The best Navratri dessert: GHIYA BARFI

Navratri is a period of such holy suspiciousness where people observe fast and have foods that are not made of food grains. People tend to eat desserts and fruits majorly. One such item of sweet is Ghiya/Bottle gourd barfi. The history of Indian sweets goes back to around 5000 years back so let’s not go that deep, Ghiya barfi or often called Lauki ki barfi is a poular North Indian sweet that is made especially during fasts. It is a super easy sweet to prepare and is very similar in taste to Gajar ka halwa/carrot halwa. Lauki Ki barfi/ghiya barfi is made with very simple ingredients and easy steps. Over here we are sharing lauki ki barfi with khoya or mava recipe which anyone can make without much of a hassle. Here is a step by step Lauki ki barfi recipe that one should definitely try making at home. It is super tasty and will win over everybody’s heart.

Watch the step by step Video Recipe in Hindi (with English subtitles)

 

Method:

Step 1: Grating the bottle gourd

• At first take the bottle gourd and peel off the skin. Then cut into big pieces and scoop out the seeds.
• Now, grate the bottle gourd with a grater. Squeeze off the juices from the grated bottle gourd and keep in a bowl.

Step 2: Frying the mixture

• Take a kadhai and pour Desi ghee in it and heat up. Put the grated bottle gourd in it and stir well. Cover with lid and cook for 5mins. (Keep stirring in between)
• Bottle gourd must have cooked a little so add sugar and mix well. Again cover with lid and cook for 3-4mins.
• The bottle gourd is now releasing water so increase to full flame. Add Khoya/Mava and mix so that bottle gourd and khoya mixes well.
• Now add cardamom powder, chopped almonds and cashew and mix well. The bottle gourd is little lighter in color so we’ll add a little green food color to it and mix well. Turn the gas off.

Step 3: Setting the barfi

Take a steel plate and grease it well with ghee. Place the mixture on it and spread evenly. Set it in square or circle shape (I let it set in square).  Sprinkle a little grated almonds and place Cashew or almonds on top so it looks nice. Now, let it set for 2-3hours.

Cut it into small pieces and serve well. Enjoy and yeah Happy cooking!

Cut it into small pieces and serve well. Enjoy and yeah Happy cooking!

Notes:

1. Removing the seeds of bottle gourd is important as with seeds the barfi won’t taste nice.
2. Adding food color makes the bottle gourd look yummier. Mix 1tsp of green food color with milk and add it to the bottle gourd mixture.
3. You can opt to cut the barfi in any shape of your choice.
4. I have carefully placed garnishing of cashew and almonds on the barfi so that each piece has one dry fruit each. It makes it look more presentable.

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