I love pumpkin cooked any way – the smooth texture, the vibrant color and best of all it tastes delicious in any form. So sweetening it (even a little more), garnishing and flavoring it only makes it better and that brings me to the dessert that is the topic of this post. This dessert is also on my list of “precious” desserts since cooking Pumpkin Halwa is akin to extracting gold from a vegetable – you’ll get about 1 cup of halwa from a 2 pound pumpkin chunk. Be prepared to put in the effort (and to add the love too, that’s in your hands now) – the results are totally worth it…

Ingredients

2 lbs Pumpkin
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tbsp Olive Oil
6-8 Almonds slivered

Recipe Notes

Traditionally this recipe is cooked with unsalted butter or ghee (clarified butter). I prefer to cook it with Olive Oil to reduce the cholesterol in the halwa. You can choose to cook in butter/ghee – start with 1 tbsp and add some more later as needed if the halwa sticks to the pan while you’re cooking. Also, it’s important to use a non-stick pan to minimize the sticking and therefore the amount of butter/ghee needed.

Preparation

You need to cook the pumpkin first before can make the halwa by baking, boiling or sautéing. My preference is to use the baking method because I can just scoop the flesh out of the cooked pumpkin very easily. With the other methods you need to cut up the pumpkin and remove the skin which could take some time and effort.

Baking Method

• Remove the seeds and the stringy portion and put aside.
• Bake the pumpkin at 375 F facedown or faceup with a foil over it for about 60-75 minutes for a 2 pound chunk.
• Check if the pumpkin is ready by poking it with a fork. If it is soft then it is done and you can take it out of the oven.
• Let it cool enough so it’s safe to handle and scoop out the flesh using a large spoon. Discard any burned flesh.

Boiling Method

• Remove the seeds and the stringy portion and put aside.
• Remove the skin and cut the pumpkin into chunks.
• Boil the pumpkin chunks in a pot with enough water to completely cover the pumpkin.
• Boil until the pumpkin is soft.
• Drain the water out completely using a colander.

Sautéing Method

• Remove the seeds and the stringy portion and put aside.
• Remove the skin and cut the pumpkin into chunks.
• Follow the cooking instructions below.

PS: You can save the seeds and dry and toast them for other uses. Maybe I’ll discuss this in another post.

Cooking

Place a non-stick pan on medium heat, add the ghee/butter/oil and pumpkin, mix them up and mash in the pan.

If you’re starting with raw pumpkin cook covered for around 10 minutes until the pumpkin is soft enough to mash.

When the pumpkin is mashed well add the sugar and mix well.

You need to continue cooking (for a while) until the liquids dry up and the pumpkin turns an amber, glossy red. A good sign that it’s ready is that the pumpkin doesn’t stick any more to the pan.

The pictures below show the changes in color at different times to guide you.

 

 

Once the pumpkin is ready reduce the heat, add the cardamom powder, mix well, cook for another minute and take the pan off the heat.

 

Only one thing left to do now – ENJOY IT! Don’t forget to garnish with the slivered almonds.