Carrot Halwa With Jaggery | Healthy Gajar Halwa

Carrot Halwa With Jaggery | Healthy Gajar Halwa

Try this quick and easy recipe of healthy Carrot halwa with Jaggery Powder. This recipe is made without khoya (mawa) and is a completely refined sugar free dessert. But, there is no compromise in taste, the goodness of grated carrots and jaggery powder provide the right level of sweetness to Gajar Halwa, the famous Indian dessert!

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Gajar Ka Halwa aka Indian Carrot Pudding, more popularly known as Gajrela, is hands down one of the most famous Indian sweets. As soon as the winter arrives, the beautiful juicy red carrots become available in different grocery stores, and with that, comes the arrival of homemade Carrot Halwa.

If you have never tried this Indian sweet dish, you’d better give it a try. The sweetness of grated juicy carrots, combined with ghee and milk, along with hint of powdered cardamom produces a reduced blend of the simmered ingredients which are stirred constantly to perfection. Some people like to add Khoya or Mawa (dried evaporated milk solids) to the halwa to make it rich, but this version of Gajar Halwa is without khoya.

How is this Gajar Ka Halwa healthy?

Gajar ka halwa is generally sweetened with refined sugar. But in this case, we are not using any refined sugar. Instead, jaggery powder is used to impart sweetness to the carrot pudding, which makes it a healthy Indian sweet dish option.

Jaggery is an unrefined form of sugar, which comes from sugarcane or the sap of palm, and retains it’s nutrients during processing, so it’s a healthier alternative to white sugar.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Grated Carrots

Carrots are the star ingredient of this recipe. You have to use carrots in a grated form. It’s best to grate the carrots at home using food processor, grater attachment. Or if you don’t have the food processor with grater attachment, then you can grate using a hand grater. But remember, manually doing it would take a lot of time, and definitely, a lot of effort.

In India, Gajar Halwa is made using red carrots, which are very sweet and juicy. But if those are not available, then feel free to use any other kind of carrots, the red or orange ones, the normal sized or even the baby carrots. But, don’t use the packaged pre-grated carrots that you get at grocery stores.

• Ghee

I have used a very little amount of ghee for this recipe here. Ghee is a class of clarified butter which is commonly used in Indian households for everyday cooking. Homemade ghee would be the best to use. If not, you can even buy Ghee from a grocery store, or online.

• Milk

Plain whole milk is preferred to use for this recipe. Some people also use Sweetened Condensed Milk, but I have avoided that in this recipe, since it contains lot of added refined sugar in itself.

• Jaggery Powder

Like most of the other healthy dessert recipes of mine, I have used Jaggery Powder for this gajrela recipe as well. Jaggery is a healthier sweetener alternative compared to refined sugar. And is very commonly available across India. Jaggery is easily available online and in Indian grocery stores in USA as well.

• Powdered Cardamom

Green Cardamom or Elaichi is a must have for this recipe. Powdered cardamom provides a unique flavor and aroma to the halwa. You can use the pre packaged ground cardamom powder, or you can make your own by crushing the pods from the green cardamom. But, you definitely can not skip this one!

• Nuts & Raisins

Gajar Ka Halwa is incomplete without the addition of chopped nuts and delicate soft raisins. I have added chopped cashews, sliced blanched almonds and raisins here. But feel free to add any nuts of your choice!

How to make added refined sugar free Carrot Halwa?

Here are the step by step instructions to prepare Gajar Ka Halwa made with Jaggery Powder!

• Wash and peel the carrots. Grate the carrots and measure 3 cups.
• On a stove-top, keeping the heat to medium, add ghee in a heavy bottomed kadhai (or non-stick pan). Once the ghee is melting, add grated carrots and saute.

• Keep sauteing on low-medium heat till the water evaporates from the carrots. This might take around 10-15 minutes. Add milk and crushed (ground) cardamom to the grated carrots, keeping the heat to medium, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low-medium, and keep on stirring the mixture after every few minutes, till the milk reduces to more than half. This will take another 15 minutes or so.
• Once almost most of the milk is evaporated, and you are left with the thick mixture, add the jaggery powder. After adding jaggery powder, reduce the heat. This is the point when you have to keep on stirring the mixture thoroughly, cleaning the sides of the pan/kadhai, else there will be chances of the halwa sticking to the pan. Test the final sweetness, add some more jaggery powder if you think is required.
• Top the halwa with chopped nuts of choice.

• Give it a final mix. Turn off the heat and enjoy hot and healthy gajar ka halwa!

More Healthy Indian Sweets Recipes

• Leftover Gajar Ka Halwa Puff Pastry Hearts
• Indian Trifle Pudding
• Diwali Special Nut Muffins

This recipe is a part of Julie & Julia series that I had started to document the first 100 recipes on the blog. This one is recipe #73. If you are interested to see a video, then there is one available for this Gajar Halwa recipe on my YouTube channel under “YouTube Shorts”.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel, Bake With Kanwal for more such healthy recipes. You can even connect with me on Facebook and Instagram. For now, enjoy the recipe of the delicious and healthy Gajar Halwa with Jaggery Powder!