Dudhi Halwa (Lauki Halwa)
The Best Homemade Dudhi Halwa You’ll Ever Taste! This lauki halwa is rich and creamy with perfectly moist, tender, sweet bottle gourd shreds. It is deliciously sweet and flavored with cardamom powder—a must-try halwa for the summer season!
My Version Of Dudhi Halwa!
As a Gujarati, we call this “Dudhi No Halvo” at home.
Dudhi halwa or lauki halwa is an Indian sweet made from ghee, bottle gourd, sugar, and milk. To add richness, khoya (also known as mawa) is added. It is flavored with cardamom powder and garnished with nuts like almonds and cashews.
Almond Flour Instead of Khoya: I like to replace the mawa with almond flour since fresh mawa is not easily available here in the USA. Yes, frozen mawa is available, but almond flour works so well that I don’t bother buying frozen khoya. I also use almond flour in my carrot halwa, and it turns out great.
No Food Color: The lauki halwa bought from the mithai shop (halwai) is light green because of added green food color. I try to avoid food color as much as possible in my food, so I have not added any here.
Lauki Halwa For Vrat (Hindu Fasting):
Lauki halwa can be made during Navratri fasting or Ekadashi vrat. Many people eat lauki during fasting, but in my family, we do not eat this vegetable on any kind of vrat. Every family has its own traditions, so if making it for fasting days, please ask your elders about the family traditions before consuming.
Ingredient Notes
Step By Step With Tips
Full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of the post. This is just the overview and notes on how to make dudhi halwa.
1) Prepare Lauki
- Peel the Skin: Start by peeling the skin of the bottle gourd.
- Taste Test: Taste a tiny piece to ensure the gourd is not bitter. If it’s bitter, discard it to avoid ruining the dish.
- Remove Seeds: Cut the gourd pieces in half and discard the center seeds. If your lauki is tender and seedless, you can skip this step.
- Grate the Gourd: Grate the lauki using a large-sized box grater. I use a food processor to make it easier.
2) Saute Lauki In Ghee:
- Heat ghee in a pan over medium heat.
- Add the grated lauki and cook, stirring occasionally.
- Continue to cook until the lauki becomes soft and 90% cooked. It took me around 10-12 minutes.
- Most of the moisture should evaporate, and the lauki will shrink in size and turn translucent in color.
3) Add Milk & Cook:
- Pour the milk and bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Continue cooking until all the milk has evaporated. This process requires patience.
- Stir occasionally and scrape the sides and bottom of the pan to prevent milk solids from sticking and burning.
- Once the milk has reduced and all the moisture has evaporated, the mixture is ready for the next step.
4) Add Sugar & Cook:
- Add the sugar to the mixture.
- Stir continuously as the sugar melts, initially, the mixture turns thin and runny.
- Continue cooking and stirring until all the liquid evaporates, leaving a thickened consistency.
5) Add Almond flour:
Add almond flour and cook for 2 minutes. The halwa mixture becomes thick.
6) Add cardamom powder:
Turn off the stove, add freshly crushed cardamom powder, and mix.
TIP: Take green cardamoms, remove the pods, and crush the seeds using mortar and pestle.
7) Fry Nuts & Add To Halwa:
Fry almonds and cashews into ghee until golden brown. Add it to the prepared halwa.
You can serve lauki ka halwa warm or chill in the fridge and serve chilled.
Check Out Other Dudhi Recipes
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below. If you’re sharing it on your Instagram then don’t forget to tag me @spice.up.the.curry
Dudhi Halwa Recipe (Lauki Halwa)
US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)
Ingredients
- 5 ½ cups Lauki (bottle gourd or dudhi), grated and packed when measuring (~ 850 grams)
- 3 + 1 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 ¼ cups Milk, full-fat
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Almond flour
- ½ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 6-8 Almonds, chopped
- 6-8 Cashew nuts, chopped
Instructions
Prep:
- Peel the skin of the lauki. Cut the gourd pieces in half and discard the center seeds.
- Grate the lauki using a large-sized box grater or food processor.
Make Lauki Halwa:
- Heat 3 tablespoons of ghee in a pan over medium heat.
- Add the grated lauki and cook, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook until the lauki becomes soft and 90% cooked. Most of the moisture should evaporate, and the lauki will shrink in size and turn translucent in color.
- Pour the milk and bring the mixture to a simmer. Continue cooking until all the milk has evaporated. Stir occasionally and scrape the sides and bottom of the pan to prevent milk solids from sticking and burning.
- Add the sugar and mix. Stir continuously as the sugar melts, initially, the mixture turns thin and runny. Continue cooking and stirring until all the liquid evaporates, leaving a thickened consistency.
- Add almond flour and cook for 2 minutes. The halwa mixture becomes thick.
- Turn off the stove, add freshly crushed cardamom powder, and mix.
- In another small pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of ghee on medium heat. Add almonds and cashews and fry until golden brown. Add it to the prepared halwa and stir.
Notes
- Taste Test Lauki: Taste a tiny piece to ensure the gourd is not bitter. If it’s bitter, discard it to avoid ruining the dish.
- Be patient: Bottle gourd has a lot of water content so it takes time to cook and evaporate that liquid. So be patient, it takes time.
Nutrition
Last Updated on June 26, 2024
I have used quite a few of your recipes for different dishes which all came out quite good. Today I am going to make some dudhi halwa following you recipe which I found quite easy to follow.
Thank you.
CDP
Sure, happy cooking!!
Let me know how it turned out
Hi Kanan
I am copying your recipe. Do you have any cookbooks on Indian vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes?
Thanks
No I haven’t published any cookbook yet.