Lauki Ka Halwa or Doodhi Halwa is a traditional Indian dessert that is made in almost all the North Indian households during festivals or special occasions. Made using bottle gourd or dudhi, this is a delicious halwa that will surely satisfy your taste buds. Here is how to make it.
I love making Halwa for special occasions, and if you do too, then you must try these Halwa recipes – Aate Ka Halwa, Suji Ka Halwa, Aloo Ka Halwa, Rajgira Halwa, Bread Halwa, Beetroot Halwa, and Besan Ka Halwa.
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About This Recipe
In Indian homes, we tend to make different varieties of Halwa. Be it a festival, a special occasion, or a wedding, a halwa will always be on the menu. And why not? They are so delicious and rich, and very easy to prepare with minimal ingredients. This is what I love about making a halwa.
Everyone at my home enjoys eating Gajar Ka Halwa, but then it is prepared only in winters when the fresh red carrots are in season. And therefore when we crave a delicious halwa like that, I make this Lauki Ka Halwa, which is prepared with Lauki or as it is called Doodhi or Ghiya.
Lauki is one of those vegetables that is available throughout the year and thus I can enjoy lauki halwa any time of the year and the texture is very similar to everyone’s all-time favorite Carrot Halwa.
To make lauki halwa, bottle gourd is cooked in ghee with an added flavor from cardamom powder, rose water, and dry fruits.
You can make Lauki ka Halwa for your fasting days (vrat) too. But make sure that in this case, you use homemade khoya and not the store-bought one.
This Lauki ka Halwa is,
- Delicious
- Easy to make
- Made with few ingredients
- Prepared during festivals
- Perfect for weekend sweets
Ingredients
Lauki – Lauki or as it is called Doodhi/Bottle Gourd is a summer vegetable that is high on water content and is apt for your summer desserts too. Always taste the lauki before making Dudhi Halwa, because if it tastes bitter it will ruin your halwa too.
Milk and Khoya – The addition of milk adds to the creaminess of this Halwa. I have also added Khoya for a rich taste. If you don’t want to add Khoya, you can make it just with Milk.
Also, always use full-fat milk for the best creamy texture and taste. You can even make it with low-fat milk or skim milk, but the results will be a bit different.
Cardamom Powder – I really love the taste cardamom powder adds to my desserts and therefore this is my favorite ingredient to include in my Halwa recipes too.
If you do not have cardamom powder, you can crush the cardamom seeds and add them to the Lauki Halwa.
Dry Fruits – This is a must in any Halwa. I have just added almonds and cashews, but you can even add raisins, pistachios, walnuts, etc. I have garnished the Doodhi Halwa with slivered pistachios.
Other Ingredients – Other than these, we will need ghee, rose water, and sugar. Rosewater adds a nice flavor and makes the halwa aromatic. You can substitute regular sugar with brown sugar, cane sugar, or even powdered jaggery.
Always use a good quality ghee fort the best taste. I sometimes even use homemade ghee to make my Halwa recipes.
You can adjust the amount of sugar as per your taste. You can even add jaggery instead of sugar if you are looking for a healthy alternative.
How to make Lauki Ka Halwa?
Start by preparing the lauki. Peel the lauki using a vegetable peeler. You should reach the soft part of the lauki and discard all the hard skin. Now cut the lauki into half vertically and remove all the seeds and the pith if there are any. Grate the lauki using the medium hole of a box grater. If you have a food processor, you can use it to grate lauki too. Weigh 300 g of grated lauki and use the rest for other recipes like this lauki ka Bharta. Now heat 4 tbsp ghee in a heavy bottom large size pan.
Once the ghee is hot, simmer the heat to medium and add 10-12 crushed almonds and 10-12 crushed cashew nuts to the pan. Fry them until they are golden brown in color. Keep stirring while frying.
Add the grated lauki in the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Now add 3 cups of full fat milk.
Simmer the heat and cook until all the milk has reduced. Keep stirring frequently to avoid milk from burning at the bottom of the pan. It will take 20-25 minutes for all the milk to be reduced. Add ½ tsp cardamom powder and ¼ tsp rose water and cook for a minute.
In the meanwhile, add 200 g grated khoya in a non-stick pan and cook it until it turns slightly brown. This is to remove the raw smell of the khoya. Add the browned khoya and ¾ cup sugar to the pan and mix everything well. Cook on medium heat till the desired consistency of halwa is reached. Do not overcook otherwise the halwa will become too thick and do not undercooked otherwise it will be watery.
Garnish the ready halwa with almonds and pistachio slivers. I also like to add some dry rose petals as they give a nice contrast. Serve warm.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are looking for a Lauki Halwa Recipe without Khoya, you can skip adding the khoya and cook lauki only in milk.
Cooking in milk also lends a beautiful flavor to this halwa. You can add some milk powder too for richness.
In case, you want to make a vegan version of this halwa, you can substitute dairy milk with almond milk or coconut milk and ghee with vegan butter.
Peel the Bottle Gourd/Lauki, make a cut, and discard the center part with seeds. Now, take a grater and start grating from the sides. Make sure you use a medium-sized grater, as you don’t want your lauki to be mushy.
If you are looking for other variations, then you can use Carrot and Beetroot. Just peel and grate the vegetables and then follow the same process to make the Halwa.
To make it with condensed milk, reduce the amount of milk to half, and use condensed milk instead. You do not need Khoya in these versions.
You can also avoid adding sugar or reduce the amount of the same if you are adding condensed, as it is sweet enough.
I always suggest everyone taste the bottle gourd, before making the Lauki Halwa. It should have a neutral taste, and not taste sour or bitter. If your Bottle Gourd is bitter or sour, it will affect the taste of the Halwa too.
Pro Tips By Neha
Always saute grated lauki/bottle gourd for 2-3 minutes in ghee, to avoid the moisture and raw taste of the vegetable.
Taste the lauki before using, because sometimes they turn out to be bitter or sour, which will ruin the taste of your Halwa. If it has a very slight tang, then it’s ok, it will reduce once it gets cooked with milk and sugar.
To increase the richness of this Lauki Halwa, add in chopped dry fruits.
Always use full-fat milk or full cream milk to make the Halwa. If you add skim milk or low-fat milk, there are high chances of milk getting curdled.
Always cook the halwa on low medium flame and keep stirring it, so that it doesn’t get scorched from the bottom.
If khoya is not available, you can skip adding it. Add some dry milk powder for the richness in that case.
Storage Suggestions
You can store Lauki Ka Halwa in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator. Reheat in the pan or in the microwave for about a minute or two before serving. You can even enjoy this Halwa chilled.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve this Lauki Halwa to my guests along with some savory snacks when they come to visit for festivals such as Diwali, Holi, etc.
You can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of Doodhi Halwa. This makes a great dessert if serving for special occasions.
You can also serve it as a dessert after your weekend meals or special North Indian meals.
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Recipe Card
Lauki Ka Halwa Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 10-12 almonds (broken into small pieces)
- 10-12 cashew nuts (broken into small pieces)
- 3 cups peeled, seeded, and grated lauki (grate using the medium hole of a box grater)
- 3 cups full fat milk
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- ¼ tsp rose water
- ¾ cup sugar
- 200 g khoya
- Dry fruits for garnishing
Instructions
- Start by preparing the lauki. Peel the lauki using a vegetable peeler. You should reach the soft part of the lauki and discard all the hard skin. Now cut the lauki into half vertically and remove all the seeds and the pith if there are any. Grate the lauki using the medium hole of a box grater. If you have a food processor, you can use it to grate lauki too. Weigh 300 g of grated lauki and use the rest for other recipes like this lauki ka Bharta.
- Now heat 4 tbsp ghee in a heavy bottom large size pan.
- Once the ghee is hot, simmer the heat to medium and add 10-12 crushed almonds and 10-12 crushed cashew nuts to the pan. Fry them until they are golden brown in color. Keep stirring while frying.
- Add the grated lauki in the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- Now add 3 cups of full fat milk.
- Simmer the heat and cook until all the milk has reduced. Keep stirring frequently to avoid milk from burning at the bottom of the pan. It will take 20-25 minutes for all the milk to be reduced.
- Add ½ tsp cardamom powder and ¼ tsp rose water and cook for a minute.
- In the meanwhile, add 200 g grated khoya in a non-stick pan and cook it until it turns slightly brown. This is to remove the raw smell of the khoya. Add the browned khoya and ¾ cup sugar to the pan and mix everything well. Cook on medium heat till the desired consistency of halwa is reached. Do not overcook otherwise the halwa will become too thick and do not undercooked otherwise it will be watery.
- Garnish the ready halwa with almonds and pistachio slivers. I also like to add some dry rose petals as they give a nice contrast. Serve warm.
sangeetha pn
Wow.. looks delicious.. Glad to follow you.. Try visiting me in your free time!
Manjula Bharath
love the festive presentation 🙂 and halwa looks super delicious , make me drool dear 🙂
Anonymous
Why is there aluminum foil in the dish? Does this do some enhancement to the dish? Does it help the flavors blend?
Brian Taylor
How to make Lauki Ka Halwa at home visit for Recipe – Click Here
Sonia
Can we add readymade gulukand to this recipe
Neha Mathur
Yes sure, you can, Adjust the sugar accordingly.