Pumpkin Milkshake!

Sound Strange? Well, even more surprisingly Pumpkin Milkshake tastes delicious! Its extremely simple to make, and it has a lovely nutty, almost almond-y taste to it.
 I actually followed a traditional South African recipe from a good old favourite recipe book called Indian Delights for this drink. My mum had picked up a pumpkin for literally pennies because of Halloween (not that we celebrate Halloween).
Typically, most chefs and cooks will tell you not to bother cooking with a pumpkin that is specifically grown for Halloween, because, I guess they are grown so big that they will not taste quite as good as the culinary grown types. However, we (i.e. the family) went straight against the chefs opinions and we all experimented in some way or another by cooking with this huge pumpkin we had on our hands!
The things we did with the pumpkin:
Day 1. I made a spicey pumpkin and lamb stew (like a thin curry) which was YUM!.. (sorry no pics)
Day 2. Next day, I made the Roasted Vegetables to go with cannelloni and leftover Sausage and Bean Casserole
Day 3. I went for the usual, and made a Pumpkin soup (sadly I didn't get round to taking photos of it)..
Day 4. My sister made Pumpkin Cakes (pics to come soon) and I made Pumpkin Milkshake (recipe below)..
Day 5. My mum made a Roast Dinner (sorry! no pics yet again) and a Pumpkin Pie (recipe soon to come)...
...and we STILL have more of the pumpkin left!
(p.s. if anyone is interested I will happily provide you with a recipe for any of the above I did not have pics for..just leave a comment or send me a message)

For this yummy milkshake you will need:
1 litre Milk
2 elachi (cardamom pods) split
3/4 cup of grated pumpkin
sugar to taste
1 tbls custard powder (midway through making  this I realised I didn't have custard powder, so I just made it without)
(To turn this into an Eid drink -see below for optional extras)

How to make:
1. Begin by placing the grated pumpkin in a liquidizer and just enough milk to allow the mixture to whizz and blend together smoothly.
2. Pour the pumpkin and all the milk into a saucepan with the elachi pods and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer under a low heat for 20 minutes.
3. Add sugar according to how sweet you like your drinks to be. (I added 4-5 heaped teaspoons which makes it quite sweet for sweet loving taste buds)
4. Once you are happy withe sugar content, blend the custart powder with a little cold milk or water, then add this to the simmering milk. Stir continuously till misture has thickened and the milk has begun to bubble again.
Allow to cool completely before refrigerating. 

Optional: 
Eid Milk drink:
Leave out custard powder..
From step 2: Add 1-2 tsp of finely chopped nuts such as Pistachios and Almonds; 1-2 chopped dried dates; and 1 tsp grated coconut; 1 tsp raisins
At step 3: Add 3-4 tbls fine (roasted) vermicelli and cook until done.
Serve warm.