Gajar ka halwa, also known as gajorer halwa, gajarno halwo, gajrela, gajar pak, and carrot pudding, is a sweet Indian
dessert
Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...
made by placing
grated carrots
The carrot (''Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the Daucus ...
in a pot containing a specific amount of water, milk, sugar, and cardamom and then cooking with ghee while stirring regularly. Gajar ka halwa originated in
Amritsar
Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...
in
Punjab
Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
region. It is often served with a garnish of almonds and pistachios. The nuts and other items used are first
sautéed in
ghee
Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals.
Description
Ghee is typically prepared by ...
, a type of clarified butter from the Indian subcontinent. It is generally served hot during the winter.
The dessert is traditionally eaten during all of the festivals in the Indian subcontinent, mainly on the occasion of
Diwali
Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...
,
Holi
Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...
,
Raksha Bandhan
Raksha Bandhan Quote: m Hindi ''rakśābandhan'' held on the full moon of the month of Savan, when sisters tie a talisman (rakhi q.v.) on the arm of their brothers and receive small gifts of money from them. is a popular and traditionally Hin ...
, and
Eid. It is served hot during the winter.
Description
Gajar ka halwa is a combination of
nuts,
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
,
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
,
khoya and
ghee
Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals.
Description
Ghee is typically prepared by ...
with grated
carrots
The carrot (''Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the Daucus ...
.
Gajar ka halwa has a medium shelf life so it is now sometimes exported.
At the time of festivals, many people prefer vegetarian dishes as well as desserts in their
thali
Thali (meaning "plate" or "tray") or Bhojanam (meaning "full meal") is a round Platter (dishware), platter used to serve food in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. Thali is also used to refer to an Indian-style meal made up of a sel ...
. Because of its low fat content, vegetarian characteristics, ease of making, medium shelf-life and taste, gajar ka halwa is a popular dessert all over India and often served at most festivals.
Recipe and ingredients
Gajar ka halwa originally contained carrots, milk and ghee but nowadays includes many other ingredients like mava (
khoya).
The main ingredients of gajar ka halwa are freshly grated carrots, milk, sugar, cardamom,
khoya, and ghee. Being a combination of milk and carrots, it is known as milk flavored gajar ka halwa but in the other case, the combination of cream or mava (
khoya) and carrot is described as mava flavored gajar ka halwa.
For cooking gajar ka halwa, a
cooker or
kadai is usually preferred. Vasundhara Chauhan, writing for
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
, writes that gajar ka halwa should be slow-cooked and that using a pressure cooker spoils the dish.
The carrots must be grated before cooking.
Variations
Red velvet carrot halwa is a variation of the ''gajar ka halwa''. It is made by heating a comparatively large amount of milk cream along with carrots,
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
,
rose water
Rose water, or rosewater, is a flavoured water created by steeping rose petals in water. It is typically made as a by-product during the distillation of rose petals to create rose oil for perfumes. Rose water is widely utilized to flavour cu ...
and
saffron over low flame.
Other lesser-known variations include ''carrot and beetroot halwa'', ''cheese gajar ka halwa'', ''khajur gajar ka halwa'' and carrot dessert. ''Cheese gajar ka halwa'' is prepared with a combination of ''purple carrots'' and
ricotta. This dish is popular in northern India because purple carrots are mostly grown there.
See also
*
Indian cuisine
Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally av ...
*
Pakistani cuisine
Pakistani cuisine (, Roman Urdu, romanized: ''pākistānī pakwān'') is a blend of regional cooking styles and flavours from across South Asia, South, Central Asia, Central and West Asia. It is a culmination of Iranic, Indic & Arab culinary ...
*
Bangladeshi cuisine
Bangladeshi cuisine has been shaped by the region's history and river-line geography. Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate. The staple foods of Bangladesh are rice and fish. The majority of Bangladeshi people are ethnic Bengali, with a ...
*
Halwa
*
Pudding
Pudding is a type of food which can either be a dessert served after the main meal or a Savoury (dish), savoury (salty or sweet, and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal.
In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based des ...
*
List of carrot dishes
*
List of Pakistani sweets and desserts
*
List of Indian sweets and dessert
References
External links
Gajar Ka Halwa Recipe
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Carrot dishes
Indian desserts
North Indian cuisine
Pakistani desserts
Punjabi cuisine
Halva