Moong Dal Halwa
Delicious Moong Dal Halwa is a famous Indian dessert. It's rich, aromatic and flavored with saffron and cardamom. A special dessert for special occasion!
- Prep time
- 6 hr
- Cook time
- 50 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup moong dal [120 grams] (also known as split moong bean lentil)
- 1/2 cup ghee (also known as clarified butter)
- 1/2 cup sugar [add 1-2 tablespoons more for sweetness]
- 2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
- a pinch saffron strands
- 4-5 green cardamom (seeds take out and crushed using a mortar and pestle)
- sliced nuts (to garnish [I used chopped almonds, pistachios and cashews])
- 3 tbsp water (to grind the dal)
- chandi ka vark (also know as edible silver leaves [optional, for garnish])
Instructions
- 1
Wash and soak the moong dal overnight. Drain the water and set aside. If you can't soak the dal overnight, soak for at least 4 hours.
- 2
Using your blender or food processor, grind the dal using very little water. I used around 3 tablespoons, start with 1 tablespoon and add more as required to grind.
- 3
Meanwhile heat ghee in a pan on medium heat. Once the ghee is hot add the grind dal to the pan.
- 4
Now comes the fun part - exercise! Keep stirring and cooking the halwa on low heat. Keep mashing with a spatula so that there aren't any lumps.
- 5
Meanwhile heat 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of milk. Once the milk is warm, take out 2 tablespoons from it in a bowl and add saffron strands to it. Set aside.
- 6
You have to cook on low flame till raw smell goes away and color changes a bit. This will take around 20 minutes and at 20 minutes you will also notice ghee oozing out of the sides.
- 7
Once the dal is roasted, add the 2 cups warm milk to it. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
- 8
Now add the sugar, soaked saffron milk, crushed cardamom and chopped nuts (if using).
- 9
Cook on low heat, keep stirring every now and then. First it will be all liquid-y as the sugar melts.
- 10
Keep stirring till halwa leaves sides of the pan, around 15-20 minutes.
- 11
Remove heat from pan, transfer halwa to serving bowl, garnish with some nuts and serve immediately!