This halwa comes together in less than 40 minutes and is significantly less laborious than many other Pakistani desserts (Gajar ka Halwa and Kheer, I’m looking at you). And to be honest, I never tire of the rather impressed looks this gets me whenever I serve it up.
How To Make Pumpkin Halwa
The method is pretty similar to Gajar ka Halwa, just much faster because pumpkin softens a lot quicker than carrots. As always, full ingredients list and instructions are at the end of the post. Reading not your thang? Don’t worry - watch the YouTube video instead (and whilst you’re at it, don’t forget to subscribe to my baby YouTube channel!), We’ll start by grating some pumpkin, and then adding it to a pan alongside some cardamom powder and milk (full-fat, please. It makes a difference!). You want to cook that down over a high heat, stirring often so it doesn’t burn or catch at the bottom of the pan. Keep cooking it until most of the milk has evaporated and the mixture is dry (and tbh, a bit sorry looking). Once you get to this stage, add in the sugar. The sugar will melt and the mixture will suddenly look quite liquid-y. Continue to dry this out just as before, until once again, the mixture looks dry. At this stage, you can add some ghee. Cook the mixture over a high heat, stirring very often. Cook the mixture down very well until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. By this stage, it’ll have become a deep shade of orange (you can add some food colour if you’d like the intensify the colour further). I must stress, it’s really important you do this part properly because the more you fry (bhoon) the mixture, the deeper and more caramelised the flavour is! The end result should look thick, fudgy and on the sticky side. Garnish with nuts (I love using pistachio, the green looks SO good with the orange halwa!) and serve warm. It’s so very similar to Gajar Ka Halwa, so if you want to serve it alongside some ice cream too, you have my blessings!
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