Wishing you all a very happy Makara Sankranti. May you all harvest hope and yield loads of Love and happiness :) Pumpkin Halwa is a very delectable dessert and is a real easy one to make. If you're bored of making the same old sweet and savory pongal on Sankranti you could try this and enjoy every morsel of it.
The only arduous task would be to grate the pumpkin and desiccate it. If you have a food processor that would make your task a lot easier! Make sure you squeeze and drain the water content out of it completely (although it would still have some water content in it).
Over to the recipe
Serves- 8
Preparation time- 45-60 minutes
Shelf life- 5 days if refrigerated
Ingredients
| White pumpkin, grated and desiccated | 500 gms( about 2 ½ cups) |
| Sugar | 2 cups |
| Condensed milk+ Milk | 1 tin+ 1 Cup |
| Eilichi powder | 2 tsp |
| Yellow food colour/ saffron ( soaked in milk) | A generous pinch |
| Assorted nuts ( cashews, almonds and raisins) | ½ cup |
Directions
1. In a wide bottomed pan add the grated pumpkin and stir it on medium flame until the water has evaporated. Add the milk and keep stirring until the raw smell goes and the colour of the pumpkin turns pale white ( an indication that it has reached a stage where it is cooked). Mix in the sugar.
2. Now add the condensed milk and yellow food colour / saffron strands. Add the ghee. In a separate kadai heat 2 tbsp of ghee and roast the cashews and almonds until golden brown and mix it with the halwa. sprinkle the eilichi powder and give it a mix again. Garnish it with nuts. Your dessert is all set :)
Note
- Desiccating the water content is very important as it'll spoil the taste of the halwa.
- Make sure you refrigerate to extend the shelf life.
- You can also add sweet khova to enhance the taste alongside condensed milk.