412: Kasi Halwa/Pumpkin Halwa

Pumpkin halwa or popularly called as Kasi halwa. This traditional sweet is served in every Tamil weddings. I tried this delicious halwa for this Diwali and It came out very well. I am sure you will also would like to give a try.

Ingredients

Grated White Pumpkin                       2 cups

Sugar                                               1 ¼ cup

Ghee                                                3 tbsp.

Freshly crushed cardamom                 1 tbsp.

Orange color                                      a pinch

Cashews                                            1 tbsp.

Raisins                                               1 tbsp.

Edible camphor (Pachai Karpuram)        a pinch  

Method                          

• Peel the white pumpkin skin and grate it. I used my food processor for shredding which made the job easy and no mess.
• Drain the excess water from the grated pumpkin.
• Microwave Cook the grated pumpkin for 10 minutes.(If you don’t have microwave, use the idli cooker to steam cook).
• Mash the vegetable easily once it is cooked.OR grind the pumpkin to a paste.
• Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in the nonstick pan, and saute the pumpkin for 5 minutes until the water gets absorbed.
• Heat a pan and add sugar with 1/4 cup of water. Let sugar dissolve and bring it to a boil. When the syrup starts thickening add ground vegetable and mix well.
• Cook in medium flame for about 20 min keeping the pan closed. Stir it after every 5 minutes
• Mix the food color in a few drops of water and add it to the pan and mix well.
• Once the mixture becomes semisolid, add ghee and crushed cardamom and  eatable camphor stir it well.
• When it starts leaving the sides of the pan and becomes thick, remove from heat.
• Fry the cahsews and raisins in ghee, until golden brown and add to the halwa.

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