Courgette Halwa Ice Cream

It may surprise you, but I made this big pile of grated courgettes into a delicious frozen desert! It's actually one of the first recipes I came up with for the book. Most people have heard of carrot halwa (gajar halwa), and some people may have heard of bottlegourd halwa. I used the nearest English equivalent I could think of - courgette - and made a delicious halwa. What makes this recipe different is that I then froze the halwa to make a delicious ice cream!


This picture shows the halwa after the milk has reduced quite a bit. It's nearly time to add the sugar, nuts and raisins. I usually use pistachios, but I didn't have any so this time I used cashew nuts. After everything had been added and the mixture was really thick, I took it off the heat. It's a strange green colour, but then again, so is mint ice cream, and pistachio ice cream - though this is an entirely natural green.


You could eat the halwa just like this, and it would be delicious. However, it really is worth trying it frozen. You could put it in small ramekins, but I think it's more fun to use ice lolly moulds. Usually the recipe in the book makes seven small lollies, but this time there was a certain amount of munching before the moulds were filled, and consequently there was only enough mixture for six!


I think I got these ice lolly moulds from Ikea, but you similar moulds are available from a variety of places. You just fill the moulds up and stick in the lolly sticks, like so:


They're ready to go in the freezer. Now you need to exercise some patience, because if you take them out too quickly, the sticks won't be frozen into them properly and they'll fall out when you tug them. When they're completely frozen, the sticks will be firmly stuck in to the halwa. Simply run the mould under a warm tap for a few moments, and you should then be able to gently ease a lolly out, stick intact. Here's a photo of one that I couldn't quite wait to start to eating!



Because the milk is reduced, they have an amazing condensed milk taste, and and amazing flavour considering the simple ingredients. Hey, I think you should buy the book just to try this recipe!

If you like the look of this recipe, please buy my book, Mango Soup, which contains the full version of this recipe and many more: http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=49169