Gajar Halwa, or carrot halwa, is a delicious Indian dessert made from grated carrots, milk, sugar, ghee, and various aromatic spices. The Instant Pot version retains the authentic taste and texture while reducing the cooking time.
Assemble all ingredients together to avoid last minute rush.
Grate the carrots with the help of a Grater or for easier option, chop in an Electric Chopper. You can use any method as per your convenience. I recommend to grate the carrots than chopping because I have made both ways and Halwa tastes way better with grated carrots. Set them aside.
Roughly chop your favorite nuts for the recipe.
Cooking
Press the sauté button on Instant Pot and add 1 tbsp clarified butter or ghee into it.
Then, add chopped nuts/dry fruits to the pot and fry for a minute until they turn light golden brown in color. Raisins would plump up. Remove them from the pot.
Now, add the grated carrots and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Then, add full fat milk (use full fat milk for richness and creaminess), stir well and close the pot with its lid.
Press the pressure cook/manual button and keep the pressure valve in the sealing position. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
Let the pressure release naturally for 2 minutes and then do a quick manual pressure release by moving the pressure valve from the sealing to venting position.
Open the pot and give a quick stir to the halwa. And, press the sauté button and add in the sugar. You can also use brown sugar or sugar free as per your choice, keep in mind taste would slightly differ.
Keep stirring, after 4-5 minutes, sugar will dissolve completely. Then, add the milk powder or mawa or khoya, if using.
Then, add the remaining 1 tbsp ghee to the halwa and mix.
Continue to roast the carrots on sauté mode with the ghee for approx 10 minutes more. You will notice the color of the halwa would change to dark side of red. This step is tedious but roasting is important for the color and flavor.
After that, at the end add cardamom powder and roasted nuts. Mix with the halwa.
Unplug your Instant Pot and garnish Gajar Halwa with some more nuts.