Gajar halwa is a carrot-based dessert that originated in India. Gajar halwa is incomplete without adding khoya/khawa to it. Khoya (Hindi) or khawa (Marathi) doesn’t have an English word for it but it’s made out of milk. Vegan alternatives for khawa/khoya can be mashed potato, grated coconut, or tofu. Tofu is the best according to me, so I’ve come up with a recipe that is tried and tested. Please follow the instructions carefully because I’ve written exactly what I have done.
Servings: 5
Preparation time: 20 minutes.
Ingredients:
- 400 gm grated carrots
- 1 cup plant-based milk, preferably cashew milk or coconut milk (I used goodmylk’s cashew and oat milk)
- 250 gm crushed tofu
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 10-15 chopped cashews
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil (optional)
- Raisins (optional)
Procedure:
- Heat a pan and add coconut oil to it. Add cashews and shallow fry them. Add grated carrot and cook till the carrot becomes soft. If you’re not adding oil, just heat a pan, roast the cashews and add grated carrot. Cook till the carrot becomes soft.
- Add the plant-based milk, crushed tofu, and sugar.
- Stir the mixture and cook for 5-10 mins on a medium flame. Add cardamom powder and raisins.
- Empty in a bowl and enjoy!
Serve cold or whichever way you like. Tofu helps in getting the exact consistency and taste. We can always experiment with vegan alternatives and recipes. If you don’t have time to experiment, don’t worry, I am already doing it for you. Please keep checking my blog if you wish to know more about vegan alternatives.
Recipe is by Vaibhavi lonkar, one of our long-term volunteers. You can check more of her work here: Guide to everything vegan
