Red Carrot Halwa is a traditional Indian dessert recipe of slow-cooked red carrots infused with cardamom flavor and added richness of khoya. An ideal sweet dish that can be prepared for the festive season or as a party dessert.
As the festival season is just a few days away and the whole country getting lit up with lights, every food blogger is trying to put up a colorful dessert recipe for their readers. So here I am with my version of a Diwali dessert and being an Indian, I would like to be a part of it with all my readers who are celebrating the festival of lights.
It so happens that due to the short of time, many of us are not able to make those intricate, time-consuming, and elaborate pedas and barfis. Carrot halva along with khoya is an ideal dessert for such people who want to celebrate with home-cooked desserts and sweets with fewer preparations. There are many such options like Beetroot Halwa, Traditional Rice Kheer, Firni, etc. and these are some of the dessert options which does not require long hours and full attention.
What is Khoya/Khoa?
It is a dairy product made out of full-fat milk. The milk is slow-cooked in a heavy bottom pan and reduced until it reaches a semi-solid state. Mostly it is kept un-sweetened so that it can be added to both sweet dishes as well as savory dishes. Khoya or Khoa can be bought from a sweet shop in case if you are not able to prepare it at home.
There are many shortcut ways of making khoya, where milk powder and fat (ghee) combined together are cooked in a microwave and which gives similar results.
Below is a series of step-by-step pictures of making Gajar Halwa with khoya.
Step by step pictures
Red Carrot Halwa with Khoya ~ Laal Gajar Ka Halwa
Ingredients
- 5 cups tightly packed grated carrots
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup grated khoya
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 5 tablespoon ghee + 1 tablespoon for frying nuts
- 1 tablespoon chopped pistachio for garnish
- ¼ cup cashew nuts
- ¼ cup raisins
Instructions
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottom saucepan. Add grated carrots and fry on medium heat for about 15 minutes.
- Once the carrots soften, add sugar and cardamom powder.
- Keep stirring and cook until all the juices evaporate. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Then add grated khoya and again cook for 5 more minutes.
- Heat a small pan and fry the cashew nuts and raisins.
- Finally, add the fried nuts and dry fruits to the carrot halwa. Stir well, garnish with pistachios and serve hot or warm.
Notes
If you have any queries regarding the recipe, do mention it in the comments section and I shall get back to you.
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