Lauki Halwa Recipe (Bottle Gourd Halwa)

Lauki halwa is a sweet Indian dessert made with bottle gourd or opo squash, milk, ghee, sugar and flavored with cardamom and nuts. This is a well known variant of halwa made with a vegetable – here in this case with Bottle Gourd which is also called as Lauki or Ghiya in Hindi and Dudhi in Marathi languages. So this sweet is known by the name ‘lauki ka halwa’ or ‘dudhi halwa’. You can easily make this halwa variant as a sweet dish on any day or during Hindu fasting days like Navratri fast or Ekadashi.

About Lauki ka Halwa

There are a few halwa variants made with vegetables in North Indian cuisine. I make halwa with three veggies – carrots, beetroot and bottle gourd on occasions. But to tell you a fact, I have also learned to make potato halwa in my cooking school decades back.

Most of the halwa made from vegetables need them to be grated first and then slow cooked in milk.

This recipe of Lauki halwa also follows the same technique of cooking where grated bottle gourd is initially sauteed in ghee and then simmered in milk till you get a thick consistency.

It is easy to make but takes some time. Similar to Carrot Halwa, lauki halwa also has to be stirred continuously. So some handwork and attention is needed. Making this sweet takes time, so make it when cooking something else in the kitchen.

There are two ways of making lauki halwa. Either cook lauki directly in milk or saute lauki first in some ghee and then cook in the milk. I have sautéed the lauki in ghee first and then cooked it in milk.

This lauki halwa recipe does not need any addition of khoya or mawa. In the process of cooking lauki with milk, the milk begins to evaporate and reduce, so you don’t need to add mawa or khoya.

This method of making halwa with 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 or warm lauki ka halwa.

How to make Lauki ka Halwa

1. Firstly rinse, peel and grate 300 grams lauki. Before grating taste the lauki. If it tastes sour or bitter then discard and do not cook it. You will need 2 cups tightly packed grated lauki.

2. Heat 4 tablespoons ghee in a heavy pan or kadai on medium-low to medium flame. Use a large kadai so that milk does not spill outside when cooking halwa.

3. Add the grated lauki.

4. Mix grated lauki very well with the ghee with a spoon or spatula.

5. On a low to medium-low flame begin to saute the lauki. Stir often when sauteing lauki.

6. Saute lauki till the moisture dries.

7. Then add 2 cups full-fat or whole milk.

8. Mix very well.

9. Continue to cook on a low to medium-low flame till the milk comes to a boil. In between do stir at times.

10. The milk will start boiling. At this step be attentive and keep on stirring, so that the milk does not spill from the pan. Regulate the heat as needed.

11. Stirring often continue to cook.

12. Cook till ¾ or 75% of the milk has reduced and absorbed.

13. Add 7 to 8 tablespoons sugar or as per your taste buds and mix well.

14. Next add 3 tablespoons chopped nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews) and ½ to 1 teaspoon cardamom powder.

You can even add 2 to 3 teaspoons of rose water or kewra water (pandanus water) if you want.

15. Mix very well.

16. Stirring often cook till the halwa mixture starts coming together and thickens.

17. The dudhi halwa will gradually thicken and you will see some ghee being released from the sides. There should not be any liquid in the halwa.

18. Then switch off the heat and add 1 tablespoon golden raisins. Adding raisins is optional.

19. Mix very well.

20. Garnish with some chopped nuts and serve lauki ka halwa hot or warm. Refrigerate remaining halwa in a covered container.

The halwa stays good for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Expert Tips

1. One issue which happens when making lauki halwa is that the milk gets curdled. To stop preventing the milk from getting curdled, use full cream milk or full-fat milk. Do not use low-fat milk or skimmed milk. Make sure the milk is fresh and in its shelf period. You can even use pasteurized milk or homogenised milk.

2. Use lauki which has a neutral taste. It can be bland, but should not be sour or bitter. A sour or tangy-tasting bottle gourd will also curdle the milk. Always avoid lauki which tastes bitter as it is poisonous and dangerous for the body.

3. If in case the milk gets curdled, then no need to panic. Continue to cook the halwa on a medium to medium-high flame so that the water or whey evaporates. Cooking this way will eventually cook the lauki, thicken the halwa and you will get coagulated milk solids aka tiny paneer granules in the halwa and this halwa tastes good too.

4. Simmer and cook lauki halwa on a low to medium-low flame. Stir often when cooking halwa so that the halwa does not stick or get browned from the base.

5. Use a heavy kadai or pan, so that the halwa gets cooked uniformly and do not brown or burn from the bottom.
Few more sweets recipes for you!

• Lauki Kheer
• Sooji Halwa
• Makhana Kheer
• Sabudana Kheer

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Lauki Halwa recipe from the blog archives was first published on November 2011.