Gajar Halwa in Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker-without Grating
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.
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.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!