Peel and grate lauki and place in a pressure pan.
Add about ½ to ¾ cups of water, mix and cook on pressure for about 2 whistles.
Once the pressure drops, open the pan and cook the bottle gourd on medium high until most of the moisture is gone. If you do not have a pressure pan, just cook the gourd in an open pan until all the moisture evaporates.
Add jaggery and 2 tablespoons of ghee and mix well.
Cook again on medium high, stirring continuously until the moisture is almost gone; add more ghee if you want a richer halwa.
Once most of the moisture is gone and you get a thick mixture with ghee glistening from the edges of the halwa, stir in cardamom powder and give it a good stir. Remove from heat.
In a small saucepan, heat rest of the ghee and add cashew nuts; fry until light golden brown. Tip this into the halwa and mix well.
Transfer into serving bowls, garnish with additional cashew nuts and serve hot or cold.
Choose tender bottle gourds to make halwa. I found a few seeds in the lauki I had. They were tender, so I decided to use them in the halwa to give a different texture to the dessert. If you do not like the seeds or they are hard, you can remove them while grating.
Adjust the amount of jaggery according to your taste. If you cannot find jaggery, you can add plain white sugar to sweeten this halwa.
For a richer taste, add khoya or grated paneer to the halwa while it is cooking. #cookingwithjaggery
