Dudhi Halwa is a popular Indian dessert made with grated bottle gourd.
This luscious Dudhi Halwa is lightly sweet and has a creamy pudding like texture with the magical aroma of vanilla.
Dudhi Halwa is my Mom’s all-time special dessert! I have so many memories of this dish. She made this more frequently than any other dessert. Sometimes she layered it over her special carrot halwa making it a heavenly treat to have 2 halwa’s at once. Adding a bit of vanilla is her creative twist that makes this dessert very refreshing. If you like the more traditional version, you may add cardamom powder instead of vanilla.
Dudhi or Lauki is a large gourd that is tender and juicy with 92% water content. This mild and versatile vegetable is a rich source of vitamins, calcium and minerals.
After peeling the outer covering the easiest way to grate it is using a food processor. Grating by the way is about the most time consuming process in this recipe.
Once the Dudhi is grated, this Instant Pot dessert is ready in under 15 minutes!
Here are few variations for this quick and easy dudhi halwa:
- substitute ghee with any mild cooking oil
- substitute low fat milk with nut milk
- substitute non fat dry milk powder with almond meal, ricotta cheese or khoya
- skip the garnish for nut free halwa
- Stir in 1-2 drops of plant based green food color along with the vanilla for a pretty green halwa.
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- 2 tablespoon ghee or any cooking oil
- 4 cups packed Dudhi grated
- 1 cup low fat milk divided (or almond milk)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup non-fat dry milk powder or almond meal
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon sliced almonds for garnish optional
Set the Instant Pot to saute(normal) mode and heat ghee. Add grated dudhi and sauté for a minute. Add 1/2 cup of low fat milk. Close Instant Pot with Pressure valve to sealing. Cook on Manual(Hi) for 2 mins followed by Quick Release (Natural Pressure Release works too).
Set the Instant Pot to Saute(normal) mode. Mix the milk powder in remaining half cup of milk and add it to the Instant Pot.
Add sugar and cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently until most of the liquids evaporate and the halwa thickens. If the halwa starts to splutter set the Instant Pot to Saute(Less) mode and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Stir in Vanilla, mix well and turn the Instant Pot off. Halwa will thicken further as it cools down. Garnish with sliced almonds. Enjoy warm or chilled.
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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
oh wow… look at the color…… its yummy……
Thank you Sudhir!
I find very interesting that you suggest to substitued milk powder with almond meal. i don’t like to use milk powder.
Hi Flavia! Thank you for stopping by. I am not a big fan of milk powder but I like using it as a lighter substitute for heavy cream. It works great in Halwa.
Looks beautiful & tempting !
Thank you!
This would be so nice to win !!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!