Ingredients
Carrots
- 1 kg carrots, peeled and grated on the coarse side of a box grater
Halwa
- 1 litre whole milk
- 4 tbsp ghee
- ¾ cup (150g) sugar
- ½ cup (100g) khoya (mawa), crumbled — or 4 tbsp condensed milk
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- Pinch of saffron strands soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk (optional)
Garnish
- 2 tbsp cashews, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 2 tbsp slivered pistachios
Instructions
Cook the carrots in milk
- Combine the grated carrots and milk in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan (a kadai or large sauté pan works well). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to prevent the milk from scorching on the bottom.
- Reduce heat to medium. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 35–40 minutes until the milk is fully absorbed. The mixture will look wet and pale pink at first, gradually thickening as the milk reduces. By the end, the carrots should look soft, cohesive, and mostly dry — no pooling liquid.
Fry in ghee
- Push the cooked carrot mass to one side of the pan and add the ghee to the cleared space. Once melted, mix it through the carrots.
- Fry over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 8–10 minutes. The carrots will go from orange-pink to a deeper reddish-orange as the remaining moisture cooks off and the natural sugars in the carrots begin to caramelize. The mixture should pull away from the pan cleanly.
Add sugar
- Add sugar and stir through. The sugar will pull out residual moisture and the mixture will loosen again — this is expected.
- Cook on medium heat, stirring, for 5–6 minutes until the released liquid is absorbed again and the halwa looks glossy and cohesive.
Finish with khoya
- Add crumbled khoya (or condensed milk), cardamom, and saffron milk. Stir well and cook for 3–4 minutes until the khoya is fully incorporated and the halwa looks rich and glossy.
- In a small pan, fry cashews in a teaspoon of ghee until golden. Add raisins and fry 30 seconds until puffed. Fold into the halwa.
- Garnish with slivered pistachios. Serve warm.
Storage
- Fridge: Up to 5 days in an airtight container. It firms up when cold — reheat in a pan with a tablespoon of ghee or milk over low heat, stirring until soft.
- Freeze: Freezes well for up to 2 months. Portion before freezing; thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat gently.
Variations
- Without khoya: Skip the khoya entirely and increase condensed milk to 6 tbsp, or leave out entirely for a lighter result. Flavor is good but less rich.
- Delhi red carrot version: Use red winter carrots (available at Indian grocery stores in winter) — same method, but the color is deeper and the halwa is naturally sweeter. May need slightly less sugar.
- Milk powder shortcut: Replace khoya with 4 tbsp full-fat milk powder mixed with 2 tbsp ghee. Produces a similar richness to khoya in a pinch.
Notes
- The milk-reduction stage is not a step you can speed up significantly. High heat risks scorching the milk solids and burning the bottom — medium heat with frequent stirring is the right approach.
- Pre-squeezing the carrots is unnecessary and removes flavor. The milk-cooking method handles the moisture without that step.
- If the halwa tastes sweet enough but the texture still seems wet after adding khoya, cook it another 2–3 minutes. It should hold its shape when pressed.
- The frying step after milk absorption is often skipped in quick recipes, but it's important — it drives off water, deepens the color, and concentrates flavor before the sugar goes in.
Added Oct 6, 2026 · Updated Oct 6, 2026