BOTTLE GOURD HALWA / LAUKI KA HALWA/ DOODHI KA HALWA WITH KHOYA & CHAR MAGAZ

BOTTLE GOURD HALWA / LAUKI KA HALWA/ DOODHI KA HALWA WITH CHAR MAGAZ
Bottle gourd is very good for health, it’s packed with nutrition, but unfortunately, it’s not very popular at home. Whenever I buy bottle gourd it lies around in the fridge and sometimes needs to be stashed.
The moment I say I will prepare bottle gourd, the kids will say “NO”, and it will have to go back inside the fridge. This time it was a week and the kids were not ready to eat the bottle gourd, and I also didn’t have the energy to force them, so I decided to make the Doodhi ka halwa, which is my favorite.
It tastes yummy with crisp Maida pooris which I had tasted in a friend’s house who belongs to Madhya Pradesh. I think it may be a specialty there or probably their family favorite combination, but I loved it too.
The last time I made this halwa, I added Char magaz.
Char Magaz is a mixture of four types of melon seed kernels – watermelon, pumpkin, cucumber and rock melon (cantaloupe). You can find these seeds in the Indian Grocery Store.
These seeds contain several nutrients and provide nourishment and strength to the body.

Ingredients 

Bottle Gourd – 500 gms 

Milk – 2 cups
Sugar – 1 cup
Ghee - ¼ cup
Khoya /Mawa (Milk Solids) – ½ cup (Optional)
Cardamom – 4 pods
Dry Fruits – Almonds/Pistachio slivered for garnish
Char Magaz seeds – 1 tbsp (Optional)

Method
Peel bottle gourds, then remove the seeds. 

Grate bottle gourd properly.
Now add the grated bottle gourd in a pressure cooker/pan and add 2 cups milk and cardamom powder. If using the pressure cooker, cook up to 3 whistles. If using Pan cook until tender.
Now in a nonstick pan, add some ghee and when warm add the boiled bottle gourd and cook until all the milk is absorbed into the bottle gourd.
Now add sugar.
Cook on low flame for 10 minutes or until sugar has dissolved.
You will notice that after adding sugar the mixture will become watery. Keep stirring until the sugar is absorbed and the water dries up.
Meanwhile, in a small pan add 4-5 tablespoons of ghee. Add the dry fruits, Slivered almonds, pistachios and Char Magaz and slightly sauté.
Add this to the Halwa, mix well.
Cook for another 2-3 minutes and serve warm

Serving suggestions
Serve warm

VARIATIONS

· You can skip the khoya in this recipe and cook without it as well.

· Vegans can avoid all dairy ingredients like Milk, Khoya and Ghee.