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    Home > Vegan Indian Sweets

    Vegan Doodhi Halwa

    Posted: Mar 27, 2010 ยท Updated: Jul 28, 2021

    Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe

    A beautiful, pale green doodhi halwa made with bottle gourd and no milk or dairy products.

    Photo of vegan doodhi halwa.

    Doodhi Halwa is a delicious Indian sweet that is not at all difficult to veganize and which, in its animal-free avatar, ends up being both healthier and more delicious.

    A doodhi or lauki or bottle gourd is a pretty, pale-green squash that is a known cholesterol fighter and makes delicious subzis. Because the doodhi is very neutral-tasting it lends itself beautifully to a halwa.

    The process of making a doodhi halwa is very similar to that for making a gajar or carrot halwa, which I've blogged about earlier. You grate the veggie, you reduce the milk, you add the sugar, and you have an incredibly fabulous sweet made of something that's actually good for you.

    Besides, there really is no way to mess this one up. All it takes is a bit of patience.

    I use almond milk instead of regular milk in my doodhi halwa. Cup for cup, almond milk contains about โ…“rd the calories in a cup of regular milk. Also, I like substituting nut milks rather than soy milk in Indian sweets because I find they add tons of flavor and no aftertaste, which can ruin a sweet. And because most Indian sweets including this one usually incorporate nuts, the flavor of almond milk lends itself naturally to these dishes.

    That said, if you can't find almond milk or refuse to make your own (yes, you're allowed to be a rebel), you can go with vanilla soymilk. The halwa would still be delicious.

    It's time for me to fly. Enjoy your weekend, all!

    More vegan Indian sweets

    • Vegan Rabri
    • Vegan Barfi
    • Vegan Kaju Rava Laddu
    • Vegan Zucchini Halwa
    • Almond Halwa

    Vegan Doodhi Halwa

    A beautiful, pale green doodhi halwa made with bottle gourd and no milk or dairy products.
    4.67 from 3 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Review Recipe
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Indian
    Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
    Keyword: Vegan Doodhi Halwa
    Prep Time: 10 mins
    Cook Time: 1 hr
    Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 164kcal
    Author: Vaishali ยท Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes

    Ingredients 

    • 1 medium bottle gourd , peeled (the thin skin peels easily with a regular vegetable peeler), seeded, and then finely grated. It should yield around 4-5 cups.
    • โ…“- ยฝ cup sugar
    • 3 cups almond milk
    • ยฝ teaspoon cardamom powder
    • 2 tablespoon raw cashews , chopped
    • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil + 1 tsp
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wide-mouthed skillet.
    • Add the bottle gourd and stir-fry for about 5-7 minutes.
    • Add the almond milk, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the mixture simmers and allow the halwa to reduce until all the liquid has evaporated, which may take about 60-90 minutes. Stir frequently while the mixture is reducing.
    • Add the sugar and stir well.
    • In a small saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil and add the cashewnuts to it along with the cardamom powder. Turn off the heat as the cashews turn lightly golden-brown and pour everything into the halwa.
    • Mix well and turn off the heat before the halwa gets too dry. You can also add some raisins along with the cashews and let them plump in the oil before adding to the halwa. .
    • I think the halwa tastes best slightly chilled, but if you can't wait, dig in

    Nutrition

    Calories: 164kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 163mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 152mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment and recipe rating below!
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    More Indian vegan sweets.

    « Vegan Chicken Biryani
    Vegan Sweet Potato Quiche »
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    About Vaishali


    I cook and eat simple, tasty and nutritious plant-based food in my Washington, D.C. kitchen, but I never fight a craving for samosas or French fries. Read more about me here.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Anonymous

      July 09, 2019 at 5:33 am

      can we substitute it with Coconut milk ? dont have almond or soy milk handy and im craving for doodhi ka halwa!!!

      Reply
      • Vaishali

        July 09, 2019 at 9:14 am

        Yes, the coconut flavor works with Indian sweets!

        Reply
    2. Anju Gandhi

      November 16, 2017 at 7:50 pm

      4 stars
      Hi Vaishali , this is a great recipe. From my experience with almond milk ( home made) , it does not seem to like heat as much. When I put boiling tea water in almond milk, it looks like separating oil from with in. Does heating up almond milk in halwa produce similar visual effect? I have been looking for a recipe for vegan dudhi halwa and will try this one soon. Thanks so much!!

      Reply
    3. Raana Brezenoff

      August 30, 2014 at 11:00 pm

      Hi Vaishali,
      Thanks for this awesome recipe. I'm on a mono diet of mostly green foods and I adapted this recipe for my green food needs ๐Ÿ™‚
      I used zucchini instead of Doodi because I couldn't access it easily where I live, I also used homemade Pistachio milk instead of almond, coconut sugar and finally I omitted the almond extract. Mmm mmm mmm #omyum so delicious!

      Reply
      • Vaishali Honawar

        September 02, 2014 at 4:01 pm

        Hi Raana, so glad you tried it with zucchini. I actually have two huge zucchini right now that I had no idea what to do with, and you've just inspired me to try some Zucchini Halwa. Thanks! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
        • Raana

          September 02, 2014 at 9:10 pm

          5 stars
          Thanks glad to hear I inspired you.
          I made it for a potluck for like-minded folks who have been doing the green cleanse and it won 1st prize! It definitely makes you go mmm mmm. Here is the recipe I used:

          Vegan and Green Zucchini Halwa

          Adapted By Raana Brezenoff for the 40 day Green cleanse

          Original recipe by Vaishali at Holy Cow Vegan food blog:
          https://holycowvegan.net/doodhi-halwa/

          Homemade organic Pistachio Nut milk recipe by Food Babe:

          Ingredients:

          4-5 medium zucchini, peeled and fine grated. squeeze out excess water. Should yield around 4-5 cups.
          3/4 cup Coconut sugar
          3 cups homemade Pistachio milk (See Food Babesโ€™ recipe, please use 1/2 pod vanilla bean instead of extract if available and omit Almond extract)
          2 tsp cardamom powder
          A handful of pistachios, crushed
          A handful of golden or sultana raisins
          1 tbsp coconut oil

          Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wide-mouthed skillet.

          Add the zucchini and stir-fry for about 7-9 minutes or until itโ€™s all soft but donโ€™t let it stick to the pan

          Add the pistachio milk, cardamom and sugar, stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the mixture simmers and allow the halwa to reduce until all the liquid has evaporated which may take 60-90 minutes. Stir frequently while the mixture is reducing. Add the raisins in the halwa in the last 5 min of cooking

          Turn off the heat before the halwa gets too dry. Garnish with generous handful of crushed pistachios and mint leaves in a pretty design.

          Enjoy chilled.

          Reply
    4. Rebeca

      April 02, 2010 at 11:10 pm

      Thanks! I will try it will zucchini... my kids and husband have very limited diets, but I think we could tweak this just a bit (honey for sugar) so that they could eat it. Can't wait to try it... thanks!
      I make "pudding" out of butternut squash often and it's delicious. I have some zuchhini in the fridge just waiting!

      Reply
      • manjula rahul

        April 18, 2020 at 9:29 am

        Rebecca please don't heat honey it is not good as per Ayurveda

        Reply
    5. Sunshinemom

      April 02, 2010 at 6:00 pm

      I am not particularly fond of dudhi halwa but I generally use cashew-almond mixed milk in most substitutions. I was just going through all your posts and found some of them so good. Cannot comment in each one but love your blog as always! I really enjoy the thoughtfulness that accompanies each post.

      Reply
    6. Cham

      March 30, 2010 at 11:05 pm

      One of hard part will be milk for me! I cannot even imagine a sweet, so waiting the good news with Vegan pedas ๐Ÿ™‚
      Almond milk sounds an excellent subst!

      Reply
    7. nithya at hungrydesi

      March 30, 2010 at 10:59 pm

      never thought to make halwa with doodhi! looks great...and can't believe it's good for you too.

      Reply
    8. Pitu

      March 30, 2010 at 9:08 pm

      Hey Vaishali! Will definitely try your recipe out sometime. I'm vegan too! BTW just blogrolled you. I lurk here quite often ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
    9. BangaloreBaker

      March 30, 2010 at 8:00 pm

      You know what else you can use this summer to make halwa, zucchini. The moment I saw this post, I was thinking of making zucchini halwa. I need to try that.
      To answer your question,
      Bread machine kneads the dough so well that the gluten gets formed very well and that yields better loaves. Also, it avoids adding too much of flour to make it handle and that gives more moist loaves. I have seen your avocado brioche and that looks awesome too. I don't think I'll be able to juggle work, two kids and make fresh bread couple of times every week if not for the bread machine. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone if they like having homemade fresh bread.

      Reply
    10. Vaishali

      March 30, 2010 at 7:54 pm

      RedChillies, Nupur, Tiffany, Anonymous, Chitchat, Parita, Madhavi: Thanks!

      Rebeca, You might want to try this with zucchini which is also a bland squash, although I wonder if the water content in zucchini could be a bit too high, which would mean it'd take much longer. Could be worth a try, especially now that we're heading into the warm season ๐Ÿ™‚

      Deepa, Kumudha, SS, Trupti: Thanks!

      Reply
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    Hi, I'm Vaishali! I cook, eat and share easy, tasty and nutritious plant-based recipes from my Washington, D.C. kitchen, but I never fight a craving for samosas or French fries. 

    More about me โ†’

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    Vaishali Honawar, Holy Cow Vegan author, profile photo

    Hi, I'm Vaishali! I cook, eat and share easy, tasty and nutritious plant-based recipes from my Washington, D.C. kitchen, but I never fight a craving for samosas or French fries. 

    More about me โ†’

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