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
Carrot Kheer (Carrot Payasam)
Equipment
Video
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.
Thank you for the recipe . Could you tell the serving size for the calorie content you posted. Thank you
Made this today with almond milk. Was very good tho I used more dates. Dint have kesar will buy and add tomorrow before serving. Also mine looks red. Based on previous comments.i added less milk. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Leena – Thank you for sharing the changes you made. I am glad to hear the kheer worked well with almond milk too.
I like the flavor very much and I did add the additional cashews in the IP and then my vitamix to blend, but even after chilling it is still very runny. Not like a pudding. Is there anything I can use to thicken. I have cashew flour.
Hi Beth – Thank you for sharing your experience. This is an Indian style pudding which is typically not as thick. If you want to thicken it, you can add a cornflour slurry or more cashew paste.
I very much like your recipes. They seem challenging at first but your instructions are easy to follow which makes it so much less daunting.
I had a few problems with this one. I had only one large carrot and some dates that are compressed in a block. Trying to translate 3 small carrots and 6 dates, I came to 8oz carrot and 5 oz dates. This looked similar to your pictures. I always prefer to see weights in the ingredients list.
I used 8oz milk in the IP and when I did the manual release after cooking. A lot of residue came up through the vent. I suggest leaving the pot to natural release for 10 minutes to prevent this.
Finally I used 16oz cashew milk to make up the remaining liquid, hoping for the added flavor.
After cooling, my end result was a thick brown pudding unlike your more delicate yellow version. However it tastes great, quite full of date flavor (probably too much dates!) and not overly sweet.
I will try it once again but with less dates. Thank you for this.
What should the finished consistency of the pudding be……I followed exactly and it seems very loose, like an egg nog.
Hello Meeta,
Can I use lactose free milk? instead of using almond milk or coconut milk as alternative?
Mich
Hi
Can my instantpot ultra keeps saying burning just after it has warmed up. Any reason why?
Hello Zainab – That might be the safety feature. When my DUO heats a lot and there is no food in it, it does give an error. I believe once the pot is hot, it is expected to have food cooking in it, so it does not burn. Not sure if there is any other issue with the pot, you can always contact instant pot support. I have heard they are very responsive.
Do you think I could use cashew milk in place of the whole milk? I’m eliminating dairy at the moment, so just wondering if this would work! Sounds DELISH!
Hey Linda – Some readers have tried this with almond milk and enjoyed it. They added some almond meal/flour to thicken at the end. So I believe cashew milk would work too. Please do share if you try it!
Ohhh okay, sounds good! Thanks so much, I’ll let you know how it turns out!! 🙂
Hello,
I tried the recipe it came out well for twice. But now after boiling milk getting curdles. Can you help me? I increased the dates and cashews quantity. Pressure cook for 7 mins.
Hey Sk – I have seen that the milk can curdle if the sealing ring or ip lid was not 100% clean. What happens is the steam condenses on the lid and water from the lid drops back into the milk. If there were any savory foods cooked before with spices, they can go back into the milk, which then curdles it. Hence before cooking desserts or anything with milk, thoroughly wash the pot, lid and sealing ring. If you have a different sealing ring for desserts, then that can be used. Hope that helps!
Thanks for your reply Meeta. I will try that one.
Hi Meeta,
If I double the ingredients, does the cooking time remain the same ?
Thanks !
Chhavi
Hey Chhavi – Yes, the cooking time will remain the same even if you double the quantity. Hope you enjoy it!