of your choice – 4 tablespoon (I used almonds)
- Raisins – 4 tbsp
- Butter – 3 tbsp
To make the Khoya –
- Ricotta cheese – 1 ½ cups
- Butter – 1 tbsp
Procedure to make Gajar Ka Halwa –
- Clean the carrots and peel them. Grate them using a grater or preferably a food processor. It is a pretty time consuming process to grate by hand, so a food processor would help. If you do not own a food processor, do get your husband to do the work for you.
- To make the Khoya - In a large heavy bottom pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter. Let it melt and then add the ricotta cheese.
- In the same pan, heat 3 tablespoon of butter. Let it melt and then add the chopped nut. Fry the nuts until golden brown.
- Now add the grated carrots and sauté over medium low flame. Also add the raisins and the cook them for about 15 mins or until the carrots are aromatic and soft.
- Now add the milk and mix well. Cook the carrots in the milk for about an hour in low flame. Cook it until the carrots are cooked and about 90% of the milk is evaporated.
- Add the sugar and mix well. The carrot would liquefy once we add the sugar.
- Now add the crumbled khoya and mix it well. Turn off the flame and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes and Observations -
- Refrigerate the halwa for up to a week. Reheat it and serve warm.
- The halwa freezes very well for up to a month. Make once and freeze for later use. thaw it and then reheat it microwave before serving.
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
Recipe
Gajar Ka Halwa | Carrot Halwa Recipe
Equipment
- pan
- spatula
- bowl
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Carrot approx 1 kg
- 1000 ml Milk I used 2 % – 4 cups
- 1 cup Sugar
- 4 tablespoon Nuts of your choice I used almonds
- 4 tablespoon Raisins
- 3 tablespoon Butter
To make the Khoya
- 1 ½ cups Ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon Butter
Instructions
- Clean the carrots and peel them. Grate them using a grater or preferably a food processor. It is a pretty time consuming process to grate by hand, so a food processor would help. If you do not own a food processor, do get your husband to do the work for you.
- To make the Khoya - In a large heavy bottom pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter. Let it melt and then add the ricotta cheese. Mix it well and then keep cooking it over medium low flame until crumbly and light brown in color (about 20 mins). Remove it and keep it aside until needed.
- Ricotta cheese in butter
- Ricotta liquifies after heating
- Ricotta cooked down for about 20 mins
- In the same pan, heat 3 tablespoon of butter. Let it melt and then add the chopped nut. Fry the nuts until golden brown.
- Now add the grated carrots and sauté over medium low flame. Also add the raisins and the cook them for about 15 mins or until the carrots are aromatic and soft.
- Carrots and raisins added to the pan
- Carrots cooked down for about 15 mins
- Now add the milk and mix well. Cook the carrots in the milk for about an hour in low flame. Cook it until the carrots are cooked and about 90% of the milk is evaporated.
- Carrots cooked with milk for about an hour
- Add the sugar and mix well. The carrot would liquefy once we add the sugar. Cook it down further for about 15-20 mins until the desired consistency in reached.
- Carrot liquefies after adding the sugar
- Cooked down to desired consistency
- Now add the crumbled khoya and mix it well. Turn off the flame and serve warm or at room temperature
Notes
The halwa freezes very well for up to a month. Make once and freeze for later use. thaw it and then reheat it microwave before serving.
Awaz Ha says
nice and looks tasty https://t.co/Pnc4VRB8z6
Chef Mireille says
one of my favorite indian desserts - looks so good
veena krishnakumar says
I love carrot halwa and this looks so inviting!!!
Harini-Jaya Rupanagudi says
Awesome idea of making khoya with ricotta cheese..shall try it out the next time!
Pavani says
I'm drooling here just looking at the pics. Gajar halwa is time consuming to make, but at the end it's well worth the effort.. yumm!!
Pallavi Purani says
This is very very well cooked. I have seen mom slave for hours to make this prefect. Your recipe looks a little simple 🙂 Noted.
Corporate to Kitchen says
Yummy halwa & great pics!
Sona S says
delicious halwa..
PriyaVaasu says
using ricotta to cook gajar halwa. wonderful fusion!!! it is our family favorite looks super delicious!!!
The Pumpkin Farm says
good idea to make khoya using ricotta, and love the presentation in the first picture
divya says
look fantastic.. simply superb... amazing clicks...
Sharanya palanisshami (sara's TASTY BUDS) says
crumbles of cheese in the halwa are super sis............
vaishali sabnani says
Sandhya, I have tasted the ricotta cheese khoya , on my trip to US...it surely does wonders to the dish..well even I make orange carrot halwa..in emergency..turns out pretty good.your halwa looks good n inviting.
Rita Bose says
Lovely gajar ka halwa!! 🙂
https://www.rita-bose-cooking.com/
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
I knew this is coming and was waiting for it!! delicious pictures!!! I should say your pictures have improved so much and am loving these droolworthy pictures!!!
Sowmya
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Rajani S says
Nice use of the cheese there! The halwa looks yummy!
Rafeeda AR says
i could just grab that from the screen... looks really yum...
Shama Nagarajan says
yummy delicious