i know of three veggies which we at home often make halwa of – carrots, beetroot and lauki (bottle gourd). but to tell you a fact, i have also learnt how to make potato halwa during my home science days.
anyways coming back to bottle gourd, also known as lauki in hindi and dudhi in marathi. this sweet indian dessert is known as lauki halwa or dudhi halwa.
whenever i see lauki (bottle gourd) in the fridge, i get lost as to what i should make from it. either i make this healthy spanish style bottle gourd soup or end up making a simple bottle gourd stir fry with chana dal or just add it with other veggies in a sambar or avial.
i had a big long lauki in the fridge. after pondering over what to make from it, i decided to make the famous parsi recipe of dhansak. i used 1/4th of the lauki to make dhansak and kept the remaining 3/4th in the fridge.
the next day, when i saw the lauki, i was again lost. but this time i had decided that i do not want to make a main course or a side dish with lauki, so i opted to make a dessert.
initially, i have just cooked the grated lauki (bottle gourd) in milk and not added any khoya (evaporated milk) to it. in the process of cooking the lauki with milk, the milk begins to evaporate and reduce, so you don’t need to add evaporated milk.
this method of making halwa with the milk takes a little longer, but is handy when you do not have ready khoya at home. i make both carrot halwa and beetroot halwa at home with this method.
since winters have arrived, what better way to warm yourself up by having a nice bowl of hot and healthy lauki halwa.
lauki ka halwa recipe details below:
ingredients
- 3 to 3.5 cups grated bottle gourd/lauki
- 500 ml milk, which has been already boiled before
- 7 tbsp sugar - if you wish increase to 8 tbsp for a very sweet taste
- 3-4 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
- 4-5 cardamoms, powdered or crushed
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds and cashews
method:
- in a kadai or deep pan combine milk and grated bottle gourd.
- bring the whole mixture to a boil and then lower the flame.
- simmer the mixture on a low flame and keep on stirring in between.
- the bottle gourd will cook in the milk and the milk will start to reduce and evaporate.
- when the milk has 75% reduced, add crushed cardamom, chopped almonds and cashew nuts to the mixture.
- add ghee when the all the milk has evaporated.
- mix the ghee with the rest of the mixture and cook for a minute
- lastly add the sugar and mix it with the halwa.
- the sugar will melt and the halwa becomes a little liquidy.
- cook the halwa for a few minutes.
- do keep on stirring the halwa.
- when you know by looking the halwa that the consistency is just right, switch off the burner.
- serve hot or you can also serve the halwa cold.
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Thanks for the wonderful and easy recipe
I tried this halwa for the first time and turned out absolutely yumm 
thanks for the feedback prachi.
Please check your image on Priya Rao’s blog. Ignore my message if it is taken with your approval. I am trying to get one of my image off from her blog but she is ignoring my messages.
http://priyaraosrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/02/lauki-ka-halwa.html
thanks usha. i know about this blogger using some of my pics. my jaw dropped when i saw it in in the google search and was disappointed to see this. i have not contacted her so far as i felt that it is not going to be of any use and a waste of time. you have not mentioned your blog url. i would have visited your blog
hi dassana
I have tried various recipes from your blog and everytime its been a super duper hit but i would like to share my experience about this halwa.
I wanted to make this halwa but was a bit scared as how it would turn out but finally I made it yesterday for some guests coming over and Dassana every body was in praises and especially my husband who wanted more of it but unfortunately its was all over. It turned out extremely delicious and was healthy coz very little ghee i used and everybody wanted the recipe.
Thank you so much dassana. I can thank you for my whole life.Thanks once again
But just one query, while grating the halwa, should i sqeeze out the water and only put the lauki coz i had put it along with the water so it took me one hour.
nice to know sunita that the lauki halwa was a super duper hit with your family and guests.
when i make this halwa, i do not squeeze out the water. i just add the grated lauki with the milk and let it cook with the milk. it does take a lot of time approx 45 minutes to 1 hour when cooked on a low flame. you can cook it faster on a medium to high flame, but then you have to continuously watch over it. i prefer slow cooking method as i can do other things at the same time with an occasional stirring to the halwa.
you can also microwave the lauki halwa and the halwa will be done in less than 15 minutes. but remember to use a deep microwave safe bowl so that the frothing milk does not spill out.
another method to make the halwa is too saute the lauki in ghee first and then add milk or khoya and sugar. with this method, the texture and taste of the halwa will be a little different from this one. but this method of making lauki halwa will be a quicker one.
thanks dear for so much of gratitude and appreciation. i really feel good at heart.
Thanks for the quick reply but i think no gain without gain, thats why my halwa was so loved and the credit goes to you only, thanks again and always keep posting lovely recipes with tasty pictures so that the hardest of recipes looks easier as you do.
take care and today will be my day of making aloo bature and punjabi chol and am confident that with yr step instuctions it will come out double duper hit.
thanks sunita for the taking the time out to comment on the recipes you have tried.
I remember i have this during Diwali when we lived in Goa-india, yum
What in the world is bottle gourd? I don’t know it by its Indian name either, so I am stumped. Is it something native to India?
sharyn, i just found out through wikipedia that bottle gourd is also known as calabash. its not only found in india but other countries too. here is what wikipedia has to say about calabash.
its light green in color with white flesh inside with seeds. the taste of bottle gourd is bland. its known for its healing properties. but recently i came to know that if the bottle gourd tastes bitter, than one should avoid it as it can be toxic to the body.