The only Diwali dessert you need this year is this Gajar ka Halwa Dubai-Style Chocolate Bar.
Gajar Ka Halwa meets the viral Dubai chocolate bar
Okay, please don’t tell my mum, but I just reinvented (and perfected) our family recipe for Gajar Ka Halwa… and I am absolutely not sorry.
That’s right, the viral chocolate bar from Dubai that took over the internet has officially gone abroad.
I sent it on a full Eat, Pray, Love soul search to Amritsar, and the result is the ultimate fusion Indian sweet that’s perfect for this Diwali festive season.
Think of this as giving the viral FIX chocolate bar a golden glow up. Not only is this fusion dessert stunningly beautiful to look at, but this many fresh carrots could potentially bless you with a perfectly melanated Mac NW35 skin tone. Gotta get one of your five-a-day somehow, right? You’re welcome.
Nostalgia and the softest carrot halwa
My traditional Indian Gajar Ka Halwa recipe, made with slow-cooked carrots and fragrant cardamom, will dissolve in your mouth.
It’s perfect all by itself, but let’s try something new and turn it into a gorgeous gold chocolate bar using white chocolate to encase it.
When I taste this sweet carrot halwa, I’m instantly transported to temple visits, finding peace between mouthfuls of the grandma-made dessert, with Hanuman Chalisa on blast and my dad on harmonium. That really was my happy place.
I learnt early on in life that when a dessert is prashad (a blessed offering), you have to finish every last bit, so don’t risk the bad karma of leaving a single crumb. I was always taught this by my parents.
Your festive Diwali dessert hack
I used white chocolate in this pretty silicone mould from Amazon (affiliate link), but you can swap it for milk or dark chocolate if you prefer.
A quick tip: be sure to reinforce the sides of the mould with an extra layer or two of chocolate so it’s strong enough to hold the warm halwa without breaking when you remove it.
After a little chill time, I decorated mine simply with edible gold lustre dust (like this one) for an elegant, Diwali-ready finish. It’s effortless luxury, proving that it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?
I truly think this is the most fun, portable, and shareable way to upgrade your mithai boxes this year. It’s the perfect centerpiece for your Diwali party menu.
Send this recipe to your friends now, but definitely not to my mum!
5 tips for the Best Gajar ka Halwa and for making these chocolate bars
1. Grate your carrots using the fine side of the grater
Not only will the carrots cook quickly, but they’ll also create the perfect, uniform texture that packs together tightly inside the bar, whilst the maintaining essential texture required for a good halwa.
2. Cook the carrots in their own liquid before adding milk or sugar
This will ensure the carrots retain lots of flavour and don’t become too sticky and caramelised. This is what gives gajar ka halwa its melt-in-the-mouth texture. If the sugar is added too early, you risk candying the carrots and this is not ideal for the mouthfeel gajar ka halwa requires.
3. Cook the carrots in milk and sugar over a medium-low heat
A melting quality requires time and patience. Cook the carrots, milk, sugar and saffron low and slow, stirring the halwa all the time to prevent burning. Slow cooking equals more delicious results. Add the cardamom at the end and let it cool completely before adding it to your chocolate mould.
4. Coat the chocolate bar mould thinly and evenly
No chocolate bar should have a shell that’s too thick. Coat it with a thin layer of chocolate, chill it and then repeat, reinforcing the side with brushstrokes of thicker chocolate at the sides to prevent breaking. Chill it again before adding the completely cool halwa.
5. Decorate simply or as elaborately as you like
Once the chocolate bar gets its final layer of chocolate (to create the flat, smooth base), chill it in the fridge for 4 hours or in the freezer for 2 hours. Remove the mould carefully and brush with edible gold lustre dust like this one I got from Amazon (affiliate link).
Gajar ka Halwa Dubai-Style Chocolate Bar Recipe | How to make Gajar ka Halwa Chocolate for Diwali
Gajar ka Halwa Dubai-Style Chocolate Bar
Introducing the Gajar ka Halwa Dubai-Style Chocolate Bar! This viral trend chocolate bar is filled with sweet carrot halwa, saffron and cardamom. This is the ultimate Indian fusion dessert for your Diwali mithai box.
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp ghee or butter
- 500g grated carrots, trimmed and grated on the fine side of a grater
- 150ml whole (full-fat) milk
- 75g granulated white sugar
- Small pinch of saffron
- 5 green cardamom pods, seeds finely ground
- 400g white cooking chocolate, finely chopped
Instructions
- To make the halwa, set a large, non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the ghee or butter and wait for it to melt. Add the carrots and cook, stirring all the time until the carrots soften and lose their moisture, around 12 minutes.
- Pour in the milk, sugar and saffron. Stir well and continue to cook, stirring all the time over low heat until the carrots soften further and absorb all the milk and sugar. After around 20-25 minutes of stirring, the mixture should look like pudding, with a little gloss from the ghee or butter on the surface, remove from the heat. Stir in the ground cardamom.
- While the halwa cools, melt the white chocolate over a double boiler, until smooth and glossy. Ensure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water in the pan beneath it.
- Pour just under half of the chocolate into a silicone 15.5 x 25 x 2.5-cm deep chocolate bar mould such as this one from Amazon (affiliate link).
- Use a silicone pastry brush to coat the base and the sides with the chocolate. Be patient and take your time with this to ensure proper thickness at the base, without it being too thick. Pay attention to the sides of the mould too. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or pop into the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Take a little more of the chocolate and reinforce the sides of the chocolate bar mould to ensure it's thick enough to hold the halwa, but not too thick. Again, refrigerate for 30 minutes, or pop into the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Carefully fill the chocolate shell with the halwa mixture, pressing it in gently. Don't press too hard or the shell will break, but ensure it's packed in evenly, in one uniform layer.
- You may need to re-melt and slightly cool the chocolate at this point. Pour the remaining white chocolate over the top of the halwa and smooth it out into one even layer.
- Refrigerate the bar for 4 hours or freeze for 2 hours.
- Carefully de-mould the bar and place it patterned-side up. Use a clean, dry brush to dust with edible gold lustre dust and then use a large, sharp knife to cut the bar into pieces.
Notes
Serve the bar cold, or at room temperature. To keep for another day, wrap the bar well, in several layers of cling film or baking parchment and consume within 3 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 361Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 102mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 3gSugar: 39gProtein: 5g
Love Sanjana
If you like this, you’ll love my Dubai Chocolate Burfi
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