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Instant Pot Gajar Halwa – Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe

February 7, 2018 By Richa 34 Comments

Instant Pot Gajar Halwa – Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert, a flourless Carrot Cake Crumble/pudding that is spiced with cardamom and served during festivals. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Recipe. Jump to Recipe   

Instant Pot Gajar Halwa - Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert, a flourless Carrot Cake or Pudding that is spiced with cardamom and served during festivals. #Vegan #Glutenfree #Soyfree #Recipe #veganricha | VeganRicha.com

Gajar Halwa is a popular Winter-Spring dessert in Northern India.  My Dad’s fave version has grated carrots that get slow roasted in a skillet over hours to become almost candied and the mix is more like a soft crumble. See my Stove top carrot halwa version here. This Instant pot version cooks within minutes and works amazingly.

The Carrots get roasted with sugar for a bit then pressure cooked, then roasted again to dry them up. This Instant Pot Halwa will cook to a softer more pudding like state, and gets close to the stove roasted one after sitting for a bit to cool. I use purple and red carrots for the gorgeous color that would normally show up only on long roasting. To make this nut-free, use sunflower seed meal and omit the cashews. Make this delicious dessert for Holi (the festival of colors coming in March) or valentines day (use more purple carrots!) 🥕🥕. See video above the Recipe. 

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Instant Pot Gajar Halwa - Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert, a flourless Carrot Cake Crumble/pudding that is spiced with cardamom and served during festivals. #Vegan #Glutenfree #Soyfree #Recipe.#veganricha | VeganRicha.com

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I know what you are thinking, that the Serving size should be 1 ;). Well, the 4 serves are dessert portions. Serve after a good meal! If you make this, do let me know how it turned out! Subscribe to My Youtube Channel for more videos.

Instant Pot Gajar Halwa - Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert, a flourless Carrot Cake Crumble/pudding that is spiced with cardamom and served during festivals. #Vegan #Glutenfree #Soyfree #Recipe #veganricha | VeganRicha.com

Instant Pot Gajar Halwa - Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert, a warm flourless Carrot Cake pudding that is spiced with cardamom and served during festivals. #Vegan #Glutenfree #Soyfree #Recipe #veganricha | VeganRicha.com

Video:

5 from 8 votes
Instant Pot Gajar Halwa - Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert, a flourless Carrot Cake Crumble/pudding that is spiced with cardamom and served during festivals. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Recipe.
Print
Instant Pot Gajar Halwa - Indian Carrot Halwa Vegan Dairyfree Recipe
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
35 mins
 

Instant Pot Gajar Halwa / Gajrela - Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert, a flourless Carrot Cake Crumble/pudding that is spiced with cardamom and served during festivals. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Dairyfree Recipe.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Gluten-free, Indian, Vegan
Servings: 4
Calories: 225 kcal
Author: Vegan Richa
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp vegan butter or oil
  • 3 tbsp cashews
  • 3 tbsp chopped dates or raisins, or currants
  • 2.5 cups of shredded carrots rainbow carrots or red or a combination of purple and red
  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • 1/8 to 1/4 tsp salt use 1/4 tsp if using oil instead of vegan butter
  • 1/4 cup almond meal
  • 1/4 cup non dairy milk such as almond or soy , use 1/2 cup if your carrots are not very moist
  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
  • pistachios or cashews for garnish
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
  1. Put the Instant pot on Saute (Stove top pressure cooker over medium heat). Add vegan butter or oil.
  2. Add cashews and cook until golden. Stir occasionally. About 2-3 minutes. Add dates/raisins and cook for a few seconds.

  3. Add carrots, sugar, salt and almond meal and mix well. Cook for a minute. Add non dairy milk and mix in.
  4. Close the lid. Pressure cook for 6 to 7 minutes manual, hi in Instant pot. (3 mins over medium heat in stove top pressure cooker). Let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid, Mix in the cardamom. Taste and adjust sweet if needed.

  5. Put the pot on Saute and cook the mixture for 3 to 4 mins to roast it well and to dry out the liquid. Stir well in between to avoid sticking. At this point you can add another 2 tsp vegan butter and mix in. Once the mixture starts to stick and is dry-ish. Switch off and let it sit. The pot will be hot for a while, let the carrot mixture slow cook in the heat for 15 mins or so. Stir once in between. When the mixture is warm-cool, serve, or store refrigerated.  Garnish with chopped cashews or pistachios to serve. Stove top version here. 

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

For additional mava flavor, add a 1/4 tsp nutritional yeast with the salt.

 

To make this nut-free, use sunflower seed meal instead of almond meal, and omit the cashews.

 

This recipe is adapted from my Stove top Vegan Gajar Halwa.

Nutrition is 1 of 4 serves

 

Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Gajar Halwa - Indian Carrot Halwa Vegan Dairyfree Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 225 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 15%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Sodium 76mg 3%
Potassium 379mg 11%
Total Carbohydrates 32g 11%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
Sugars 23g
Protein 3g 6%
Vitamin A 267.3%
Vitamin C 5.7%
Calcium 6.7%
Iron 6.2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Instant Pot Gajar Halwa - Vegan Carrot Halwa Recipe. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert, a flourless Carrot Cake Crumble/pudding that is spiced with cardamom and served during festivals. #Vegan #Glutenfree #Soyfree #Recipe #veganricha | VeganRicha.com

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Filed Under: dessert, holi, indian sweet, Indian Vegan Recipes, Instant Pot, instant pot vegan indian recipes Tagged With: pressure cooker, vegan, video

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Comments

  1. Olivia says

    February 7, 2018 at 8:16 am

    Love this! I can smell the cardamom already…

    Reply
    • Richa says

      February 7, 2018 at 11:07 am

      It is so good!

      Reply
  2. Lynda Birch says

    February 7, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    This looks delicious and I would like to try it but I find the amount of liquid is very low for an IP. Is 1/4 almond milk cup correct? Or do the carrots provide enough liquid to bring the pot to full pressure?

    Reply
    • Richa says

      February 7, 2018 at 7:36 pm

      The carrots release moisture during cooking so it works out fine. If you see the video, right after opening , there is some moisture with the carrots about 2 tbsp or so. Thats why it gets sauteed for a few minutes to cook that out. If you feel like your carrots arent juicy enough, try with a 1/3 or 1/2 cup liquid.

      Reply
      • Lynda says

        March 5, 2018 at 10:16 am

        I finally got around to making this yesterday and it is delicious! I did add a little extra milk because the carrots I had seemed dry. It turned out perfectly. Thank you for another great tasting and easy to make recipe.

        Reply
        • Richa says

          March 5, 2018 at 12:23 pm

          yay!!

          Reply
  3. Cassie Thuvan Tran says

    February 7, 2018 at 7:16 pm

    I absolutely LOVED carrot halwa, especially when made fresh at Indian restaurants! I had no idea that they were made with butter, so I felt a bit more guilty about it after I found out. Thank you for this incredible vegan alternative! <3

    Reply
  4. Sarah says

    February 8, 2018 at 6:11 am

    Can you provide a method for cooking that’s not in the Instant Pot, and perhaps just stovetop?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Richa says

      February 8, 2018 at 9:48 am

      its linked inthe post in the recipe notes and above as well. Stove top version==> https://www.veganricha.com/2016/09/vegan-carrot-halwa-gajar-halwa-recipe.html

      Reply
  5. Rita says

    February 8, 2018 at 6:24 am

    Love this video and recipe. Sharing to my page and group on fb.

    Reply
  6. Elizabeth says

    February 9, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    I tried this and it was too dry–burned to the bottom of the Instant Pot and wouldn’t seal. I would definitely recommend adding liquid.

    Reply
    • Richa says

      February 9, 2018 at 3:02 pm

      it depends on the carrots i guess. Mine doesnt dry out. you can use a 1/2 cup milk.

      Reply
    • Richa says

      February 9, 2018 at 3:07 pm

      When i made the video, I reshot the almond meal part as i had forgotten to add that, so the mixture dried out for another 2-3 mins and then i closed the lid and it still worked. I have noticed that sometimes the IP takes longer to come to pressure for various reasons. So if your unit by your experience takes longer or generally needs some extra liquid, then add some more. the extra liquid can be cooked out later on saute.

      Reply
    • April Parekh says

      February 10, 2018 at 9:44 am

      Maybe try doing the pot in pot method. You could put a couple of cups of water in the bottom of your IP and put a stainless steel ring or trivel and then put a small stainless steel mixing bowl on top of that.

      Reply
  7. Mohamed says

    February 10, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    Would it work in a regular pot onstead of a pressure cooker? If yes how would it work and how long would it take?

    Reply
    • Richa says

      February 10, 2018 at 7:57 pm

      Yes, the stove top (skillet) version is linked on the post. see https://www.veganricha.com/2016/09/vegan-carrot-halwa-gajar-halwa-recipe.html

      Reply
  8. Stacey says

    February 12, 2018 at 8:52 am

    Do you think it would work with zucchini instead of carrot? I have a bunch of zucchini I need to use up.

    Reply
    • Richa says

      February 12, 2018 at 10:00 am

      yes. There is a squash halwa that uses opo squash which is similar to zucchini and its a similar process so it should work. Add some thick cashew cream when you saute mixture after opening the lid for a creamy halwa.

      Reply
      • Stacey says

        February 12, 2018 at 11:59 am

        Awesome! Thanks. I will try it tonight.

        Reply
        • Stacey says

          February 14, 2018 at 11:44 am

          It turned out so good with the zucchini! They are very wet so there was plenty of liquid. I used coconut sugar instead of cane and I did add some cashew cream as you suggested. My husband and son loved it as well. We will definitely be adding this super easy vegetable dessert to our rotation. Thanks so much! I really am so grateful that you do what you do. It makes it easy to cook healthy vegan food for my family without having to rely on packaged foods. So many of your recipes are just part of our days now.

          Reply
          • Richa says

            February 14, 2018 at 1:14 pm

            Awesome! i think with zucchini, no milk during pressure cooking will work too. So glad everyone loved it! And thank you for the wonderful note. I am happy that you try out the recipes and they turn out well!

  9. Liese says

    February 26, 2018 at 5:35 am

    Made this for a Vegan Dinner group and it everyone loved it, so I got a chance to pass on both the recipe and of course your site!

    I didn’t use any sugar but added a couple more dates. Used a tablespoon of coconut oil at the beginning and 1/2c TJ’s reduced fat coconut milk. It was moist but not wet after pressure cooking so didn’t do anything more except add the spice. It firmed up a little further since it was a few hours before it was served.
    Another excellent recipe, thank you.

    Reply
    • Richa says

      February 26, 2018 at 10:22 am

      Awesome!! Yes adjust away to preference. The traditional indian version is much sweeter and much more roasted and more dry somewhat like candied carrots. Either which way in texture works out very pleasing.

      Reply
  10. Ananya says

    March 9, 2018 at 6:11 am

    Hey Richa, I want to know whether it tastes better with soymilk or almond milk. If I’m using soymilk, do I use the vanilla flavoured one? Also, is it fine if I crush and chop the cardamom instead of making a powder? I don’t have access to a blender atm

    Reply
    • Richa says

      March 9, 2018 at 1:42 pm

      Yes chopped cardamom is definitely fresher and better than powder. I would say use a combination of both so the cardamom flavor mixes in quickly with the powder and does its slow refreshing release with the whole seeds crushed.
      I generally make it with almond milk. Somme soy milk brands dont behave as well.

      Reply
  11. CP says

    April 1, 2018 at 5:25 am

    What can i substitute for almond meal as i don’t use that? Also can i use milk instead of almond or soy milk?? Thx 🙂

    Reply
    • Richa says

      April 1, 2018 at 6:14 pm

      coarsely ground cashews will work.

      I havent used dairy in years so i wouldnt know. I cannot recommend using dairy in any of my recipes as his blog and I are vegan for ethical reasons and he point of the blog is to show that dairy isnt needed in making great food.
      Many cows and baby calfs are killed worldwide for dairy. India is the largest exporter or beef and veal(baby cow meat) in all of the World, Because of the Dairy industry. 2.4 Million Tonnes of beef and veal are exported each year, almost all of which comes from spent Dairy female cows and Baby male calfs who are useless for the dairy industry. 38500000 cows are slaughtered every year in India, that is 105900 per day, 4390 per hour.
      Animal agriculture is also the largest producer of green house gasses, more than fossil fuels, and uses many times more Resources(water, land) of the planet.
      The alternate non dairy milks and yogurts, creams, butter taste equally good and are beneficial for people, health, environment, as well as the planet.

      Reply
      • Priya says

        October 19, 2018 at 6:22 am

        I am going to try this recipe! I am also vegan for ethical reasons. Have been trying your other IP recipes and loving it. Thank you!

        Reply
  12. Kody says

    July 7, 2018 at 7:10 pm

    This has become a special occasion dessert for my significant other and myself. This evening we celebrated our four year anniversary with your japanese curry and this as a dessert. Thank you for being you, and continuing to be in our home. With love, our family.

    Reply
    • Richa says

      July 7, 2018 at 9:09 pm

      Thats amazing. Thank you for making the recipes and loving the results! ❤️❤️

      Reply
  13. Sayani Majumdar says

    December 19, 2018 at 3:09 pm

    This was heavenly, as good as the gajar halwa I used to make before with milk. I have been gradually cutting out animal products from my diet and recipes like the ones you share (I have also tried the vegan “butter chicken”- and loved it!) make the transition much less daunting. I can’t thank you enough for perfecting these recipes for us- I have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen with delicious results to boot!

    Reply
    • Richa says

      December 19, 2018 at 5:20 pm

      Thats awesome!! So glad you loved it!

      Reply
  14. Baby pearl says

    January 9, 2019 at 3:52 pm

    I am def making this. I am hosting an Indian vegan brunch on coming Sunday. This will be a fitting dessert as I have several pounds of carrots in the fridge.

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Richa! I create flavorful plant based recipes that are inspired by my Indian upbringing, including many gluten-free, soy-free, and oil-free options. Read more about me and the blog...

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