Carrot Halwa, AKA ‘gajar ka halwa’, is a sweet stewed carrots dessert with a delicate aroma of cardamom and saffron!
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 is can be made dairy free by substituting homemade ghee with coconut oil or vegan butter. Substitute the milk and cream with almond milk and almond flour making it a healthier lightly sweetened dessert.
Step by step recipe for Instant Pot Carrot Halwa:
- Peel and grate the carrots.
- 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.
Substitutions for Almond meal in Carrot Halwa:
- Non-fat dry milk powder
- Khoya
- Condensed milk (skip sugar)
- Ricotta cheese
Here is a video on how to make this dessert quickly in your Instant Pot!
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- 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
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.
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.
- 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.
Recipe Video
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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
Absolute delish ?.. with a scoop of ice cream tastes great
Thank you Lathi! Now that you have reminded me I am going to have a scoop of ice cream with it tonight for dessert!
Hi Archana, mine was more liquidy after steaming. It took me a while to dry it up completely.
Hi Ranju, It also solidifies as it cools.
Sounds and looks wonderful as all your recipes do 🙂
Thank you!
Looks amazing Archana! You are so talented!
Thank you Annika!
Archana this is an awesome way to make gajjar halwa -especially on a hot summer’s day- making it in the instapot is an advantage as the kitchen stays cool and I didn’t sweat it out- it also cooks real quickly as compared to conventional stove top cooking. Next time however I may use milk instead. And maybe add a little khoya depending on how rich/creamy I want this to be. Almond milk though is a good alternative for the vegans and dairy allergic but almond milk is void of any meaningful nutrition and it seems as if you pay for nothing but white colored water packaged as “almond milk”. Instead you may use plain water in my opinion-since you do get the thickness and texture from the almond meal.
Would you please also post a recipe for dudhi halwa -my favorite.
Hi Kalyani! So happy that you enjoyed this easy Carrot Halwa! I have a lot of dairy free friends so this has become my go to recipe. But I agree that its more authentic with milk and khoya or evaporated milk powder. I will post the recipe for dude halwa soon too. Thank you, it is always so nice to get these lovely notes from you!
Recipe is nice and simple.
Where do you get almond meall?
If I wanted to use milk and khoya what are the proportions?
Almond meal is sold in most grocery stores, you will get them in whole foods, trader joes. You can substitute the same quantity of milk and khoya to replace almond milk and almond meal. Let me know if you try this recipe!
Tried it and it was simple and delicious. Received many compliments.
Awesome! so happy that you tried this easy recipe and enjoyed it. It is a great make ahead dessert that can be enjoyed warm or cold!
Thank you so much for this easy IP carrot halwa receipe esp the vegan version – so helpful for people like me who are lactose intolerant ???
Hi Gayatri! You are most welcome! So happy to hear that you can enjoy this easy and healthy halwa !
Can I substitute ghee for coconut oil to make it vegan?
Yes, I have tried it and it works well with this recipe.
Hi Archana, thanks for this recipe. I want to try it but I want to use powdered milk powder instead of almond meal and almond milk. Can you tell me how much milk and milk powder I would need to substitute for the almond milk and almond meal? Thanks once again!
Hi! You can substitute equal amount of almond milk and almond meal to milk and milk powder. I have made it many times with milk and milk powder and it comes out great! Thank you!! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Archana, does the cooking time change if I reduce this recipe in half? Thanks!
Hi Preeta! same pressure cook time.
I tried Carrot Halwa. It turned out truly delicious. I made slight change of adding condensed milk instead of sugar.
Thank you for your feedback, Dimpy! Good idea to replace sugar with condensed milk.
Hi Archana, I’m about to try this recipe. I have almond milk but not almond meal. Is there any substitute? What does almond meal do to the recipe? Does it give thickness? Looking for diary free option.
It is used instead of khoya or milk powder. You can make almond meal at home if you have whole almonds. Simply pulse them in food processor until you get powdered almonds, you can add cashews too if you like
Hi Archana, this was amazing when I tried it over the holidays. My husband and I are trying a sugar free January, and wondering if we can substitute in dates instead of sugar? Thoughts?
Yes! Absolutely, replace sugar with sliced dates and it will be delicious.
So, with some trepidation, I tried this recipe using whole milk and less sugar! And it is DELICIOUS!! !!!! Thank you!!!!
Hi Manish! Thank you for your feedback. I am so glad you enjoyed easy halwa.
Have you tried using ricotta cheese instead of almond meal? I wanted to check quality.
Yes, works really well. Substitute the exact amount.
Can’t have almond milk or almond meal… but eager to try your recipe. So if we are replacing the 3/4cup sugar + 1cup almond meal in this recipe with condensed milk, how much of it is needed?
Hi Deepa, replace almond milk with low fat milk. And stir in 3/4 cup of condensed milk in the end and cook for 5 to 7 mins on sauté as the halwa thickens.
So if we replace the almond milk with low fat milk and then add 3/4 cup condensed milk, do we still use the sugar and almond meal or khoya in the recipe? Thanks!
Hi Taz, You can replace almond milk with low fat milk. Skip sugar if you are using condensed milk. You can add almond meal or khoya for additional creaminess but are both optional if you use condensed milk. Hope this helps.
I want to try this for a party. Can I make this a day before the party and refrigerate? Also, is Almond meal and Almond Flour the same? I have Almond Flour, so wanted to know if I can use that the same way as used in the recipe.
Thank you.
Hi Bhavi, You can make the halwa 2 to 3 days in advance if you like. And yes you can use almond flour, basically the same.
Thank you Archana. When the halwa is done, after how many hours should I refrigerate ? Also, If I plan to use 9 cups of shredded carrot (will add all ingredients mentioned quantity + 0.5 of all ingredients) , for how many min should i set in IP Manual (Hi) ?
Thank you.
Refrigerate after it is at room temperature. And same pressure cook time for 9 cups – 5 min
Thank you Archana. The halwa turned out very delicious. Thank you once again for a delicious vegan recipe.
You are welcome! So glad you enjoyed it.