Kasi Halwa, Pusinikkai (White Pumpkin) Halwa

          Today's post is going to be another sweet recipe, Kasi Halwa, made with Pusinikkai/White Pumpkin. I love halwas, especially the ones made with vegetables, like the carrot halwa, bottle gourd halwa and beetroot halwa and they are all easy to make. Apart from the vegetable, we need the very basic ingredients like sugar and some cardamom for flavor and of course some food color and it's an easy recipe, even a beginner can try this out, so make and enjoy Kasi Halwa for this Diwali..

Need To Have

• Grated Pusinikkai/Pumpkin - 1 cup
• Sugar - 6 tablespoons
• Cashews - 3, broken into pieces
• Cardamom - 1
• Ghee - 1 tablespoon
• Food Color as required

Method

          Heat 1/2 teaspoon of ghee, add the cashews and toast till it turns golden, remove and keep. Now add the grated pumpkin, mix, cover and let it cook, it can take between 10 to 15 minutes. Once the pusinikkai is cooked, add the sugar and the food color.

          Mix, once we add the sugar, it will give out some moisture, so keep cooking till it starts turning thick. Once it starts thickening, add the remaining ghee and keep mixing till it all comes together as a mass and reaches the halwa consisitency. Now add the cardamom powder ( powder the inner pods ) and cashews, mix and serve.

Note
The vegetable will cook in it's own moisture, but if needed add some water.
You can even pressure cook the grated pumpkin and then add the sugar and cook, but make sure that the pumpkin is cooked before you add the sugar.
The above quantity will be enough for 1 to 2 people.