Lauki Halwa
I have a very peculiar
problem with the place I am staying in. At almost 11,000 feet there are many
things that I find strange here.
Cooking is a big chore because mundane things
like onions and potatoes don’t get cooked easily. It takes me three hours to
cook potatoes in a pan. It takes about 10 whistles to cook masoor ki dal.
And all
this is because of the altitude which changes the boiling point of ingredients.
So anything that takes about 20 minutes to cook down in the plains takes about
2 hours to cook here.
My nemesis, among other things,
is the bottle gourd or the lauki. It simply will not cook. And it is a very
common summer vegetable. Also it is very good for health. What to do?? The only
option for me was to make Lauki halwa. Once pressure cooked it becomes eatable.
And if made well it is a delicious dish!
Ingredients
1 large lauki
1 cup mawa/khoya
1 cup sugar ( you can
adjust depending on how sweet you want it)
1 cup assorted dry fruits,
chopped ( I have used cashews and chuara)
2 litres milk
2 tbsp ghee
First skin the lauki and
then grate it. Put the grated lauki along with 1 ½ cups of water in a cooker
and cook for 2 whistles. Take the lauki out of the cooker and put in a colander
to drain away the excess water.
Meanwhile put the milk to boil. After it boils
for 15 minutes add the grated and cooked lauki in the milk.
Now cook till the
milk evaporates and the mixture thickens. Add the sugar, mava and dry fruits. Keep
cooking till the halwa is dry. Add the ghee and cook some more.
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