(A moist, soft, sweet halwa made from split yellow moong dal).

The festive season is starting to begin in India, and so exotic food is in demand. Making lovely sweet dishes is mandatory during festivals, as it is everyone’s favorite. One such lovely recipe is one, that is a star dish in many Indian weddings - the ‘Moong Dal Halwa’!

The word halwa comes from the word ‘halwai’ , which refers to people who make confectionery and sweets in India. This halwa recipe uses split yellow moong dal/yellow lentils as its primary ingredient.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup yellow lentils (moong dal)

• 3/4 cup clarified butter (sudh - desi ghee)

• 2 tbsp semolina (sooji)

• 1 tbsp chickpea flour (besan)

• 2 cups of full-fat milk

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 tbsp chopped cashews (kaju)

• 1 tbsp chopped almonds (badam)

• 1tbsp chopped pistachios (pista) optional

• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (elaichi powder)

• 6-7 strands of saffron (kesar)

  
  

Method

• Take the moong dal in a strainer and wash it thoroughly with water. Drain all the water.

• Spread this washed moong dal on a dry kitchen towel, and place this under a ceiling fan for drying. You can keep it in the sun too. Once the dal dries, transfer it to a paper towel and wipe thoroughly. Alternatively, you can wipe the moong dal with a wet kitchen towel 2-3 times.

• Transfer this washed and dried dal to a blender jar and grind to a coarse powder. Strain it through a sieve to remove larger pieces of the dal. Transfer these chunks to the blender jar again and grind them. Our moong dal powder is ready.

• Heat little (1/2 tbsp) ghee in a pan/kadhai. Fry the chopped nuts (cashews, almonds) in it on low flame, till they become golden brown.Set aside.

• Add 1/2 cup ghee to this pan again and start heating it on a low flame. Add the moong dal powder to it and start stirring it.

• Add semolina and besan to this mixture and keep roasting it on a low flame, while stirring continuously.

• After 7-8 minutes the color of this mixture will change from yellow to brown. At this stage, add milk to it and give it a nice stir. Separate any lumps that might form while stirring.

• Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes. Keep stirring intermittently.

• Add sugar and mix well till all the sugar melts properly.

• Add fried chopped nuts and 1/4 cup ghee. Mix well. Keep cooking for another 4-5 minutes.

• Add cardamom powder and saffron strands. Mix well.

• Garnish with chopped pistachios.

MOONG DAL HALWA IS READY TO SERVE!!

SERVE WARM.

Notes -

• We need a lot of clarified butter(ghee) for this recipe. Go easy on this part to get the perfect taste.

• Keep the flame low while roasting the dal powder on ghee. This ensures that the dal is cooked properly.

• You can adjust the amount of sugar as per your taste.

• I garnish this halwa with salted pistachios as I like that little salty flavor with my sweet halwa. You can skip using them.

• Cool this halwa a little before serving. It becomes thicker after a while.

• You can store this in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Reheat before serving again.