Pumpkin Kheer

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of 1 inch pieces of diced pumpkin or roughly 250 grams of pumpkin
• 3 cups of milk
• 3 to 4 tbsp of sugar or as per your taste
• 5 finely sliced almonds
• 5 finely sliced pista
• 5 roughly chopped cashew nuts
• 1 tsp of ghee
• ½ tsp cardamom powder
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ to ½ tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

• Chop and peel the pumpkin to roughly 1 inch pieces. Take two cups of such pieces. (roughly 220 grams)
• Discard the stringy inner portion. (you can save the pumpkin seeds, wash and dry them and use as a a snack or as additions to other recipes)
• Cook these pieces in a pressure cooker adding 3 cups of water. Turn off the heat after 2 whistles. Allow the pressure to release naturally. (while the pumpkin is cooking, you can slice the nuts and powder the cardamom/choti elaichi, nutmeg/jaiphal and keep them ready)
• You can also cook the pumpkin in an open pan, to do this, simmer in a pot of water until soft.
• Then strain the cooked pumpkin and discard the water.
• Now, mash the cooked pumpkin pieces using a fork or potato masher.
• Roughly chop the cashew nuts. Then, in a thick bottomed, deep pan, add a teaspoon of ghee or oil. Fry the broken cashew nuts until golden brown. Take them out of the pan, keep them aside until needed. This step is optional. You can just add finely sliced nuts after the kheer is fully cooked.
• In the same pan, add 3 cups of milk. Bring it to a boil by heating it on a low to medium flame.
• Once it comes to a boil, simmer and keep stirring it now and again, taking the ladle deep into the pan, touching the bottom. This is to avoid the milk catching at the base. Continue cooking the milk this way for 5 minutes. Keep clearing the sides and the base as it cooks. Keep the heat low enough to allow it to boil but not spill over.
• After 5 minutes, add the cooked, mashed pumpkin puree. Mix well. Mash lumps of pumpkin is any. Bring this to a boil.
• Next add 3 to 4 tablespoons of sugar. Again stir to allow the sugar to dissolve and get mixed in. This will need about 1 to 2 minutes.
• As the sugar dissolves, if not done already, powder the cardamom and grate the nutmeg, slice the almonds, pistachios. Keep these ready.
• Add ½ teaspoon of cardamom/hari elaichi powder, ½ teaspoon of nutmeg/jaiphal powder, half the quantity of sliced nuts, mix and turn off the heat.
• If you wish you can add ¼ to ½ teaspoon of cinnamon/dal chini powder also. Add and mix well.
• Offer the pumpkin kheer garnished with the remaining sliced nuts to the goddess and/or share with your family.