Lauki ki Kheer

Yesterday my lil one turned 2. Time has just flown by. I still remember the day, my younger one, came into our lives. She came into this world on Jan 29th 2010 at 3:00 am. And since then, till today, there has not been a single day that she hasn’t woken up at around 3.00 am. I don’t know what kind of coincidence it is! But somehow she just wakes up at around that time cries for a few minutes and then back to sleep.

Apart from that, obviously, she keeps me busy the whole day, except for the 2 hours she sleeps in the afternoon and that’s time I get to do some blogging. In one of my older posts I had mentioned how she had just started talking, and now she talks continuously. Her interests have also changed, earlier, she was not interested in anything that came on T.V. rather would run around the house doing some mischief or the other, but now, she is very attentive and grasps all the catchy commercials and tamil numbers, her favorite being Kolaveri and Chammak Challo!

So yesterday, for her birthday, we ordered a cake and I prepared this Kheer. It was just a family affair. I prepared this kheer for the first time and it was liked by all. Both my kids, who generally don’t like kheers, were asking for more. What more do I want!

Serves: 5

What you’ll need

1. Milk – 1 litre ( 5 cups)
2. Grated Bottlegourd/ Lauki – 3 cups
3. Sweetened Condensed Milk – ¼ cup
4. Sugar – ¼ to ½ cup (adjust according to taste)
5. Green Cardamom/ elaichi – 4
6. Ghee – 1tbsp

Method

1. Pour the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel and bring it to a boil.
2. Once the milk starts boiling, let it simmer for about 10 minutes or till the milk has reduced by 1/4th. Keep stirring in between.
3. Wash, peel and deseed the bottlegourd. Grate it. Squeeze out the excess water from the gourd.
4. Heat another Kadai with ghee. Add the grated bottle gourd and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Once the milk has reduced, add the condensed milk and mix well.
6. Now add the sautéed gourd to the milk and let it simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes.
7. Next add the sugar, mix well and cook for another 7 to 8 minutes.
8. Coarsely powder the cardamom and add it.
9. That’s it, yummy Lauki ki kheer is ready.

Serve it warm or cold.

Note:
You could fry cashews and raisins in a little ghee and add for extra garnish.

Linking this to Veggie/Fruit of the month – Bottlegourd hosted by Raji

And to ABC Series – Desserts, hosted by Ramya
And to Cook Eat Delicious hosted by Suma