White Pumpkin Halwa

White Pumpkin, which is typically used to make dishes such as sambhar, gravy using coconut and curd, soups, raita, are also used to make some interesting sweet dishes. These include the popular Petha (its like a sugary candy), kheer, and halwa.

I tried to make the popular "Kasi Halwa", which is a halwa cooked using white pumpkin with sugar. This is a famous dish served in Kasi (a place down south) and in marriages. This is my first attempt...

Ingredients:

• White Pumpkin : 2 cups grated
• Sugar : 1 cup (some add equivalent to the quantity of the grated pumpkin... choose as per your taste)
• Milk : 1 cup
• Ghee: 2-3 tspn
• Saffron : a few strands (optional) in luke warm milk (a tspn)
• Cardomom : 2-3
• Raisins: 10

Method:

1. Wash, peel the white pumpkin and grate it. It will leave lots of water. 
2. In a kadai, add the grated pumpkin either with the water or without. I cooked it with water (Some add a spoon or two of ghee before adding the pumpkin)
3. After the water is absorbed, add milk and allow the pumpkin to cook further
4. Milk will be absorbed and the pumpkin will reach a cooked consistency. Then, add sugar and ghee
5. Add saffron to give the light yellow color. Typically, Kesar powder is added or the food color (orange) but I didn't.
6. To this add the raisins (some fry and add; but I added it as is)
7. The ghee will separate. Halwa when taken in a spoon will fall smoothly - that is the consistency
8. Remove from fire and serve hot (Or you can refrigerate & serve with ice creams)

End Result: Halwa came off well but for the fact that I ended up using a bit more sugar than needed. But some like it this sweet.