Sweet, delicious , easy to make, this delectable Pumpkin halwa can be enjoyed during fasting season or any time you have cravings for dessert. This is generally prepared during Vrat (Fasting) season or festivals but this tasty dessert can be consumed any time. Even people who hate pumpkin would love this dish so yes if you have friends or family members who hate pumpkins, then make this for them.
If you have food processor, grating pumpkin is easy task while manually grating is strong arm exercise so you can alternatively steam pumpkin, scoop out flesh from the skin and then prepare halwa. In case of steamed pumpkin, you can skip the step of sauteing it and reduce the quantity of milk to 2-3 tablespoons
*I have used both brown and regular sugar. You can prepare this dessert completely with white sugar or jaggery or any sweetener of your choice. Since yellow pumpkin is already sweet, adjust sweetness as desired
**I have used Coconut flakes, you can add in Khoya as a substitute, this will further thicken the dessert. Instead of milk, you can use water too while cooking Pumpkin but water will dilute the taste
***Use unsalted butter/oil instead of ghee and adjust the quantity of ghee as required. Cook in pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time
Do watch the video for better clarity in preparation and share your experience once you prepare the dish
Preparation time: 15 mins Cooking time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins
Servings: 3-4
Ingredients
- 3 cups Pumpkin, peeled and grated
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4-5 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
- 1/3 cup regular sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar/cane sugar/jaggery
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 3 tbsp coconut flakes/grated Khoya
- 1-2 tbsp raisins
- 8-10 chopped cashews
- 8-10 chopped almonds
Steps to prepare
- Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pan
- Add raisins and saute until puffed up
- Take out the raisins and keep it aside
- Add cashews and almonds, Saute until golden brown
- Take out the nuts and keep it aside
- Add remaining 2-3 tbsp ghee in the pan
- Add 3 cups pumpkin to the pan
- Saute for 4-5 minutes over low medium heat
- Add milk and mix well
- Cook until pumpkin softens completely. Do keep stirring in between to prevent milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan
- Milk should evaporate and halwa should start thickening
- If using Khoya, add it now and mix well
- Add both sugar and mix well. Sugar releases moisture so cook until Halwa becomes thick
- Add cardamom powder and mix well
- If using desiccated coconut/Coconut flakes, add in now and mix well. Cook for 1 min
- Add in nuts and mix well. You can also garnish it with pumpkin seeds too
- Serve warm or cold as desired. Best served chilled
