lauki halwa | dudhi halwa

Lauki ka halwa recipe with step by step photos. Lauki halwa or Dudhi halwa is a sweet Indian dessert made from bottle gourd or opo squash. Bottle gourd is known as lauki or ghiya in hindi and dudhi in marathi. So this Indian dessert is known by the name lauki halwa or dudhi halwa. You can make this lauki halwa during religious fasting days also like Navratri fast or Ekadashi.

I make sweet halwa with three vegetables – carrots, beetroot and lauki. But to tell you a fact, I have also learnt how to make potato halwa during my home science days.

Lauki halwa is easy to make but takes some time. Like gajar halwa, lauki halwa also has to be stirred continuously. 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 milk. Making dudhi halwa takes time, so make it when cooking something else in the kitchen.

I have sauteed the lauki in ghee first and then cooked 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.

Tips to make good lauki halwa

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. 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.

Since winters have arrived, what better way to warm yourself up by having a nice bowl of Hot LaUki halwa.

How to make dudhi 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 splutter outside when cooking halwa.

3. Add the grated lauki.

4. Mix grated lauki very well with the ghee.

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 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.

11. Stirring often continue to cook.

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

13. Add sugar 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 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 dudhi halwa.

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

19. Mix very well.

20. Garnish with some chopped nuts and serve lauki halwa hot or warm. Refrigerate remaining lauki halwa.

Few more sweets recipes for you!

• Lauki kheer
• Vrat ka halwa
• Makhana kheer
• Sabudana kheer

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