Kashi Halwa Ash Gourd Halwa White Pumpkin Halwa

About Kashi Halwa

Kashi Halwa is a delicious and classic Indian pudding dessert prepared using winter melon (wax gourd), sugar, and ghee. Kashi Halwa is considered a premium sweet and is mainly served on special occasions. If Kashi halwa is served as dessert during an event, the crowd would call the event a grand one 🙂 Kashi Halwa is also known as Kasi Halwa, Pumpkin Halwa, Udupi Kushmanda Halwa, Vellai Poosanikai Halwa, Ash Gourd Halwa, kuvale halwo, Dumroot Halwa, Kalyana Poosanikai, Budu kumbalkai Halwa, etc. Ash gourd is also known as petha in Hindi, poosanikai in Tamil, boodu kumbalakai in Kannada, kuvale in Konkani, kumbalanga in Malayalam, and winter melon in English. Kashi Halwa is one of the best recipes you can make well before any event and store in a refrigerator. I make this dish during Navratri fasting and sometimes during Diwali, so when I have guests at home, I have a delicious homemade treat to serve. Also note that you do not need milk, cream, khoya, mawa, milk powder, or condensed milk to make this dessert.

Ingredients

3 cups Ash Gourd or White Pumpkin, peeled and grated1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups Sugar or Jaggery (adjust accordingly)¼ cup Ghee¾ teaspoon Cardamom powderSaffron or Kesar strands (optional) For garnish (optional)1 tablespoon Ghee2 to 3 tablespoon Cashews, chopped

How to make Kashi Halwa or Pumpkin Halwa

Add one tablespoon of ghee and cashews to a wide pan on medium heat. Saute just until cashews become light golden. Transfer the cashews to a plate. In the same pan on medium heat, add the grated ash gourd and any juice collected when cutting/grating the ash gourd. Cook for about 20 to 25 minutes until the ash gourd is cooked through thoroughly and the water is absorbed. Add sugar and saffron, and stir continuously until the sugar dissolves completely. The mixture will become wet first and then start thickening. Once the mixture starts to thicken, add the ghee and continue to stir until the halwa leaves the sides of the pan and the ghee separates. This may take another 6 to 8 minutes. Finally, add the cardamom powder and roasted cashews and switch off the flame.

Pro Tips:

Always see that the pan is on medium heat, and you keep stirring the contents to avoid it from burning at the bottom.

The color of the halwa will vary depending on the jaggery color or sugar used. Also, the type of pan, i.e., whether you are using a non-stick pan, aluminum pan, or cast iron pan, influences the final color of the dish.Start with 1 cup of sugar or jaggery and add more if you like your halwa sweeter.I highly recommend you grate and add the ash gourd. Blending in a food processor will change the texture of the halwa (paste-like texture) and won’t taste good.The more you stir them on medium to low flame, the better it tastes, and the shelf life also increases.The ingredient amount is flexible and varies for me every time, depending on how tender or mature the ash gourd is. You need to be ready to do an arm workout (due to continuous stirring) for even cooking, which results in the best-tasting Kashi Halwa ever!

Variations

Similar steps can be followed to make bottle gourd halwa or gardudde halwa. Bottle gourd is also called lauki in Hindi. You can even use yellow pumpkin (kaddu) or sweet potatoes (shakarkand) to make this halwa. The cooking time may vary depending on the water content in veggies.

How to serve Kashi Halwa?

Kashi halwa can be served hot, warm, or cold as after meal dessert or as an accompaniment with dosa, poori, chapati, and idli. To make this Diwali even more special, you can top Kashi Halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

How to store Kashi Halwa?

Once cooled, Kashi Halwa can be stored at room temperature for 2 days or in an airtight container in the refrigerator and used as and when required for up to 15 days or more.