3 halwa recipes you must try

Make these delicious desi desserts at home and satiate your sugar cravings. You can share yours too!

Reshma Aslam tells us how to make three different types of halwa at home.

Here are the recipes:

Badam Halwa

Ingredients

• 2 cups badam (almonds)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp pure ghee (clarified butter)
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 tsp green cardamom powder
• Few badams (sliced for garnishing
• Few pistachios (sliced for garnishing)

Method

• Soak all the badams in water overnight.
• Remove the skin of the badam and cut it into small pieces.
• Add milk and put the contents in the grinder.
• Grind it coarsely and see to it that you do not make a paste.
• Heat a non-stick pan and add ghee to it.
• When hot, add the grounded badam and milk mixture to it. Cook it on low flame and keep stirring continuously.
• Add sugar and cardamom powder. 
• Cook till the mixture become thick and starts leaving the sides and starts accumulating at the centre of the pan.
• Put off the flame and place the contents in a serving bowl or plate.
• Garnish with sliced badam and pistachios and serve.

Pineapple Halwa

Ingredients

• 2 cup fresh chopped pineapple
• 1/2 cup khoya
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 small mawa cakes (available at all bakeries)
• 2 tbsp ghee
• Few almonds and cashew nuts (chopped for garnishing)

Method

• Heat a pan and add ghee
• Once the ghee is hot, add chopped pineapple and fry till all the water in the pineapple evaporates.
• Add sugar. Keep stirring and cook it on low flame for about 10 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.
• Take a separate bowl and crush the pieces of mawa cake. Add this to the pineapple and sugar mixture.
• Stir it well and switch off the gas. Add khoya and mix well.
• Place the pineapple halwa in a bowl or plate and garnish with chopped almonds and cashew nuts. Serve.

Lauki ka Halwa (Bottle Gourd Halwa)

Ingredients

• 1 kg lauki (bottle gourd)
• 1 cup khoya
• 200 gm condensed milk
• 4 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp green cardamom powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup almonds and pistas (sliced for garnishing)
• 1 tsp green colour

Method

• Peel the bottle gourd.
• Take a big bowl of cold water and grate the bottle gourd over the bowl. The grated bottle gourd should fall in the water as it prevents it from turning black.
• Heat a non-stick pan on high flame. Squeeze the water off the lauki and put it in the heated pan. Cook till all the water dries up.
• Add condensed milk, cardamom powder and green colour. Stir well. 
• Lower the flame and cook it until it dries.
• Add ghee and cook on high flame for about five minutes.
• Garnish with khoya, almonds and pistachios. Serve hot.

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