Happy Independence Day and a sweet treat from India – Pumpkin Halwa

This is to thank each one of YOU reading this, for your interest, appreciation, support and encouragement for my work here. It’s been a great journey blogging, meeting and connecting with new people and I’d like to thank you all for being a part of it. A little treat for you – recipe of Pumpkin halwa I learnt from Ma. 🙂

I remember celebrating Independence Day in India as a kid. August 15th is a National holiday in India, so the celebrations were held a day before in school, full with all sorts of festivities, games, entertainment, sweets and the tri-colors of our National flag floating everywhere. But the memories I have of Independence Day other than the colors and celebrations, is the flavour and sweet aroma of yellow pumpkin cooking in ghee and milk, of Kadoo Halwa, that Ma cooked on such holidays.

Pumpkin is also called Kadoo in Hindi. I don’t particularly love the taste of pumpkins and it’s never been a favorite vegetable, but this pumpkin dessert is unbelievable! Ma would make this sweet and the house filled up with the distinct fragrance of the halwa. I would finish bowls of this sweet gooey dessert and get ready for some more! I guess Ma had found a way of feeding me pumpkins! 😉

I like to cook and luckily I am good with flavors, but more than cooking I like tasting various kinds of food and taking pictures of it. I’ve been reading some food blogs and trying out some food photography recently, and I must say it’s a lot of fun in the kitchen! With all the colors of food, the textures and aroma, it’s like painting with spices & food ingredients! I tried to create a festive Indian mood in the pictures by styling the frame with the colors of our national flag and the soft yellow light from the lamp. All pictures are shot in natural light with a Nikon D80 and a 35mm F2 lens. I found Neel’s website Learn Food Photography very helpful and inspiring. There are so many inspiring food blogs with breath-taking pictures. A few of my favourites – Anshu Si, Soma Rathore, Kulsum Kunwa, Prerna – thanks for sharing such amazing recipes and stunning pictures!

Pumpkin halwa is my favorite among all the other halwas and I have mastered making it now. 🙂 It’s one of the lighter Indian sweets and I am sure anyone who dislikes pumpkin will change their opinion after tasting this yummy halwa. I am not a food blogger and have never written a recipe before, but I’ll try and pen down how I made it.

Ingredients

Yellow pumpkin 

Milk

Ghee or clarified butter

Sugar

Cardamom

Saffron

Nuts and raisins for garnish

It’s similar in preparation to ‘Gajar halwa’ or carrot halwa but takes much lesser time as the pumpkin softens quicker than carrots. Grate the pumpkin and cook in ghee till it softens. Add milk and all other ingredients except the garnish and cook till it becomes a pulp. Stir the halwa till it is fully cooked and doesn’t stick to the pan anymore. Garnish with nuts and raisins.

Here’s the recipe by another professional food blogger I follow – Sala of Veggie Belly. It has some gorgeous pictures too!

P.S. This is a special post and you won’t find any recipes of the yummy food pictures I take, on this blog. This one is special – it’s for YOU! 🙂 Enjoy!

Happy Independence day India! And Thank you all! 🙂