Doodhi ka halwa / Lauki halwa

Doodhi ka halwa is another favorite at home with us after Gajar ka halwa. Always use fresh and tender bottle gourds so that there will not be many seeds and the bottle gourd will have a mild sweetness adding to the taste of the halwa.  I also add some home made fresh badam powder while making the halwa,it gives so much creaminess and beautiful color due to saffron and turmeric. That is why you see it is on the greener side .No added colors used to get the green color ,it is purely  natural. 

At times ,bottle gourd may turn bitter,so remember to taste a small bit of the doodhi before making halwa.If it feels bitter,then discard it immediately. 

After grating the bottle gourd ,don't leave it for a long time as it will turn brown due to oxidation and the halwa may not look very appealing.

Sharing an easy way to grate the veggies without making the working area messy. Hope you all like this tip . Ofcourse, the food choppers and food processors makes life easy, but this tip is ,if we are using the traditional hand grater for grating .

 The best way to celebrate the come back of my blog is to share a sweet recipe with all of you.

After a long break of almost 4 years due to some personal set backs, I am restarting in 2017 with support of my hubby and dad and lot of nudging and coaxing from my cousin too . So this sweet is for you all for making me move out of my inertia.

With the mild chillnes still lingering in the atmosphere,fresh winter vegetables are a feast to the eyes in the market and make me want to cook something interesting  .

I picked up the bottle gourds which were very inviting and prepared this Halwa instantly.

Every year I unfailingly make Doodhi ka halwa ,but it is only in Nov 2024 I made some changes to the write up and added a few new pictures but leaving the below picture unchanged as it is my fond memory of come back into the world of blogging . The recipe remains unchanged as it is very close to my heart being my mom's recipe .

Cooking time : 45 mins

Cooking level : Medium

Serves : 2-3 people

Ingredients

2 medium sized bottle gourd

100 gms khoa (unsweetened)

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 -3 tsp ghee/clarified butter

2-3 cardamoms/elaichi powdered

8-10 Cashews finely chopped

10-12 raisins/kishmish

Chopped pistas and badam 

Method

• Wash and peel the bottle gourds and remove the seeds if there any
• Grate them well using a grater or food processor.
• Grate or crumble the khoa as well and set aside.
• Heat a thick bottomed kadai with 1tsp ghee and fry the grated bottle gourd in it for about a minute.
• Add the cup of milk and mix well and allow the bottle gourd to cook nicely. The doodhi will become soft and loose its crunch.
• Keep stirring in between to avoid sticking and burning.
• This takes about 10 to 15 mins on medium flame.
• Add the khoa,sugar and elaichi powder and stir well and keep the flame low now.
• Allow the mixture to cook well until you see all the milk,khoa and sugar being incorporated well into the bottle gourd and feel and amazing aroma wafting in your kitchen.
• Turn off at this stage and add the chopped cashews to it and mix well.
• You can roast the cashews in ghee or add it just like that.
• You can also add lots of chopped dryfruits too before serving. 
• Transfer in a bowl and keep it refrigerated for an hour or serve it warm .

Notes

1. Squeeze the grated bottle gourd well with both your hands before frying them in ghee. This step ensures that there is no extra water content and prevents the halwa from getting soggy.
2. If using sweet khoa instead of unsweetened adjust the sugar level accordingly.