Pumpkin and Carrot Halwa – An Indian dessert

This Pumpkin and Carrot Halwa was a part of a dinner party menu for friends this weekend. It’s pumpkin season in many parts of the world, and I thought why not share more pumpkin recipe ideas on my blog. While Gajar halwa or carrot halwa is the more popular of the halwas, I like this mix of pumpkin and carrot to prepare this popular Indian dessert.

Halwa is an Indian style pudding, typically made in the winters, when the quality of vegetables and milk is really good. It is richly garnished with a mix of nuts and dried fruits. The halwa can be made using vegetables (carrot / pumpkin / gourds etc), fruits such as pineapple or even lentils such as moong dal ka halwa.

In most Indian kitchens, halwa is considered to be a by-product of severe elbow grease, painstakingly made, by a mum struggling to please her family, typical Bollywood ishtyle! I regularly make carrot / pumpkin / beet halwas but no elbow grease for me, thank you. I love to feed my family and friends, but with minimum possible time spent in the kitchen, and for that purpose if modern gadgets and time saving tricks are to be used, so be it 🙂

My recipe gives a creamy, mildly sweet pudding. Using the blender to mince the vegetables and the pressure pan to cook the pudding saves a lot of time and elbow ache. Do use a food processor or a mixer to finely grate or mince the vegetable!

This adds to the many other Pumpkin recipes on the blog. Do use the search tab to find the others or follow my Best Pumpkin Recipes board on Pinterest.

Watch my latest video on YouTube: Guacamole on Toast

Pumpkin and Carrot Halwa - An Indian dessert

This Pumpkin and Carrot Halwa is my take on the traditional gajar halwa. A pressure pan cooks the halwa in no time, khoya adds to the richness and your pumpkin-carrot dessert is ready!

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Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6 serving

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsps ghee
• 3 carrots medium
• 500 grams yellow pumpkin
• 300 ml milk whole
• 150 grams khoya
• 1/2 cup sugar
• strands saffron few
• 4 cardamom (seeds removed and powdered) green
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 10 - 12 cashewnuts
• 12 - 15 raisins

Method

 

1. Peel the carrots. Scoop out the seeds and membranes from the pumpkin and peel it.
2. Using a food processor or a manual grater, grate or finely chop the pumpkin and carrot.
3. Use a heavy bottomed pressure pan to prepare the halwa. Heat 2 tbsp ghee in pressure pan. Add the grated pumpkin and carrot. Saute on medium flame for 5 minutes. (A pressure pan is nothing but a wider, shorter, pressure cooker, used to cook curries / dals / vegetables very quickly)
4. Add the milk, give it a stir. Cover the pressure pan with its lid, along with the whistle. Cook for 3 whistles and on sim for 5 minutes. Switch off the flame and allow the pressure pan to cool.
5. Open when cool. Add the grated khoya and sugar, along with saffron strands dissolved in 1 tsp milk. On a low flame, allow to simmer until most of the milk has solidified and halva is dry. At this stage add the powdered green cardamom seeds, stir well to mix.
6. Remove this into a bowl.
7. In a small saucepan, heat 1 tbsp ghee. Fry the cashewnuts until golden brown, drain and keep aside. Fry the raisins until puffed up. Transfer both the cashews and raisins over the Halwa.
8. Serve chilled or warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or as a filling in tartlets.

Notes

Equipment required for preparing this halwa:

Pressure Pan (You can also use a pressure cooker)

Small saucepan for frying nuts and raisins

I used the KitchenAid Diamond Blender to finely mince the vegetables to prepare the Halwa. The blender was sent to me to use and share my experience. Using the Pulse + Liquefy mode, in just a few seconds, large chunks of carrot and pumpkin were chopped into a very fine mince.

You can prepare the same halwa using carrot, pumpkin, bottle gourd or beetroot.

I use Milky Mist brand khoya. If you have no access to khoya, try preparing with the addition of half a cup of milk powder.

Watch my latest video on YouTube: Guacamole on Toast