Wishing a Very Happy Dussehra to all the readers! This festival celebrating the victory of good over evil, is often celebrated with some sweet or dessert. So here, I present a not so popular, but highly appetizing dessert: Lauki Dudhi Halwa made from Bottle Gourd. Its more popular cousin is Carrot Halwa or Carrot Pudding which many of you may have tasted and is very frequently available in most Indian Restaurants.
I was exposed to this delicacy during my childhood days, as this was a favourite dessert of my great grandfather. And this is a popular dessert in the Jain Families too, as its texture is similar to carrots, but since carrots are not consumed by many Jains, this Lauki Doodhi Halwa is a welcome option to the Carrot Halwa. It is best enjoyed when it is chilled for a few hours.
The chilled dessert with its soft texture, nice greenish blue color with almonds and cardamom on the top makes me wonder why this has not become a popular dessert, as it really tastes very delicious!! And the inspiration to make this dessert was a huge homegrown Bottle Gourd gifted to me by a family friend. So, I decided to take this opportunity to create a FTC dessert! (Farm to Table Concept) which always will taste good, as the freshness of the vegetable gives the dish a unique sweetness to it.
Bottle gourd is a vegetable known for its medicinal properties and is often the top most items on a sick person’s menu in India. Some of us may find it boring, thinking it is food for sick people. So here it is presented in a dessert form. For a person with a sweet tooth, it takes away some of the guilt, in knowing that you are eating a vegetable that has higher medicinal value. For further reading on the advantages of consuming bottle gourd, please refer to http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/advantages-bottle-gourd-juice-9723.html
An interesting piece of information that I found while researching what is the English name of Lauki or Doodhi, I realized it is called by many names; Bottle Gourd, and Calabash among a few. The surprise factor was that Bottle Gourd is used in making of Indian musical instruments such as the Ektara, Veena and Sitar, and in some cases for violins too! Bottle Gourds are mainly used to maintain balance!
Celebrations are in the air as Diwali is around the corner. And traditionally lots of sweets and snacks are made in this 15 day period. So I am looking forward to sharing more recipes in the next two weeks!
Happy Festive Eating!!
Recipe makes 16-20 pieces of 2 by 2 inches
Preparation time 15 min
Cooking time 70 min
Chilling time 4 hours minimum
Ingredients
- 4 cups peeled and thinly grated bottle gourd
- 3 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 cups milk
- 1/2 cup water
- few slices of almonds
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 4 tbsp ghee clarified butter
Method
- Using a thin grater, grate the bottle gourd. Remove the seeds of the bottle gourd, if any.
- In a broad pan, heat the ghee clarified butter.
- When it melts, add the grated bottle gourd and saute on a low flame for 10-15 min.
- Once it is semi cooked, add milk and water and let it cook further.
- Keep stirring once every 3-4 min so that it does not stick to the vessel.
- After half an hour add sugar and cook further.
- Keep stirring constantly after sugar is added , for about another half hour.
- The water in the mixture will reduce and the the gravy will start to thicken.
- Once it has come to firm consistency, remove from flame.
- Grease about 9-10 inches round dish with some depth.
- Pour the mixture into this greased plate.
- Let it cool for about half an hour.
- Sprinkle cardamom powder and almond slices on top.
- Make diamond shape cuts.
- Chill for about four hours before serving.
Tips
Using a deep bowl to grate the bottle gourd, creates less mess!
To get the taste very similar to what we would have got in India, I experimented using Milk from Only Grass Fed Cows and indeed there was a similarity in taste.
Almond slices in any shape works well on this dessert.
If there is excessive sugar, which you realise after the dessert is made, leaving it in the fridge for couple of days, will reduce the sweetness. Alternatively you can add extra bottle gourd to even the taste. I opted for the first option and it worked well!
You can make two different version of Lauki Dudhi Hala Bottle Gourd Dessert at the same time one with cardamom only, one with almonds, which can help you treating those with Allergic to nuts!
Instinct Factor
Adjust the sugar level to your taste.
I used a dhokla thali for the right size of dessert!
The end consistency of the mixture level comes with experience. if too liquidy, it will not hold shape, so in that case add some custard powder in a little milk, to create firmness. Or you can spoon the dessert after it is chilled.
Feel Factor
Refreshing, cooling, sweet bud satisfaction, with this Lauki Dudhi Halwa Bottle Gourd Dessert. This is light on stomach, and can be enjoyed for a week or more, which makes the time involvement less painful! This dessert has more brownie points as I am consuming a vegetable with high in vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, water and fiber content. I like it equally as Carrot Halwa, maybe more, as it is not so often available easily!!
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