Carrot Kheer, also called Carrot Payasam, is made with carrots, milk, cashews, and sugar, with the added aroma of cardamom and saffron. It is a delicious and satisfying dessert that the whole family will love!
I first had this Carrot Kheer at a friend’s place; it was so yummy! My friend’s mom was visiting and made this fabulous carrot kheer, so credit to you, Auntie Chandra Subramanian, for this recipe. The only thing going through my mind, while eating the kheer, was how I could recreate this in the Instant Pot.
The other significant part about this carrot pudding is that there is no need to spend time grating carrots. Isn’t that great? Grating is the only reason I don’t make Indian carrot halwa frequently, even though I love it.
There are lots of recipes to make carrot kheer with grated carrots, which are great too, and the method for those will be similar to making carrot halwa with extra milk and just not cooking until the milk is completely soaked by the carrots.
You can serve this carrot kheer hot or cold. I like it cold, garnished with pistachios and almonds. With no grating required, this Carrot Kheer has become our go-to dessert 🙂
If you like this kheer, you’ll love my rice kheer, oats kheer, and sabudana kheer recipes!
Table of Contents
Carrot Payasam Ingredients
Carrots: The star ingredient of this kheer recipe.
Cashews: They add a rich flavor and thicken the kheer.
Milk: Full-fat milk makes it rich and creamy. You can also use plant-based milk, such as almonds or oats.
Sugar: Adds sweetness to the kheer. You can adjust the amount based on your taste. You can also use jaggery or dates to make this carrot kheer. See below for more details on how to make it with dates.
Saffron: A tiny pinch adds a pleasant aroma and gives the kheer a lovely golden color.
Cardamom: Adds a sweet, warm flavor and a pleasant aroma.
Garnish: You’ll need slivered pistachios and almonds.
How to make Carrot Kheer?
- First, we will prepare the ingredients: Peel the skin of the carrots and roughly cut them into pieces. Measure 1/4 cup of unsalted cashews, approximately 30-35 grams—measure and set aside 1 liter of milk.
- Add the carrots and cashews with 1/2 cup of water to the pressure cooker to start cooking.
- Pressure cook for 7 minutes in the Instant Pot or two whistles in a stovetop pressure cooker with the vent in the sealing position. When the pressure cooking is done, let the pressure release naturally.
- While the carrots are cooking, add the milk to a large pan and bring it to a boil.
- Transfer the contents of the pressure cooker to a blender and blend to a smooth paste. If needed, add some portion of the milk while blending. I used my Vitamix to blend it to achieve a smooth texture.
- Add the blended mixture to the boiled milk and stir well until it is all homogeneous. Add cardamom powder, saffron strands, and sugar. Give a good stir.
- Let the kheer simmer for 20-25 minutes on medium-low heat until it is thickened. Let the kheer cool down, and you can chill it in the refrigerator.
Serve this carrot payasam in bowls and garnish with slivered nuts such as almonds and pistachios. You can also garnish with raisins or some crushed saffron strands.
Carrot Kheer With Dates
To make this kheer without sugar, use 6-7 large Medjool dates. You would need pitted dates with the seed removed.
Add them to the pressure cooker along with the carrots and cashews so they will soften and blend well.
Here is the carrot kheer made with dates. The color will be a bit different due to the addition of dates.
Recipe Tips
Instant Pot: If you use the Instant Pot, make sure to sanitize it thoroughly when cooking milk and desserts—the steel insert, lid, and sealing ring. If you have an extra sealing ring for sweet foods, use it.
Consistency: This is not a very thick kheer. For a thicker and creamier pudding, increase the quantity of cashews to 1/3 cup. You can also use almonds as a substitute for cashews in this kheer.
Sweetener: I have tried this kheer with sugar, jaggery, and dates. Depending on your preference, they are all great options.
Make it Vegan: For a vegan version, you can make this carrot kheer with dairy-free milk, such as almond or oat milk.
More Indian Desserts You’ll Love
Sheer Khurma (Luscious, Rich & Creamy)
Fruit Custard (Easy Indian Dessert)
20-Minute Meethi Seviyan (Sweet Vermicelli)
Motichoor Ladoo Cheesecake Parfait
Carrot Kheer (Carrot Payasam)
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 Carrot, medium, cut into pieces, about 300 grams
- 1/4 cup Cashews, raw and unsalted, about 35 grams
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1 litre Milk, about 34 oz, preferably whole milk
- 1/3 cup Sugar , or Jaggery Powder, see notes to use dates
- 1 pinch Saffron (Kesar), optional
- 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom powder (Elaichi)
- Almonds or Pistachios, to garnish
Instructions
- Peel the skin of the carrots and roughly cut them into pieces.
- Add the carrots and cashews with 1/2 cup of water to the pressure cooker to start cooking.
- Pressure cook for 7 minutes in the Instant Pot or two whistles in a stovetop pressure cooker with the vent in the sealing position. When the pressure cooking is done, let the pressure release naturally.
- While the carrots are cooking, add the milk to a large pan and bring it to a boil.
- Transfer the contents of the pressure cooker to a blender and blend to a smooth paste. If needed, add some portion of the milk while blending. (Depending on your blender, you might want to cool a bit before blending)
- Add the blended mixture to the boiled milk and stir well until it is all mixed well. Add cardamom powder, saffron strands, and sugar. Give a good stir.
- Let the kheer simmer for 25 minutes until it is thickened. Make sure to stir the kheer at regular intervals.
- Let the kheer cool down and you can chill it in the refrigerator. Serve in bowls and garnish with slivered almonds and pistachios.
Instant Pot Carrot Kheer
- If you prefer to do it all in the instant pot, once you belnd the carrots and cashews, add them back to the instant pot. Add the milk and give it a good stir. Bring the carrot kheer to a boil and simmer on low saute for 20-25 minutes. Make sure to stir at regular intervals.
Hello,
How much time it takes on sauce mode? I.e for boiling milk at the end.
Hey Sindhu – I did not measure the exact time, but it should be quick (3-5 mins) as the ingredients and pot would already be a bit hot from the previous steps.
As a side note, I used Vitamix to blend the mixture, so I do not need to cool it before blending. If you use another blender, it may be required to cool down the ingredients a bit.
Hope you enjoy the carrot kheer!
Thanks for your reply.. I am doing it today..So temting…?
Thanks for the recipe. Can you tell me why you don’t pressure cook the entire amount of milk initially? Thanks!
Hey Anjali – I have seen that sometimes when pressure cooking (manual mode), milk sticks to the bottom, so I prefer to add less before in this recipe. In the rice kheer recipe, I do add all the milk, but cook it on porridge mode which works well. Hope that helps!
Hello , i love this kheer recipe soo much its so easy gonna try soon , and do you know how many days could this kheer stay well in the fridge ?
Hey Mini – The kheer can stay good in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. I would love to hear how it turns out 🙂
Thanks Meeta for sharing this recipe. Made it today for Holi. It is easy and outrageously yummy !! Can’t stop eating it. Best part is not super sweet or heavy like some other deserts can be. Keep up the good work and please keep sharing recipes ! I like that a lot of your recipes are super simple and one pot types. Thanks !
Hey Chhavi – So happy to hear you enjoyed the carrot kheer. I love this dessert for the ease. Thank you so much for your kind words and review 🙂
Oops…misspelled dessert in my comment above! 🙂
Made carrot kheer last year and only lasted a day, family, friends and neighbors loved it.
I have one question about ghee, 1lb of butter makes how much ghee and do you really save money from store ghee.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, WISH YOUR FAMILY PEACE AND SUCCESS IN 2018. AND MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES.
Thanks,
Rajan.
Hi Rajan – A very happy new year to you and your family too! I am blessed to have readers like you. So happy that you all enjoyed the carrot kheer.
Regarding ghee, I will let you know the quantity of ghee I get with the butter used in a day. The main benefit for me is that I know that I am using grass fed cows milk butter to make the ghee.
Thanks, Meeta
Hello Rajan – I made ghee yesterday – 16oz of butter makes a little more than 12oz of ghee. Hope that helps 🙂
Carrot kheer, never thought of that. Next on my list to try, one question you say transfer after cooking to vitamix, can you use hot or let it cool before using in vitamix?.
I have vitamix A3500 model.
Thanks,
Raj.
Hello Raj – This was definitely a new discovery for me too and we enjoyed it a lot. Usually the Vitamix is powerful enough to make a hot soup, so I add this hot in the vitamix. However for other blenders, it might be better to cool it. I will update the notes to mention this. Hope you enjoy it!
Thank you for the great recipe!!
I made it today and it was delicious!
Love that the sweetness comes from dates rather than sugar.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing your review 🙂
Looks delicious. My daughter is allergic to nuts. What do I substitute for the cashews?
Thank you, Priya. I don’t have any great alternatives unfortunately. You would need something that could thicken the pudding. Or you could just skip cashews and boil the pudding a bit more after pressure cooking on sauté (low) to thicken it. Let me know if you try it.
Hi Priya, we make a similar pudding but we use rice instead of cashews and it tastes good too. It’s called Gajrela. Perhaps try substituting rice for your daughter.
Great suggestion, thank you!
Love Love Love your recipes.. Keep doing your awesome work 🙂
Thank you so much! Will keep sharing ❤️
I made this. It is so good. I feel guilt free after eating. Thank so much for this recipe. This is my go to dessert now.
Yay! Thanks for sharing. Guilt free is the reason I love this pudding too ????