Kasi Halwa
Halwa is a North Indian sweet dish. While there is another sweet called by the same name in South India (read Kerala), it is an entirely different thing from the Halwa of the North India. The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the word “Halwa” is Bollywood movies. Most Hindi movies from the 70s until the 90s has a mention of Halwa or, Motichur ke laddoo, when it comes to a scene where someone announces something good, happy or, auspicious. Though things have changed now and happy news in recent movies kicks off celebrations in the form of a few bottles of beer or, other drinks, the relevance of halwa in most North Indian house still remains as it was in the early 70s, 80s or, 90s.
As a kid, the halwa that I had the most was “Sooji halwa”. It was after a long time that I got to know about the different varieties of halwa.
In this recipe today I am going to show you “White Pumpkin Halwa”. This is a very unique one and I only tried it recently. It came out good and was very tasty. Pretty much everyone in the family became a fan of it and I experimented with it a little more by adding different flavors to it.
The recipe is not too difficult and I am sure you will all like it.
Ingredients
- White Pumpkin - 1 kg grated or chopped
- Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
- Milk - 1 cup
- Cashew-nuts - 10 chopped
- Almonds - 10 chopped
- Saffron kesar - a few strands
- Cardamom - 4 powdered
- Ghee - 1 cup
Instructions
- Peel off the outer green skin of pumpkin.
- Scoop out the inside of the pumpkin properly along with the seeds.
- Grate the pumpkin and drain all the water. Set aside.
- Melt 2 tbsp of ghee in a large pan and fry the chopped cashews and almonds until golden brown and keep it aside.
- Add another 4 tbsp of ghee.
- Add grated pumpkin and saute for few minutes.
- Add saffron and milk.
- Now simmer over low heat until the pumpkin gets cooked and the milk is absorbed completely.
- Add sugar and mix well. (Ensure that the pumpkin gets fully cooked before adding sugar).
- Cook until it starts to glisten.
- Now add the remaining ghee, cardamom powder, roasted almond and cashew.
- Cook until the halwa starts leaving the sides of the vessel stirring in between.
- Turn off the stove and serve hot or warm.
Notes
If you don't want to use milk then you can avoid it.
You can also chop the pumpkin rather then grating it.
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