Recipe Title: Dudhi  ( Lauki, bottle gourd) Halwa and Dudhpak

Pravin Turakhia

Prep Time: 10 minutes.

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes.

Total Time: 35-40 minutes.

Ingredients

  1. Grated Dudhi (Lauki, bottle gourd)- 4 cups.
  2. Almond or Cashew Creamer – 1 1/2 cup (store bought or homemade – check recipe below).
  3. Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp.
  4. Pistachio and Cashews- few.
  5. Green food color- 1 tsp (optional).
  6. Grapeseed oil or vegan ghee- 5 tsp.
  7. Cashew powder – 2 tsp (optional).
  8. Vegan sugar as per taste.

Instructions:

Preparation

  1. Peel the dudhi (lauki) and scoop out its seeds.
  2. Grate it using a fine grater and measure the same. Keep it aside.

Method

  1. Heat a heavy bottom pan with 3 tsp of grapeseed oil or vegan ghee and add grated dudhi (lauki).
  2. Stir constantly till the moisture evaporates completely and raw smell of the dudhi disappears. Then pour creamer into the pan.
  3. Let the dudhi (lauki) get cooked completely in the creamer on a low flame. Keep stirring often to avoid burning at the bottom. Add food color (optional to get rich green color) and mix well.
  4. Add in rest of the oil/vegan ghee and a few cashew pieces, and cardamom powder or broken seeds. If needed, add some creamer and cashew powder.
  5. Stir until halwa becomes thick.
  6. Turn off the gas once done.
  7. Garnish with sliced pistachio.
  8. Yummy dudhi halwa is ready to be served as a dessert.

Notes

  1. Ensure the grated dudhi doesn’t stick to the bottom. Burning at the bottom may induce some smoky smell.
  2. If you don’t like the use of food color, then you can skip it too. In that case the color of the halwa remains pale as bottle gourd.
  3. If you like it sweeter, you may add some sugar when adding the remaining oil/vegan ghee.
  4. Check if the store-bought creamer is sweet and add sugar as required.

Stage 2: Making Dudhi Dudhpak

  1. To the dudhi halwa, add 2 cups almond milk and 1 cup Almond creamer, stir up well and heat up on a stove top or in a microwave for about 2-3 minutes.
  2. Garnish with pistachio and almond slices. You may add charoli (chironji) at the time of cooking.

Homemade cashew/almond cream:

Ingredients

1 cup cashews/ almonds.

Water is needed.

Instructions:

Method:

  1. Wash the cashews or almonds a couple of times and soak for 2-3 hours.
  2. Rinse the cashews/ almonds again and blend with ½ cup fresh water. The consistency should be thick like a paste. Add more water if needed.

Notes:

To avoid the slight brown tinge in the almond paste, remove the skin before blending.

This can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

About Author

A professional architect, he possesses a creative flair that extends to his culinary experimentation, crafting diverse and innovative dishes. Since 1993, he has adhered to a Jain diet, and in the past three years, he transitioned to veganism out of compassion for animals. He has volunteered at the JCNC (Jain Centre of Northern California), where he has used his creative culinary skills to prepare meals for the homeless and underprivileged, as well as for JCNC events. Additionally, he has been involved with many organizations in various capacities.