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.
Pumpkin Halwa is a sweet, comforting dessert made by slowly cooking grated pumpkin with ghee, sugar, and aromatic spices until it becomes rich, soft, and melt-in-the-mouth. Its natural sweetness is enhanced with a hint of cardamom and garnished with nuts, making it a festive treat or a cozy, everyday indulgence that’s both wholesome and flavorful.
Pumpkin Halwa 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…
Pumpkin Halwa
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Pumpkin
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 tbsp Ghee Use Oil instead to make it dairy-free
- 8 tbsp Almonds Slivers
Method
- 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.
- Remove the seeds and the stringy portion and put aside.
- Bake the pumpkin at 375 F facedown or face-up 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.
- Remove the seeds and the stringy portion and put aside.
- Remove the skin and cut the pumpkin into chunks.
- Follow the cooking instructions below.
- Place a non-stick pan on medium heat, add the ghee and pumpkin, mix them up and mash in the pan.NOTE: If you’re starting with raw pumpkin cook covered for around 10 minutes until the pumpkin is soft enough to mash.2 tbsp Ghee, 2 lbs Pumpkin
- When the pumpkin is completely mashed add the sugar and mix well.1/2 cup Sugar
- You need to continue cooking for a while until the liquids dry up and the pumpkin turns an amber, glossy red. NOTE: See the recipe notes for pictures that show the changes in color as the pumpkin cooks, to guide you.
- A good sign that it’s ready is that the pumpkin doesn’t stick any more to the pan. When that happens reduce the heat, add the cardamom powder, mix well, cook for another minute and take the pan off the heat.
- Garnish with the slivered almonds and serve.8 tbsp Almonds Slivers
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