Name: Gajar Halwa in Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker-without Grating
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds/1 kg Carrots/Gajar; 1 cup ghee/2 sticks unsalted butter (use vegan butter or coconut oil for vegan halwa); 1 cup milk-full fat preferred (though I used 2%(use almond milk for vegan halwa)); 1 1/4 cup sugar; 7 oz/200 gms Full fat Ricotta Cheese (can use grated khoya/mawa or grated paneer or almond flour for vegan halwa); 7-8 Green cardamom/hari elaichi (crushed); A very generous pinch of saffron; 1/2 cup cashews or a mix of preferred nuts and raisins; 1 Tbsp ghee/vegan butter; chopped pistachios for garnish; 1/4-1/2 of a small beetroot (for color(optional))

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Gajar Halwa in only 30 minutes in Instant Pot/pressure cooker. Requires no grating of carrots or reduction of milk nor constant stirring. Do not be fooled by the short cooking time, the taste is awesome and looks and tastes just like the traditional halwa. Gajar ka Halwa is the most popular dessert in North India during winter months. A special variety of carrots that’s used to make this delicacy is only available during the colder months. These carrots are reddish in color and provide a beautiful red hue to the halwa.

Usually a lengthy process that requires some serious muscle power to grate the carrots and then cook the carrots in milk till the milk completely evaporates and turns into khoya. That is then followed by a generous amount of ghee and sugar(This is how my mom makes it).

I made it a couple of times when I first came to the US, even used a food processor to grate the carrots, but I still found the process long and time consuming. Plus the constant stirring of the milk and carrots and making sure the milk doesn’t burn or spill over , made the recipe too hands on.

So I used some shortcuts and decided not to grate the carrots instead thickly slice and cook it in a pressure cooker. Make sure to first cook the carrots in ghee/oil before pressure cooking to avoid the boiled carrot taste.Secondly, Adding the ricotta cheese and then cooking it down gives the taste and flavor of khoya/mawa to the halwa.

These two substitutions reduced the cooking and prep time dramatically and the halwa was ready from start to finish in 30 minutes. I do recommend using ghee as that has the nutty flavor that goes so well with this dessert. I also use unsalted butter for Sooji ka Halwa and Moong Dal Halwa .

Some other traditional desserts to try out are-

Collection of Easy and Quick Laddoo Recipes

Kova Kajjikaya-Easy recipe using frozen coconut and Instant Khoya

22 Easy Indian Desserts Ready in 10 Minutes

Moving on to the recipe, here is the written recipe, followed by the step by step pictorial one-

Gajar Halwa in Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker-without Grating

Aanchal Gupta

An easy delicious recipe of Gajar Halwa in 30 minutes in Instant Pot/pressure cooker. Requires no grating of carrots or reduction of milk nor constant stirring.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings cups

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds/1 kg Carrots/Gajar
1 cup ghee/2 sticks unsalted butter use vegan butter or coconut oil for vegan halwa
1 cup milk-full fat preferred though I used 2%(use almond milk for vegan halwa)
1 1/4 cup sugar
7 oz/200 gms Full fat Ricotta Cheese can use grated khoya/mawa or grated paneer or almond flour for vegan halwa
7-8 Green cardamom/hari elaichi crushed
A very generous pinch of saffron
1/2 cup cashews or a mix of preferred nuts and raisins
1 Tbsp ghee/vegan butter
chopped pistachios for garnish
1/4-1/2 of a small beetroot for color(optional)

Instructions

Wash,peel and trim ends of carrots. Slice the peeled carrots
Turn on Instant Pot to saute/turn on pressure cooker to medium heat
Add 2 sticks unsalted butter/ghee and melt(Can fry cashews,nuts and raisins and set aside,once ghee melts)
Add crushed cardamoms and saffron to hot butter/ghee and then add sliced carrots and piece of beetroot(optional)
Stir fry the carrots for sometime till the carrots turn semi soft and don’t have a raw carrot flavor
Add 1 cup milk and press cancel
Make sure Instant Pot is in ‘sealing’
Choose pressure cook for 3 minutes in Instant Pot/3 whistles in traditional pressure cooker
Let pressure release naturally,in Instant pot the pin should have dropped,press cancel
Open lid, and with potato masher or back of spoon, mash the carrots
You can now transfer to a kadhai/wok/non stick pan or continue to cook in the Instant Pot/Pressure cooker(Since the instant pot insert is steel,some might prefer to move to a nonstick pan or wok to make it easier to cook with ricotta)
Press saute on Instant Pot/turn on pressure cooker, add cashew and ricotta cheese
The color will turn light and halwa will look watery at this time
Continue to cook the halwa, stirring in between, till color of halwa darkens a bit and also thickens
Press cancel on Instant Pot/turn off stove and add sugar and mix well
Add 1 tbsp ghee,mix
Cook for just a few minutes for flavors to blend in
Garnish with chopped pistachios, nuts of choice
Serve warm

Notes

Adding saffron and beetroot helps to enhance the color. traditionally made with red carrots available only during winter months, the addition of beet and saffron makes the color of the halwa more vibrant. It is very important to stir fry the carrots in ghee/butter/oil as this enhances the flavor. if we just pressure cook the carrots, it will have a raw, boiled carrot taste and flavor. You can also fry the cashews in hot ghee/butter and set aside before adding the cardamoms and saffron. After cooking carrots in Instant Pot/pressure cooker, you can transfer everything to a kadhai/wok or non stick skillet.Cooking the ricotta down gives the taste and feel of khoya/mava. The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the carrots.Start with one cup and add more if needed. Please do add a tbsp of ghee in the end. It gives a very nice touch to the look and taste of halwa. Tastes best when heated on a pan for few minutes before serving. Can also be heated in a microwave and served. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Lasts 2-3 weeks in refrigerator.

Keyword carrot pudding,gluten free dessert,gajar ka halwa,instant pot dessert

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Here is the step by step pictorial recipe-

Ingredients

Wash,peel and trim ends of carrots. Slice the peeled carrots and the beet(Beet is optional and meant to provide color)

Turn on Instant Pot to saute/turn on pressure cooker to medium heat
Add 2 sticks unsalted butter/ghee and melt(Can fry nuts and raisins and set aside,once ghee melts)
Add crushed cardamoms and saffron to hot butter/ghee and then add sliced carrots and piece of beetroot(optional)

Stir fry the carrots for sometime till the carrots turn semi soft and don’t have a raw carrot flavor

Add 1 cup milk,mix well and press cancel on the Instant Pot

Turn the setting to ‘sealing’ on the Instant Pot

Choose pressure cook for 3 minutes in Instant Pot/ 3 whistles in traditional pressure cooker

Let pressure release naturally,in Instant pot the pin should have dropped,press cancel
Open lid, and with potato masher or back of spoon, mash the carrots

You can now transfer to a kadhai/wok/non stick pan or continue to cook in the Instant Pot/Pressure cooker

Press saute on Instant Pot/turn on pressure cooker, add cashew and ricotta cheese

The color will turn light and halwa will look watery at this time
Continue to cook the halwa, stirring in between, till color of halwa darkens a bit and also thickens