lauki ka halwa or dudhi halwa – sweet indian dessert made from bottle gourd. bottle gourd is known as lauki in hindi and dudhi in marathi. so this indian dessert is known by the name lauki halwa or dudhi halwa.

i know of three veggies which we at home often make halwa of – carrots, beetroot and lauki. but to tell you a fact, i have also learnt how to make potato halwa during my home science days.

whenever i see lauki in the fridge, i get lost as to what i should make from it. few recipes which i make often from lauki are spanish style bottle gourd soup, lauki chana dal curry, lauki curry or lauki kofta 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 this delicious lauki halwa.

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.

since winters have arrived, what better way to warm yourself up by having a nice bowl of hot and healthy lauki halwa.

dudhi halwa or lauki halwa recipe below:

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

• 3 to 3.5 cups grated bottle gourd or lauki or dudhi
• 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
• ½ cup chopped almonds and cashews

INSTRUCTIONS

1. in a kadai or deep pan combine milk and grated lauki or bottle gourd.
2. bring the whole mixture to a boil and then lower the flame.
3. simmer the mixture on a low flame and keep on stirring in between.
4. the bottle gourd will cook in the milk and the milk will start to reduce and evaporate.
5. when the milk has 75% reduced, add crushed cardamom, chopped almonds and cashew nuts to the mixture.
6. add ghee when the all the milk has evaporated.
7. mix the ghee with the rest of the mixture and cook for a minute
8. lastly add the sugar and mix it with the halwa.
9. the sugar will melt and the halwa becomes a little liquidy.
10. cook the lauki halwa for a few minutes. do keep on stirring the lauki halwa.
11. when you know by looking at the lauki halwa that the consistency is just right, switch off the burner.
12. serve lauki halwa hot or you can also serve the lauki halwa cold.

SERVING SIZE: 4

Enjoy!