Lauki Ki Barfi is a quick, easy, healthy Indian sweet which is enjoyed in festivals. It can be relished in fasting season too. It can be made very easily at home with very less ingredients and efforts.

Overview

Lauki or Bottle Gourd or Calabash is a vegetable which is super easy to digest. It is great for people who are ill and have digestive issues. Today we are using this vegetable to make a delectable sweet / dessert. Lauki Ki Barfi is a quick, easy, healthy Indian sweet which is made with very less ingredients at home: lauki, sugar, milk. This super quick sweet is very popular in India since people consume it in fasting season too. When people fast in India, they generally consume vegetables like bottle guard, pumpkin, potato.

In my childhood memories, when my family used to fast in Monday saavan or navratri, my mother used to make lauki barfi as a meal prep and used to set it in refrigerator. It used to be so yum that we, as kids, used to wait for that fasting day to come so that we can enjoy the yummy dessert.

Tips

I would like to share few tips and tricks for a perfect lauki barfi recipe.

• The process of peeling, cutting and grating bottle gourd should be done quickly since lauki/dodhi tends to oxidise quickly and starts turning brown.

• If we need to keep bottle guard/lauki for sometime, never keep it in air. As I said earlier, lauki/doodhi starts turning brown. Always keep it in submerged in water. Bottle guard will never turn brown. When it is time for start making barfi, sieve and squeeze water from lauki.

• After grating lauki, always remove extra water lauki by seive and using muslin cloth.

• Use Lauki/doodhi water for other work like kneading dough, making curries etc.

• In this recipe, I have used milk powder to make lauki barfi more tasty. If milk powder is not available, you can add 1/2 cup powdered cashews to 1/4 cup milk and cook it with lauki.

• Another way to make lauki barfi more rich and yummy. If milk powder is not available, you can add 1/4 cup sama powder to 1/4 cup milk and cook it in lauki.

Video Recipe

Ingredients

• Lauki/Doodhi/Ghiya/Bottle Gourd - 1 kg
• Ghee or clarified butter - 2 tsp
• Milk - 1 cup
• Cardamom - 3 or 4 pods
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Milk powder - 1/2 cup
• Desiccated Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Matcha Powder or green color (optional)
• Nuts or dry fruits

Instructions

Lauki Barfi - Preparation Steps

• Take bottle gourd/lauki and peel its skin and cut it into smaller sections. Grate lauki/doodhi/bottle gourd/ghiya through smaller holes of grater.

• Take a sieve and put muslin cloth on it. Put grated bottle gourd on muslin cloth and squeeze extra water from lauki.

• Put grated squeezed lauki into another container. Use lauki/doodhi water for other work like kneading dough or making curries.

• Add ghee to a pan. Add grated lauki to the pan.

• Mix well and cook it for 5 minutes on medium flame until water is absorbed from lauki.

• When water is completely absorbed from lauki, add milk to it.

• Add cardamom or illachi to milk.

• Mix well and cook it for 10 - 15 minutes on medium flame until milk is fully absorbed in lauki/bottle gourd.

• Add sugar to pan.

• After 15 mins, milk is absorbed in lauki and lauki is super soft & creamy.

• Add milk powder and desiccated coconut to sweet to increase richness of the dessert.

• I have used milk powder to make lauki barfi more tasty. If milk powder is not available, you can add 1/2 cup powdered cashews to 1/4 cup milk and cook it with lauki. Another way to make lauki barfi more rich and yummy is that you can add 1/4 cup sama powder to 1/4 cup milk and cook it in lauki.

• Mix well and let it cook for 2 minutes.

• To give healthy green color to barfi/sweet, add green matcha powder to barfi/sweet. Apart from the taste and health benefits, matcha gives your food a beautiful green color making it look pleasing to the eye as well.

• Alternatively, you can also use organic green food color to lauki dessert. Adding color to lauki barfi is purely optional.

• Add matcha powder or green color to dessert. This is optional step.

• Add any nuts or dry fruits of your choice to the lauki sweet. I am adding chopped almonds to it.

• Take a baking dish or any plate. Grease ghee or oil to it. Add parchment paper to baking dish.

• Set it in refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours.

• After 3 to 4 hours, lauki barfi is ready. Decorate it with edible silver sheets or sprinkle any nuts or dry fruits on it. You can easily store lauki barfi in refrigerator for 15 days.

• Enjoy this yummy easy sweet with your family & friends!