Pumpkin Halwa

I have been eating this Halwa as a child, and always loved the one my mother used to cook for us, she always used to make it without adding milk or sometimes she also made it by adding semolina/soji  in it.  here comes my way of making it.

Ingredients:

2 kg pumpkin, peeled and shredded (halwa kadu)

2 liters milk

1-1.5 kg sugar

5 cardamom pods

50 gm, pistachios, almonds (optional, we like it plain)

1/2 cup ghee

Method:

1) In a pan add milk and shredded pumpkin and let it cook on medium low heat till the water dries, keep stirring once in a while. 

2) Once the water from pumpkin dries up and milk get thick add in sugar and cardamoms  and keep stirring, when the sugar syrup starts to get dry add in the ghee (if you want to add the pistachios and almonds add those in at this stage).

3) Continue cooking on medium-high heat till the ghee separates from the halwa (around 15-20minutes).the more it is cooked (fried) the testier the end result. Garnish it with nuts and serve hot.

Note: 

If you don’t want to add the milk even then it will come out as perfect, just let the pumpkin cook in its own water, and cover the pan with a lid till the pumpkin gets done, rest of the procedure will be the same.