Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa + Video | Pressure Cooker Carrot Halwa | Gajrela Recipe

Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa is not an intimidating Indian carrot pudding recipe if you decide to cook it in your Instant Pot or a pressure cooker. Carrot Halwa is a loved Indian dessert that’s so easy to make. It turns out delicious & effortless whenever I cook it in an Instant Pot or Pressure cooker. If you are looking to ditch the slow-cooked Gajrela & looking for a quick Carrot halwa recipe then do try out this Pressure Cooker Carrot Halwa. Learn how to make the BEST Gajar Ka Halwa every time in your Instant Pot with my easy Step by Step Recipe Video.

Are you ready to get hooked to a popular, well loved Indian dessert? 

Try out this delicious Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa ( Carrot Pudding) that was introduced during the Mughal Period & do not blame me if you get obsessed!

Indian Carrot Halwa is so tasty that it will make you forget about your main meal!

A warm bowl of Gajar Halwa is a delight during the chilly winter months! And in my home, it’s always welcome throughout the year!

Gajar Ka Halwa in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker is just so easy to make.

Don’t be intimidated because this Gajrela with Khoya is a beginner’s recipe minus all the muscle work!

You will definitely succeed every single time if you try out today’s’ Gajar Ka Halwa in your Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker!

Instant Pot Carrot Halwa recipe has just the right amount of ghee, sweetness & moistness! 

To nail down the Carrot Halwa today do follow my Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa Recipe Video, check out the tips & tricks!

Frequently Asked Questions about Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa or Carrot Halwa or Indian Carrot Pudding:

What is Gajar Ka Halwa or Carrot Halwa?

Gajar = Carrot

Halwa = Sweet (in Arabic)

Gajar Ka Halwa aka Carrot Halwa aka Gajrela is an Indian dessert that’s cooked with grated carrots, milk, lots of ghee (clarified butter) & sugar.

This Indian carrot pudding is flavored with green cardamoms or black cardamoms & garnished with chopped nuts like almonds, pistachios & raisins.

Traditionally Carrot Halwa is slow cooked in a heavy bottomed deep pan, stirring continuously. Of course, it’s a labor of love!

But not anymore, you can fasten the process of cooking a delicious Gajar Halwa in an Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker. Follow this Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa Video Recipe!

Which Carrot is good for Halwa?

Originally in North India (the birth-place of Carrot Halwa) red & juicy carrots are used to cook Carrot Halwa.

Typically red carrots are available during the winter months!

People love  this particular variety of carrot because the red ones are sweeter than the other varieties & they lend a gorgeous color to the Carrot Halwa recipe!

If you can’t manage red carrots than use the regular orange varieties. They are just as good.

I always use the organic orange carrots and end up with the best-tasting bowl of Gajar halwa every single time!

What is the carrot milk ratio in Carrot Halwa?

The carrot milk ratio that I used for this Instant Pot Gajar ka halwa recipe is as follows:

For 8 parts carrot I used 3.5 parts milk (follow the recipe card for more details).

Is Carrot Halwa served hot or cold?

Carrot Halwa may be served both hot or cold!

Gajrela or Indian carrot pudding also tastes awesome with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or cream on the side!

If you enjoy a warm bowl of Carrot Halwa do warm it up for 30 seconds in your micro oven before serving.

How to store Gajar Ka Halwa or Carrot Halwa?

You can store Gajar Halwa in an air tight container in the refrigerator. It keeps good for 2 weeks!

How many calories are there in Gajar Ka Halwa?

There are 185 calories per serving of Gajar Ka Halwa!

Why Carrot halwa or Gajrela solidifies or becomes hard in the refrigerator?

When kept in the refrigerator Carrot Halwa or Gajrela tends to solidify because it contains lost of ghee or clarified butter.

The ghee solidifies at cold temperature & this makes the Indian Carrot pudding to solidify too!

This is a natural process & it’s absolutely fine!

Unfortunately you cannot prevent the solidification process but what you may do is that just before serving run your carrot halwa in your microwave for 30 seconds on High!

The ghee will melt & soften the Gajar Halwa!

Why my Carrot Halwa turned black?

Grated carrots when kept open & uncovered tends to turn black fast because of the oxidation process. 

If you use grated carrots that turned black then your Carrot Halwa too will turn black!

Do not prefer dark colored Gajar Ka Halwa? No problem, the skip sauteing the grated carrots in ghee first.

Use the ghee later as mentioned in this Instant Pot Carrot Halwa recipe.

Can you freeze Gajar Ka Halwa?

Yes, you can absolutely freeze your Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa!

Instant Pot Carrot Halwa stays good for 2 months in the freezer when stored well in freezer bags or in air-tight containers!

My best fried are the zip lock bags, because I love to store food in portion sizes!

This way it’s so easy, you take out the individual portions, thaw, re-heat & eat!

Interesting Variations of this wonderful Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa:

Gajar Ka Halwa with Milkmaid or condensed milk:

You can easily make your Gajar ka halwa with milkmaid.

If you choose to use milkmaid in your Instant Pot Gajar ka halwa recipe than skip using Khoya, reduce the amount of sugar & add 1/2 cup or more milkmaid instead of khoya (refer the steps in the recipe card).

Stir well, until milkmaid is well incorporated, about 5-7 mins!

Milkmaid is sweet so it’s advisable to reduce the amount of sugar in the Carrot Halwa recipe!

Note: Milkmaid is just a brand name of condensed milk.

Carrot Halwa without Khoya:

You can make Gajar Ka Halwa without Khoya by following today’s Instant Pot Carrot Halwa recipe.

Just skip adding the khoya or Mawa Powder!

Reduce the amount of ghee by 4 tbsp.

Gajar Halwa with Khoya:

Follow the Instant Pot gajar ka halwa recipe from this post (refer the recipe card) to make Gajar ka halwa with khoya.

Add khoya (milk solids) instead of Mawa or Khoya powder.

You might have to stir your Carrot Halwa a bit longer because Khoya takes more time to melt!

Carrot Halwa without milk:

Here’s how you can make carrot halwa without milk:

• Start by grating the carrots finely.
• Next, add lots of ghee in the skillet or Instant Pot.
• When the ghee becomes hot add the green cardamom pods or black cardamom pods & allow them to sizzle for a few seconds.
• Add the grated carrots & stir fry until the carrots become mushy, translucent & glossy.
• Next, add sugar & fry again for a few mins until oil oozes out from the carrot and you get a nice aroma.
• Finally add khoya or Mawa powder or almmond flour, mix well. Fry for a couple of mins.
• Add chopped nuts & raisins.
• Turn off the flame, serve hot or chilled!

Gajar Ka Halwa without Ghee:

Yes, you can make Gajar Ka Halwa wihout ghee!

Replace the ghee with Margarine, white oil, vegan butter or regular unsalted butter.

Do not expect Gajar Ka Halwa made without ghee to taste like the authentic gajar ka halwa recipe.

Because ghee is the heart & soul of an authentic Gajar Halwa recipe!

Instant Pot Carrot Halwa with milk powder:

Follow the Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa recipe mentioned in the recipe card (in this post) to make Gajrela recipe with milk powder or Mawa powder.

2 other Techniques to make Gajar Ka Halwa:

Check out the Recipe Video of Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa:

Gajar Ka Halwa in Pressure Cooker:

Follow these steps to make Gajar ka Halwa in pressure cooker:

• Set the pressure cooker over medium-high heat & add milk.
• Then, add the grated carrots. Close the lid & pressure cook for 2 whistles.
• Do a quick pressure release.
• Increase the heat to high & stir the grated carrot until the rest of the milk starts to evaporate.
• When the consistency starts to thicken add ghee, sugar & dry fruits. Mix & fry for few mins until the carrots become translucent, nicely glossy,  has a lovely color & you get a wonderful aroma.
• If the carrot starts to stick in the bottom of the pan add some more ghee & reduce the heat to medium.
• Now, add & mix the mawa powder or khoya powder. Stir for a few mins.
• Serve hot & garnish with more chopped nuts.

 Gajar Ka Halwa in microwave:

You can make a quick gajar ka Halwa in minutes in a microwave oven!

I always rustle up a quick gajar ka halwa in a microwave oven whenever I have a sudden craving! Cooking small portions turns out manageable & delicious every time. Follow this method:

• In a microwave safe bowl add ghee & microwave on high for 30 seconds.
• Next add the grated carrot, mix well with the ghee & mircowave on high for 2 mins.
• Add milk, sugar, mawa powder, crushed cardamom seeds or cardamom powder. Mix well.
• Microwave on high for 13 mins, stirring every 2 mins.
• Add the chopped dry fruits, mix well & serve hot!

Check out other Easy Instant Pot Recipes from Foodies Terminal:

• Instant Pot Chicken 65 recipe.
• Daliya Khichdi Recipe in Instant Pot / Savory Bulgur Wheat porridge.
• Instant Pot Indian Goat meat curry.
• Bengali Ghugni recipe in IP / Vegan dried yellow peas curry in IP
• Instant Pot Indian Chicken Curry

Expert tips from Foodies Terminal to make the best Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa:

Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa has the best of both worlds – the slow cooked laborious Gajar Halwa + the cheat pressure cooker Gajar ka halwa.

This is because I pressure cooked the grated carrots & also stir fried them for quiet sometime to make this Instant Pot Carrot Halwa!

I would not suggest you to skip the STIR FRYING part! This along with loads of GHEE is what makes a delicious Gajar ka halwa! 

Just as they say “never ever trust a fat chef”, we always say not to trust any other Carrot Halwa that skips these 2 steps – Ghee & stir frying! It’s simply not worth it!

• Always try to use fresh organic carrots, organic carrots are way tasty than regular carrots.
• DO NOT peel the carrots, just wash them well under running water. The peel of the carrot is loaded with maximum nutrients. In order to avoid pesticides buy organic & never peel them.
• Use the best ghee, I love to use home-made ghee.
• You may replace ghee with regular unsalted butter, margarine or even white oil. But, honestly the Gajar Ka Halwa won’t taste the same as it’s ghee counterpart!
• If you do not love very dark colored Carrot halwa than never fry the carrots first in ghee before adding milk, instead follow this recipe of Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa.
• Grated carrots, when left behind for a long time, will turn brown.
• To make the best Gajar Ka Halwa use ghee generously!
• You may substitute small green cardamom pods with crushed black cardamom seeds. We love the subtle aroma of black cardamoms.
• You may skip adding the khoya totally from the Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa recipe. In that case, reduce the amount of ghee by 4 tbsp.
• If you decide to add condensed milk to your gajrela recipe than reduce the amount of sugar because condensed milk itself is sweet.
• It’s not mandatory to fry or saute the dry fruits in ghee first & then add to the Carrot Halwa. Adding them directly to the Halwa just works as well!
• Stir fry the Instant Pot Gajar Ka halwa in Saute mode on HIGh or Normal settings. DO NOT skip this part. This is actually what makes a delicious Gajar ka Halwa every time!
• If you find the heat uncomfortable or difficult to handle in your Instant Pot feel free to reduce the temperature. Instant Pot in Saute settings behaves just like any other skillet or pan set over your stove top. So play with the temperatures!

Pin the Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa for later!

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Recipe Card for Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa | Pressure Cooker Carrot Halwa | Gajrela Recipe

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