Dumrote - Kashi halwa
Ash gourd pudding

Ash gourd - winter melon - wax gourd

Dumrote halwa, also known as Kashi halva, is ash gourd pudding. It is a popular Indian sweet made with ash gourd.

Ash gourd is also known as winter melon or white gourd or white pumpkin or wax gourd.

Ash gourd is known as Petha(Hindi), kohala(Marathi), Budukumbalkai (Kannada).

Kashi halva can be served as a dessert, snack or as a sweet dish with a main meal.

It is served at festivals, weddings etc. It is one of the favorite Festival Foods.

It is a simple recipe. You can make Dumrote halva in advance and keep in the fridge for more than a week.

It can be served hot or cold or at room temperature. It has a lovely color and tastes great too.

I prefer to make this kashi halwa as it is a vegetable based sweet recipe. I usually add fresh homemade cream to Dumrote halva.

How to make Dumrote Halwa - Kashi halwa

Ingredients for Dumrote halwa for 4-6 servings.

Petha (ash gourd /white gourd/white pumpkin) - 500gms
Milk(full cream) - 2 cups
Sugar -1/2 cup or more according to taste.
Ghee - 1 or 2 tbsp (as your diet permits)
Raisins - 10-15
Khoa or condensed milk or Fresh Cream -100 gms(I usually add homemade fresh cream which I collect from milk)
Cashew nuts, almonds, pista - 4-5 each, chopped fine
Cardamom powder- 1 teaspoon.

Preparation before making Dumrote halwa

Wash and peel ash gourd (petha, white gourd).
Remove seeds. Cut into large pieces.
Grate ash gourd using a fine grater.
You may also use food processor to grate petha to make is faster and easier.

Making Dumrote halva - Cooking method:

Heat a deep thick bottomed pan.
Add ghee and chopped nuts. Fry the nuts and raisins for a few seconds. The raisins will become plump. Do not let the nuts brown too much. Remove from ghee on a small plate or a bowl. Keep aside.
Add grated ash gourd to the same ghee. Stir well and mix ash gourd in ghee. Cover and cook grated ash gourd about 2-3 minutes.
If you are using the juice/water released while grating, cook uncovered for sometime.
Add milk. Stir and cook on low fire till the mixture thickens. It may take about 15-20 minutes. Do not cover after you add milk.
When most of the milk is absorbed in bottle gourd, add sugar. Mix well and cook some more till sugar dissolves.
When the sugar dissolves, the mixture will release some liquid.
Keep cooking and the mixture thickens again.
Add khoa/condensed milk/cream(whichever you are using). Mix well.
Cook for another 5-8 minutes stirring occasionally till all the liquid is absorbed.
Add the nuts, raisins which we kept aside. Add cardamom powder.
Mix well and switch off the flame.

Kashi halva / dumrote halwa is ready to serve.

Serve it hot or at room temperature or cold as you like. You may put it in fridge for cooling and serve chilled.

Tips:

Some water/juice is released while grating. I prefer to use this for cooking the petha in the beginning.

If you do not wish to use the water, squeeze the grated gourd and keep the juice aside. You may drink it (it is nutritious) or use it for cooking or for mixing chapati dough.

You may fry cashew nuts in ghee if you wish or add them without frying.

Khoa or condensed milk or homemade full cream is optional but adding that makes the halwa richer and yummy.

If you are adding sweet khoa or condensed milk, adjust the sugar quantity accordingly.

You may roast khoa separately before adding to the ash gourd mixture.

Enjoy