Though the name may sound unusual, this dessert is delicious! It's made with the nuetral tasting milk-grourd, called so because of its white inner flesh.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups grated milk gourd (known as Lauki/Doodhi in India) - remove skin and seeds before grating
- 6 heaped tbsps ghee/ clarified butter (see recipe below) - measure when solid
- 1 cup khoya (see recipe below)
- 2 (400gms each) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 5 green cardamom pods, seeds removed and powdered with a tsp of sugar in a mortar and pestle
- 1/2 cup almonds, blanched and cut into thin slivers
Preparation:
- Heat the ghee/ clarified butter in a heavy-bottomed (preferably non-stick) pan on a medium flame till warm.
- Add the grated milk-gourd to this ghee and stir to mix. Cook, stirring frequently till the milk-gourd turns transparent. Another sign of doneness to watch for is, the separation of the ghee from the milk-gourd.
- Add the khoya and mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes.
- Now add the sweetened condensed milk, cardamom powder and mix to blend.
- Cook till most of the moisture evaporates from the Halwa and it turns to a thick pudding consistency. Stir frequently to prevent scorching and burning. When done, turn off fire and allow to cool till just warm.
- Garnish with almond slivers and serve.
