Kasi Halwa (Pumpkin Halwa)

Kasi halwa or pushnika halwa has been one of my favorite sweets since childhood. It is served on jaanvaasam day in marriages in Chennai, and is generally made on special occasions. Both my grandmothers make awesome kasi halwa.
So, this Diwali, I decided that I would try it out as one of the sweet items.

This is what you would need:

• White pumpkin/dudhi/kadhu/pushnika scrapings - 2 cups
• Sugar - 1.5 cups
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Cashewnuts, Raisins
• Ghee - 3 tablespoons
• Cardamom
• Edible Camphor (Pachai Karpooram)
• Food color (Orange/kesar)

Method of preparation:

• Grate the pumpkin into a large plate. This will give out a lot of water. So, once the plate becomes full, transfer the gratings through a muslin cloth lined strainer in order to drain out as much of the water as possible.
• Pour a little ghee in the kadai and fry cashewnuts and raisins and keep them aside.
• In the same kadai, pour a spoon of ghee and transfer the pumpkin gratings to it.
• After a few minutes, add the milk to the pumkin. Let the pumpkin cook. Since, it has a tendency to yield water, you do not need any further water. 
• You can test if the vegetable is cooked by taking a little between your fingertips. It should be soft and mashable.
• Once it is cooked, add the sugar. On adding sugar, it will once again become runny.
• Keep stirring intermittently so that it does not stick to the bottom.
• Pour the remaining ghee at various intervals and add the food color also.
• Once, the mixture starts leaving the side of the vessel, add the dry fruits, cardamom and edible camphor and mix well.
• Transfer to a bowl and serve hot

Mine was not as thick as my grandmothers make it, but the taste was fine.

Tips:
1. If you find yourself short of time to devote at a continuous stretch like me, then you can grate the pumpkin at night, keep it in the fridge and make the halwa the next morning.

2. Make sure you squeeze out as much of the water as possible, as it will prolong the cooking time otherwise.


Time Required:

I bought a 6 kg pumpkin. It took my brother and me 1 hour to grate it. It took me 1.5 hours to prepare the halwa. Don't know if it can be made in a shorter time, but mine took that long.


So, everyone, there's no need to wait for the next marriage invitation to get a taste of kasi halwa.. go ahead, try it out in your own kitchen :)