Kashi Halwa ~ Ashguord Halwa


Kashi phul in Hindi means Ashguord and hence the name. This is a famous dish in Tamil wedding feast. The authentic recipe calls for removing the water secreted from the pumpkin. To an extent that the grated pumpkin is tied tight in a cloth and the water extracted. I didn't want to remove the juice and decided to use it. The recipe doesn't require khoa too. I just added as a variation.
The halwa tasted awesome. But I have decided to omit khoa in my next attempt since I want to have the original taste of the vegetable. The halwa had both the flavours of pumpkin & khoa blended and it is up to you to decide how much khoa to add. Adjust the sugar content accordingly.
Also, use the food color sparingly. I am planning to omit even the colour next time since it is not so good for health. However, it is added in the authentic recipe.

Ingredients:

Grated Ashguord (white pumpkin) - 2 cups
Milk - half a cup
Unsweetened Khoa - 1 cup
Sugar - 1.5 cups
Ghee - 2 tablespoon
Saffron color - a pinch
Cardamom - 1 pinch
Cashewnuts to garnish

Method:
1) Grate the pumpkin and cook it along with milk. Traditionally, the water that the pumpkin oozes out is removed. But I decided to use it. Either pressure cook or simmer till the water and milk gets evoporated and the pumpkin becomes soft.
2) Add the sugar,khoa (updated) and mix well. Mix the color in a little milk or water and add it.
3) Add the cardomom powder and ghee. Stir till the halwa leaves the sides of the vessel and garnish with cashews fried in ghee.


Sending this to FIC - Zodiac signs at Ashwini's Spicy Cuisine. Food in Colour is an event started by Sunshine mom of Tongue Ticklers to emphasis the importance of colour in food.
My Zodiac is Leo and the Zodiac colour is orange/gold. Here, I present my food in orange colour to the event.


Update: Add the khoa in step 2. Missed it. Thanks Kals, for pointing out.

12 comments:

PriyaRaj said...

This sounds different for me....cool....looks very tempting...

amna said...

very creative!

Unknown said...

i made this in MW once..love your version..looks yummy and nice colour too!!

Parita said...

Slurp!!

lata raja said...

Nice dish Vidhya.Ippo navrathriyil oru naal pannidaraen:)

Indian Khana said...

Yummy..nice click..never had this..looks too gud

Priya Suresh said...

Such a gorgeous halwa..

Sandhya Hariharan said...

Yummy.. Reminded of wedding in South India.

There is an award waiting for you in my blog. Collect it from http://www.sandhyas-kitchen.blogspot.com

lata raja said...

Vidya,
Please collect honest scrap from
http://lata-raja.blogspot.com/2009/09/honest-scrap.html
and do the honours!

dsdsds said...

Nice Halwa Vidya.. It was on the menu on my wedding also.. The color looks awesome!!

kalsri1952 said...

hi,

when to add the sugarless khoa for kashi halwa?

Swapna Raghu Sanand said...

Looks so colorful and yummy!