Creamy, fragrant, and ready in under an hour, lauki kheer is proof that bottle gourd deserves a place on your dessert table, not just in the sabzi rotation. Grated lauki is sautéed in ghee, simmered into sweetened milk with cardamom and saffron, then finished with toasted cashews and raisins. I'm sharing both the stovetop and Instant Pot methods, plus the tips that keep the kheer from turning watery.
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What Is Lauki Kheer?
Lauki kheer (also called dudhi kheer or ghiya ki kheer) is an Indian milk pudding made by simmering grated bottle gourd in milk until thick and creamy, then sweetening it and flavoring it with cardamom and saffron. It's a popular choice during fasting days like Navratri, Ekadashi, and Shivratri, since bottle gourd is considered light and easy to digest, but it's just as welcome as an everyday dessert or a Diwali sweet.
Growing up, my mom rotated through a whole lineup of kheer depending on the season and the festival - rice kheer or dry fruit kheer for Diwali, sabudana kheer and makhane ki kheer for vrat days, and lauki kheer whenever we had extra bottle gourd on hand. It's one of the easiest kheer variations to make, no soaking, no grinding, no standing over the pot for an hour.
Love cooking with lauki? Browse the full collection of Lauki Recipes for more ways to use it.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Beginner-friendly. No special technique - just grate, sauté, simmer.
- Two ways to cook it. Full stovetop instructions and a hands-off Instant Pot method.
- Make-ahead friendly. Tastes just as good chilled the next day, so it's easy to prep before a festival or dinner party.
- Naturally gluten-free and easy to adapt (see Variations below).
Ingredients
- Lauki (bottle gourd): Also called dudhi, ghiya, or opo squash. Use about 1 cup grated for this recipe, a young, tender lauki works best.
- Milk: Whole milk gives the richest texture, but reduced-fat (2%) works fine too.
- Sweetener: Condensed milk keeps things simple and adds a nice caramel-y flavor. Swap in sugar or jaggery if you prefer (see Variations).
- Flavoring: Whole green cardamom pods, ground fresh, plus a pinch of saffron for color and aroma.
- Nuts: Cashews and golden raisins, toasted in ghee. Almonds, pistachios, or hazelnuts all work.
- Dried rose petals: Optional, for aroma and garnish.
- Ghee: Used to toast the nuts and sauté the lauki. Coconut oil is a fine substitute.
Full ingredient list with exact amounts is in the recipe card below.
How To Make Lauki Kheer
Step 1: Prep
- Rinse, peel, and grate about 1 cup of lauki on a medium grater, avoid grating it too fine, or it turns mushy in the kheer.
- Grind the green cardamom seeds to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle. (Save the shells for chai.)
- Chop the cashews into small pieces.
Step 2: Stovetop Method
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pan and add a tablespoon of ghee. Fry the cashews and raisins until golden brown, then remove and set aside.
- Add the remaining ghee to the same pan along with the grated lauki. Sauté over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until translucent and any excess moisture has cooked off.
- Add the milk, condensed milk (or your sweetener of choice), saffron, and cardamom powder. Mix well and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until the milk has reduced by about half and reached a kheer-like consistency.
- Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the toasted nuts, a pinch of ground cardamom, and dried rose petals. Serve warm or chilled.
Step 2 (Option): Instant Pot Method
- Turn on Sauté (More). Once hot, add a tablespoon of ghee, then the cashews and raisins. Fry until golden brown and set aside.
- Add the remaining ghee and the grated lauki. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until translucent.
- Add the milk, condensed milk, saffron, and cardamom powder. Stir to combine, then close the lid and set the vent to sealing.
- Cook on Porridge (High) for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and switch back to Sauté (More). Simmer for 4-5 minutes to thicken to your preferred consistency, then turn off.
- Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with the toasted nuts, cardamom, and rose petals, and serve warm or chilled.
Expert Tips
- Check the lauki before you grate it. Soft seeds are fine to leave in, but pull out any large, tough seeds, they don't soften in the kheer.
- Don't over-grate. A medium grate holds its texture; a fine grate turns mushy and loses the bite that makes this kheer interesting.
- Sauté the lauki until it's fully translucent before adding milk. This cooks off excess moisture up front, so the kheer thickens properly instead of turning watery.
- Full-fat milk gives the best texture, but reduced-fat milk will still work if that's what you have on hand.
- Add sweetener toward the end if you're using sugar or jaggery instead of condensed milk, sugar can slow down how well the milk thickens if added too early.
- Adjust sweetness for serving temperature. Keep it slightly less sweet if serving warm, and a touch sweeter if serving chilled, cold desserts read as less sweet.
Variations
- Swap the sweetener. Use sugar to taste instead of condensed milk, or stir in jaggery once the kheer is off the heat (boiling kheer after adding jaggery can cause the milk to curdle).
- Add a floral note. A few drops of rose water or kewra essence at the end brightens the flavor.
- Shortcut the reduction. Evaporated milk in place of some of the whole milk gets you a similar rich color and thickness with less simmering time.
- Change up the nuts. Almonds, pistachios, or dried cherries all work well in place of cashews and raisins.
Storage
Lauki kheer keeps well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days in an airtight container. It will thicken further as it chills, loosen it with a splash of warm milk before serving. This recipe isn't a great candidate for freezing, since the milk-based texture tends to separate once thawed; it's best enjoyed fresh within a few days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lauki is called bottle gourd in English. It's also sold as opo squash or calabash.
Yes. Lauki and dudhi both refer to the same vegetable, bottle gourd with the name varying by region and language across India.
Yes. The outer skin is tough and isn't typically eaten, so peel it to get to the soft, edible flesh underneath.
This usually means the lauki wasn't sautéed long enough before the milk was added, or the milk wasn't reduced enough. Cook the grated lauki until it's fully translucent first, and let the milk simmer until it visibly thickens before turning off the heat.
Yes, sugar or jaggery both work. Add sugar along with the milk, or stir in jaggery at the very end, off the heat, so the milk doesn't curdle.
Yes. Swap the milk for full-fat coconut milk or oat milk, use coconut oil instead of ghee, and choose a sweetener like sugar, maple syrup, or jaggery instead of condensed milk.
What To Serve With Lauki Kheer
Lauki kheer is rich enough to stand on its own, but it also pairs well with a fasting-day thali. Serve it alongside puri or paratha:
Lauki Kheer Recipe (Bottle Gourd Pudding)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup lauki (dudhi, ghia, or bottle gourd or opo squash), grated
- 2 ½ cups of full-fat milk
- 4-5 tablespoon condensed milk or preferred sweetener, adjust to taste
- 3-4 whole green cardamom pods
- a pinch of saffron strands (optional)
- 1 tablespoon golden raisins
- 10-12 whole cashews, broken into small pieces
- 1-2 teaspoon dried rose petals (optional)
- 2 tablespoon ghee
Instructions
PREP FOR LAUKI KI KHEER
- Rinse, peel and grate lauki, about 1 cup.
- Using mortar and pestle, grind green cardamom seeds to a fine powder.Note: Save the cardamom shell and use it to make tea.
- Chop the cashews into small pieces.
STOVETOP LAUKI KI KHEER
- Heat a heavy bottom pan. Add a tablespoon of ghee. Add broken cashews, and raisins, and fry to a golden brown. Remove the nuts onto a plate and set it aside.
- In the same pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of ghee and grated lauki. Saute the lauki over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or it turns translucent. Keep stirring frequently.
- Add milk, condensed milk, or preferred sweetener, a pinch of saffron (optional), and cardamom powder, and mix well. Bring the milk to a boil, stirring frequently.
- Bring the milk to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Simmer the kheer for 15-20 minutes or to a desired consistency, stirring frequently.Note: Reduce the milk to half the quantity.
- Turn OFF the heat. Transfer the kheer to a serving dish. Garnish with roasted nuts, a pinch of freshly ground cardamom, and dried rose petals (optional). Lauki Ki Kheer can be served warm or chilled.
- Lauki ki Kheer stays fresh for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Store it in an air-tight container. Kheer thickens as it cools down. Adjust the consistency by adding a splash of milk.
INSTANT POT LAUKI KI KHEER
- Turn ON SAUTE (more). When the screen displays hot, add a tablespoon of ghee . Next add broken cashews, and raisins and fry to a golden brown. Remove the nuts onto a plate and set it aside.
- Now, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of ghee and grated lauki. Sauté the lauki for 5-7 minutes or it turns translucent. Keep stirring frequently.
- Add milk, condensed milk, or preferred sweetener, a pinch of saffron (optional), and cardamom powder, and mix well. Close the pot with the lid, and vent to sealing.
- Set the Instant Pot to PORRIDGE (high) for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid, and select SAUTE (more). Simmer the kheer for 4-5 minutes or to a desired consistency, stirring frequently. Turn OFF SAUTE.
- Transfer the kheer to a serving dish. Garnish with roasted nuts, a pinch of freshly ground cardamom, and dried rose petals (optional). Lauki Ki Kheer can be served warm or chilled.
- Lauki ki Kheer stays fresh for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Store it in an air-tight container. Kheer thickens as it cools down. Adjust the consistency by adding a splash of milk.
Notes
- Check the lauki before you grate it. Soft seeds are fine to leave in, but pull out any large, tough seeds, they don't soften in the kheer.
- Don't over-grate. A medium grate holds its texture; a fine grate turns mushy and loses the bite that makes this kheer interesting.
- Sauté the lauki until it's fully translucent before adding milk. This cooks off excess moisture up front, so the kheer thickens properly instead of turning watery.
- Full-fat milk gives the best texture, but reduced-fat milk will still work if that's what you have on hand.
- Add sweetener toward the end if you're using sugar or jaggery instead of condensed milk, sugar can slow down how well the milk thickens if added too early.
- Adjust sweetness for serving temperature. Keep it slightly less sweet if serving warm, and a touch sweeter if serving chilled, cold desserts read as less sweet.
- Swap the sweetener. Use sugar to taste instead of condensed milk, or stir in jaggery once the kheer is off the heat (boiling kheer after adding jaggery can cause the milk to curdle).
- Add a floral note. A few drops of rose water or kewra essence at the end brightens the flavor.
- Shortcut the reduction. Evaporated milk in place of some of the whole milk gets you a similar rich color and thickness with less simmering time.
- Change up the nuts. Almonds, pistachios, or dried cherries all work well in place of cashews and raisins.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Kalpana J. says
Made this for Navratri and it disappeared in minutes! Didn't expect lauki to taste this good in a dessert.
Jyoti Behrani says
So glad it was a hit! Bottle gourd surprises everyone the first time, happy it worked for your Navratri spread!
Diya N. says
Mine came out a bit watery, any tips?
Jyoti Behrani says
That usually means the lauki needs a bit longer in the pan before the milk goes in, sauté it until it's fully translucent, and let the milk simmer until it visibly thickens. I added a note on this in the FAQ that should help!
Priya S says
Can I use jaggery instead of condensed milk?
Jyoti Behrani says
Yes! Just stir the jaggery in at the very end, off the heat, boiling it can cause the milk to curdle. Check the Variations section for a couple other swaps too.