How to make pumpkin halwa / Kaddu Ka Halwa / Pumpkin Halwa Recipe

0

How to make pumpkin halwa  / Pumpkin Halwa Recipe / Pumpkin Halwa Recipe Step by Step / Kaddu Ka Halwa  

Hurrayyyyyy!....this is my hundredth post in my blog. Successfully completed 99 posts in my blog. All of them are mostly healthy, tasty and delicious. All the recipes are tried and tested in my kitchen. My biggest critics are my husband and daughter. They are big foodies and love tasty food.

On the occasion of my hundredth post, I initially thought of posting a simple and delicious cake, but I wanted to post some dessert which is healthy. So I changed my mind to post sweet pumpkin halwa. And I have reserved the cake recipe for the upcoming Christmas season. 

This pumpkin ka halwa is very delicious. It is a lip smacking dessert or sweet dish that my daughter loved it to the core. Soft, sweet and rich halwa that is prepared with grated pumpkin is a perfect treat for any occasion. Be it for Prasadam, festive occasion or any get-together, it suits all the occasions. It is also very easy to prepare in minutes with not much of preparation. So let's go ahead and prepare this lip smacking easy sweet dish and serve our family and guests.

Preparation

Heat ghee in a pan, preferably non stick pan.

Fry broken or whole cashews in the ghee until light brown in colour.

Remove the fried cashews to another plate. Add raisins in the remaining ghee and saute until they puff up.

Remove to a plate and add the grated pumpkin in the remaining ghee.

Sauté for 3-4 minutes and add milk.

Mix well and cover with a lid. Cook on a low flame until the pumpkin becomes soft.

Add sugar and mix well.

Now cook uncovered until the sugar is completely dissolved. When all the water is absorbed and the halwa thickens, add the roasted cashews and raisins and mix well.

Finish off with cardamom powder and pepper powder and switch off the flame.

Mix well and serve warm or chilled. In both ways, it tastes great. You can also garnish with pumpkin seeds to get an extra nutty flavour.

Ingredients

Pumpkin  3 cups ( grated )

Ghee  2 tbsp

Cashews  Few

Raisins  Few

Milk  1 1/2 cups

Sugar  1 cup

Cardamom powder  1 big pinch

Pepper Powder 1 pinch

Pumpkin seeds  to garnish

Method

1. Grate pumpkin and keep aside. 
2. Heat ghee in a pan and roast the cashews and raisins. Remove to another plate. 
3. Add the grated pumpkin in the remaining ghee and saute for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add milk and cook covered until the pumpkin becomes soft. 
5. Add the sugar and cook uncovered until the sugar dissolves completely. 
6. Cook until the water is completely evaporated and the residue thickens. 
7. Add the roasted dry fruits and cardamom powder and pepper powder.
8. Mix well and switch off the flame. 
9. Garnish with extra dry fruits or pumpkin seeds. 
10. Serve warm or chilled as per your desire.

Notes

• You can add other dry fruits like almonds, dates and pistachios as per your choice. 
• Adding milk is optional. You can also add water and prepare this pumpkin halwa. Addition of milk gives richness to the dessert and tastes awesome. You can also add more milk if you want it more rich. Some people also add khova to give an extra richness. 
• In the similar way, we can also prepare lauki ki halwa and other amazing sweets which I will be posting very soon. So be tuned, my friends. 
• After you add sugar, it releases more water but do not panic. Cook until all the water is evaporated.

Continue ...

Beerakaya Chutney / Beerakaya Tokka Chutney / Dodka Recipes / Turai skin recipes

0

Beerakaya Chutney / Beerakaya Tokka Chutney / Dodka Recipes / Turai skin recipes

 

Today´s recipe is a dish that can be prepared on a daily basis. Beerakaya tokka pachchadi is prepared with the tender skin of the beerakaya. Beerakaya is also known as ridge gourd in English, Turia in Hindi, Peerakangai in Tamil and Heerakayi in Kannada. Whatever be the name, I simply love this veggie because of its sweetened taste. I generally prepare simple fry with this versatile veggie which is loved by my family. I have already posted Gutti Beerakaya Kura which is a semi gravy masala curry. My daughter just loved this currry.

Today´s recipe is ridge gourd skin chutney is prepared with the tender skin of the ridge gourd. This is one of the traditional recipes that was followed by our mothers and grandmothers. The skin is rich in vitamins and minerals and low in calories. The addition of lentils make it all the more healthy giving the dish a lovely nutty taste.

This ridge gourd skin chutney goes well with hot rice and a dollop of ghee or with any South Indian breakfast. I love this with rice. Just mix this with hot rice. If you want the rice spicy then there is no need to add ghee, but if you do not like spicy, then add little ghee. Even your kids will enjoy this awesome dish.

You can also view my other  chutney recipes :

murungai keerai podi

sesame chutney

coconut chutney

Preparation

Peel the skin and wash it. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan.

Once the oil is hot, add garlic pods.

Once they turn golden brown in colour, add slit green chillies and cumin seeds.

When the cumin seeds splutter, add peanuts, moong dal and channa dal.

Fry them in oil until the lentils turn golden brown in colour. Transfer to another plate. Now in the same pan, add the washed skin of the ridge gourd, salt and cook covered until the peel becomes soft.

Also add sesame seeds at the time of adding the peels. Remove from flame once the peel is cooked. Allow it to cool. Add tamarind and grind all the lentils and the peel together to a coarse paste.

Do not too much water while grinding. If you add too much water, then the chutney will become watery and will not go well with rice. Grind to a coarse paste and do the tempering with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. This tempering is optional. The chutney will taste good even if you skip the tempering part. Enjoy with hot rice.

Ingredients

Ridge gourd Peel  Peel of 3 ridge gourd ( OR ) 2 cups

Oil  1 tbsp

Garlic 3 pods

Green chillies  5-6

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Peanuts  2 tbsp

Moong dal  2 tbsp

Channa Dal  2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Tamarind  small lemon size

Sesame seeds 2 tbsp

For tempering

Oil  1 tsp

Mustard seeds  1tsp

Cumin seeds  1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp

Red chillies 2

Curry leaves  few sprigs

Method

1. Peel the skin of the ridge gourd and wash the peel. Keep aside. 
2. Heat oil in a pan and add garlic pods. 
3. When the garlic pods become light brown in colour, add cumin seeds and green chillies. 
4. When the cumin seeds crackle, add all the lentils namely, peanuts, moong dal and channa dal. 
5. When the lentils change colour, transfer to another plate.
6. In the same pan, add the peel and salt and cook covered. 
7. Cook on a low flame until the peel is soft and cooked. 
8. Once this mixture is cool, add sesame seeds and tamarind and grind all the ingredients together along with the lentils in a mixie. Grind to a coarse paste without adding too much water. 
9. Do the tempering with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and red chillies and pour it on the chutney. 
10. Serve with hot rice or any Indian breakfast dish.

Notes

• You can increase or decrease the quantity of lentils according to your taste and liking. 
• You can also increase or decrease the amount of spice by adding more or less green chillies. 
• The tempering is not quite essential but it is good for presentation.    
• You can also add chunks of ridge gourd vegetable to this chutney. 

Continue ...