Ash gourd, also known as winter melon or white pumpkin, is used for preparing various dishes in Indian cuisine. Apart from regular dishes like Sambar, Majjige Huli, Palya and so on, delicious sweets like Petha and Halwa can also be prepared with this vegetable. Ash gourd is a good source of various nutrients like iron and calcium. Due to its nutritional facts, I love to use it in my cooking frequently.
Kashi Halwa is a well known sweet dish prepared using Ash Gourd. Its a traditional sweet in Indian cuisine, I had tried it this time with slight variation. It was delicious and my family liked this sweet. I am sharing the recipe of Kashi Hawa / Ash Gourd Halwa here..try it and enjoy with your family!
Time required: 30 - 35 minutes
Servings: 6
Difficulty level: Medium
Ingredients:
- Grated ash gourd (after squeezing the water content) - 1 cup (1 cup = 300 gm approx)
- Khova - 100 gm (yield from 1/2 ltr milk)
- Sugar - 1 1/2 cup or to taste
- Ghee / clarified butter - 1/4 cup
- Chiroti rava - 1/4 cup
- Salt - pinch
- Elachi / Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
- Saffron strands (optional) - 10 to 12
- Broken cashews - 3 tbsp
Method:
- Pressure cook the ash gourd for 2 whistles on medium flame.
- Melt the ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Fold in the chiroti rava and roast it till aromatic.
- To this, add the cooked ash gourd and saute it for 2 - 3 minutes.
- Add sugar, saffron strands, pinch of salt to the mixture. Cook it on low flame till it becomes thick.
- Add Khova and cook it for 5 more minutes and switch off the flame and add the cardamom powder.
- Roast the cashew pieces in 1 tsp ghee till golden brown and mix it with Halwa.
- Thats all, delicious Halwa is ready to serve!
