Pumpkin Halwa & a MeMe

Vanamala of Nalapaka has tagged me for this MeMe. 7 Random things about me (Please bear with me)

1. Soft-spoken. Fun-loving. Little Conservative. I make friends easily. I always have a group wherever I go.
2. I buy things only if it is really necessary. I would rather prefer to donate to the charity. It may not be a great amount to us, but it would definitely make difference to the needy.
3. I have always been good at co-curricular activities in school - Dance, Drama, Elocution, Drawing, Sports and more, but all reached their end after my entry into Engineering.
4. I am crazy over learning things and as a result I had to been to Guitar, Keyboard, Veena, Vocal music, Tailoring and Shorthand Classes. But completed NONE. Typewriting was the only thing I completed. I learnt languages too (hehehe) I can read and write in Japanese (Nihongo), read, write and speak in Hindi, speak in Telugu, learnt Malayalam and little bit of German (Deutsch) too.
5. I fall asleep more during exam times :)). During my college days, all our friends used to gather at one place to do group study, but I will be the only Solo sleeper. I will set alarm and will keep snoozing every five minutes. Had the alarm clock been alive, it would have given me left and right :) The last few hours just before the exam are more precious to me and that is when I read things. I prefer to be more attentive in class and not spend too much time going through the book. To everyone’s surprise I stood first in my Engineering final year (don’t ask me did others fail...a distinction OK). Later I did Masters in Software and secured 8.5 (out of 10 and not 100 ;) )
6. I hate to watch Movies (don’t have the patience to sit for hours), can't read novels/stories/articles that run into pages. The only books I prefer and like to read are my Technical books (have to…otherwise can’t survive in this Industry).
7. I try hard to be punctual, but there will be a little variance always. I love to arrange things, but will mess it up...arrange again, mess it up...arrange again, mess it up (gives me more work, can't be idle isn't it?)

HERE is a BONUS ;)

I am not a great cook… to be frank I never cooked until 2005. All I could cook was Noodles !!! I started cooking with my mom's recipes. Whenever I get a recipe from my mother I generally note it down and save it in my laptop. I had it in the form of html with links to other recipes in my local system. Shilpa's Aayis Recipe and Viji’s Vcuisine were the first two blogs I visited. Until then I was not aware of such foodblogs. It gave me a thought…”Why not post these recipes on internet instead of having it local “Then on I started posting recipes.

Hope this blog does not get into my ‘COMPLETED NONE’ list.

Thanks to you all for your time and patience in reading my MeMe.

I would like to tag TBC The Budding Cook for random MeMe. Please do it if you are interested and if you have time.

PUMPKIN HALWA

Now something sweet to relish.

Pumpkin Halwa. Whenever I see a Pumpkin two things come into mind 1) Its incomparable colour 2) Halloween.

Pumpkin halwa is similar to Carrot or Beetroot halwa.

Ingredients:
Pumpkin - 1 small portion (as shown in the picture)
Milk - 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 4 Tsp
Cashew nut - 5
Raisin - 12
Saffron - Few
Ghee - 4 Tsp
Cardamom - 1 or 2

Method:

1. Peel off the pumpkin skin, cut it into small pieces and grind into coarse paste using a mixer.
2. In a pan, add the pumpkin paste and add milk.
3. Allow it to cook until the milk disappears.
4. Now add sugar.
5. Once sugar melts down, add 2 Tsps of Ghee.
6. Saute for sometime and switch off the stove.
7. Heat 1 Tsp of ghee, fry cashew, raisin and Cardamom seeds.
8. Mix it with the pumpkin halwa and add 1 Tsp ghee.
9. Garnish with Saffron and serve.

Enjoy the dish.