Dumrot / Kumbalakai halwa / Ash gourd pudding

Servings: 1-2

Ingredients:

Content	Quantity	Comment
Ash gourd / Boodh kumbalakai	1 kg
Sugar	1 cup
Elaichi powder / yelakki	2 pinch
Raisins / Vana drakshi	10-12
Ghee	1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Sooji / Rava	1 tbsp
Cashew-nuts	2-3 broken

Method:

Heat a small pan and dry roast the sooji and set it aside.

Remove the skin and grate the ash gourd. Squeeze the ash gourd and remove the juice. Set it aside. Switch on the stove on low flame and place and deep bottom pan. Add the squeezed ash gourd, sugar and a tbsp of ghee in the pan and mix well. The sugar will start dissolving. Keep stirring continuously. Stir until the water starts reducing. Once the water is reduced to almost 2-3 tbsp, add the roasted sooji and mix well. Cook covered for a minute. Add elaichi powder and mix well. Remove from the stove once a lumpy structure is found.

Heat a tbsp of ghee in a small pan and add the raisins. Once the raisins are fluffy, remove from heat and mix with the ready halwa. Garnish with cashew-nuts. 

Serve hot / cold.

Tip:

1. You can add khova once the water is all dried up before adding sooji and stir for 4-5 minutes more and then add the sooji to get the halwa consistency.
2. You can avoid sooji if you don’t prefer.