Dudhi Halwa : Akshay Tritiya special

Dudhi, Lauki or Bottle Gourd is one vegetable that has to be cooked with special care, as it doesn't taste delicious when cooked in a simplistic way. So you always add to add some flavours and spice to it to enjoy it's taste. Whenever i buy Dudhi ( for all it's nutritional and medicinal benefits, i don't like to skip buying this vegetable at all ), i either make dudhi kofta curry or dudhi halwa. Recently my Mother-in-law told me one terrific way to make an instant ( and delicious ) dudhi sabzi along with moong daal, i will surely post that recipe soon! But meanwhile, since it's Akshay Tritiya tomorrow, i decided to post some sweet for this auspiscious day!!

Akshay Tritiya is believed to have been the day when Lord Ganesha and Ved Vyas began to write the great "Mahabharata". It is a very holy and auspicious day. For us, Akshay tritiya as kids meant eating sweets, going to temple and putting Rangoli at the door. This day is also associated with buying gold, as Akshay means Infinite ( something which never recedes ). So some charity done on this day surely gets you blessings, and good luck. New ventures started on this day brings in prosperity. So here's wishing you all a Happy Akshay Tritiya and loads of happiness!!!

( Pic taken from Google Images )

Ingredients :

Dudhi - 1 medium sized ( Make sure you always buy Dudhi which is long and elongated and raw without any stains )

Milk - 1 to 1 and 1/4 cup 

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Khoya - 3/4 cup ( I love khoya, and it's taste in the halwa. If you are not a Khoya fan, then add about 1/2 cup. You can skip this completely too and add milkmaid instead of Khoya or readymade pedhas/barfis )

Sugar - 1/2 cup ( we like it little less sweet, adjust according to taste)

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Cashews - for garnishing

Raisins - for garnishing

Recipe :

Wash the Dudhi and remove it's skin. Grate it. Let it stand for 2-3 minutes. Now remove water from the Dudhi completely.

Heat Ghee in a Kadhai and saute the grated Dudhi in it for about 3-4 minutes on medium flame. 

Now add Milk, mix it well and cook covered till Dudhi is well cooked. Keep stirring in between so it doesn't stick to the kadhai. If you find it too dry, add little milk extra.

Now add the Khoya ( separate/mash it with hands ), mix it well so that no lumps are formed. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Lastly add the sugar, cardamom powder and cashews. Cook till the sugar melts and the mixtures starts forming a ball like halwa.

Serve hot or cold as preffered. Also tastes great with vanilla ice cream if you want to create a fusion dish!

Happy Cooking :)

Dudhaatla Dudhi : Bottle Gourd cooked in milk !!!

Yes, my reaction was the same when i heard about Bottle Gourd cooked in milk !!! My father had talked very highly of this recipe made by my mom. But i didn't pay much attention to it, niether bothered to take the recipe from my mother...until a day, when i had bottle gourd in my fridge and didn't know what to cook !!! I decided to try this recipe with half of the bottle gourd, just in case me or my hubby don't like it. But Voila !!! It turned out super yummy and its so easy to cook too!

I just found out that Dudhi or Bottle gourd or Ghiya as it is commonly known as, is also called Calabash. The rounder varieties are called Calabash Gourds. This was grown not primarily for food, but was used as a water container. Interesting, isn't it??

Ingredients :

Milk - 1/2 cup ( you can even add cream and little milk if u like a creamy texture )

Bottle Gourd/ Dudhi - 1/2 of medium size ( comes around 1 cup when chopped )

Cloves - 2 to 3

Pepper corns ( Kaali miri ) - 5 to 6

Daalchini - 1 small piece

Bay leaf - 1

Dry red chillies - 3 to 4 ( Adjust according to taste )

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Corriander leaves - to garnish

Recipe :

Wash and peel the Dudhi. Chop them into small or medium cubes. ( smaller ones are easier to eat )

Heat ghee in a pan. Add the pepper, cloves, daalchini and bay leaf and fry for a minute on low flame.

Then add the Dudhi, red chillies and saltand fry for another minute.

Cover it with a lid.

When the Dudhi is half cooked, add the milk or cream. 

Keep the low flame and let it take its own time to cook. This way it takes all the flavours of the raw spices added. Keep stirring in between when the milk starts boiling. Add more milk if u want thinner consistency.

Remove from the flame after Dudhi is cooked and let is cool. To garnish, add chopped corriander leaves before serving.

Happy cooking :))