Carrot Halwa – Instant Pot

Carrot Halwa, AKA ‘gajar ka halwa’, is a populat Indian dessert made with grated carrots cooked in ghee, milk, aromatic cardamom and saffron. The halwa is then garnished with nuts and raisins. Enjoyed warm or cold, this make ahead dessert is ready in under 30 minutes!

This year we celebrated mothers day with this delicious Indian dessert cooked in the Instant Pot! The traditional carrot halwa recipes uses milk, condensed milk or evaporated milk. Since this is one of my favorite desserts and I can’t stop myself from overeating, I try to make it a little healthier.

This Carrot Halwa Recipe uses almond milk to cook the carrots and almond meal (you can also substitute almond flour) to make it creamy. I also like to use less sugar than the traditional version and this is simply my attempt to make the gajar ka halwa healthier. This halwa does not have a super creamy texture like the traditional halwa

Note: To make dairy free carrot halwa, substitute ghee with any neutral oil, coconut oil or vegan butter

For a more traditional gajar ka halwa simply:

1. Substitute almond milk with regular milk
2. Substitute almond meal with khoya, non-fat dairy milk powder or ricotta cheese
3. Substitute almond meal with condensed milk. You may want to reduce the sugar in this case as condensed milk is already sweet.

Step by step recipe for Instant Pot Carrot Halwa:

• Peel and grate the carrots. To grate the carorts you can either use the corase setting on a manual grater or grate using the food processor. I prefer the food processor method especially when I am grating large amounts of carrots as  it takes less than a minute to grate 8 -10 carrots. Alternatively, you can also buy pre-shredded carrots from stores like Trader Joe’s that are avaialble in the produce sections.

• Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté(Hi) mode. Add ghee and grated carrots. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in almond milk and close the lid with the pressure value set to sealing. Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook/Manual(Hi) for 5 minutess. Quick release.

• Add sugar, almond meal, cardamom powder, raisins and saffron. Mix well. Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté(Hi) and cook for 5-7 mins until most of the liquids are evaporated.

• Garnish with sliced almonds or pistachios. Serve hot or chilled.

Here is a video on how to make this dessert quickly in your Instant Pot!

Do you enjoy Indian Desserts? Check out some of my favorite desserts:

• Instant Pot Dudhi Halwa 
• EASY Instant Pot Kheer {Indian Rice Pudding}
• Pineapple Sheera – Stovetop recipe
• Carrot Sheera – Stovetop recipe
• Instant Pot Vermicelli Kheer
• Sheer Khurma – Stove top & Instant Pot Recipe
• Mango Shrikhand – No cook recipe

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Carrot Halwa - Instant Pot

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

Carrot halwa AKA 'Gajar ka halwa' is a traditional Indian dessert made with grated carrots, ghee and aromatic cardamom and saffron.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: halwa

Servings: 6

Calories: 329 kcal

Author: Archana Mundhe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil or vegan butter
• 10 carrots peeled and grated (About 6 cups packed)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup almond meal
• 2 teaspoons cardamom powder
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• ½ teaspoon saffron
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds or pistachios for garnish

Instructions

1. Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté(Hi) mode. Add ghee (or vegan butter) and grated carrots. Cook for 2-3 minutes with the glass lid on.

2. Add almond milk and close the lid with the pressure value set to sealing. Set Instant Pot to Pressure Cook/Manual(Hi) for 5 minutess. Quick release.

3. Add sugar, almond meal, cardamom powder, raisins and saffron.Mix well.

4. Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté(Hi) and cook for 5-7 mins until most of the liquids are evaporated.

5. Garnish with sliced almonds or pistachios. Serve hot or chilled.

Recipe Video

Nutrition Facts

Carrot Halwa - Instant Pot

Amount Per Serving

Calories 329 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Fat 16g25%

Saturated Fat 3g19%

Cholesterol 12mg4%

Sodium 126mg5%

Potassium 397mg11%

Carbohydrates 43g14%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 30g33%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin A 16985IU340%

Vitamin C 6.4mg8%

Calcium 134mg13%

Iron 1.4mg8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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