Moong dal Halwa

I had this recipe book in my room since a long time. Never bothered to look through it much before. But recently I wanted to see if I could try something out since it was written by Sanjeev Kapoor(you know, the smiley guy who comes on Zee). :D I tried out two recipes from there so far and both were lip smackin good. Not sure how many of you have heard of moong dal halwa before but it really is quite an interesting sweet to make. I've usually had moong dal as a savoury dish, but this was the first time I had it sweet. Try it out!

What you need:

Moong dal/ Spilt green gram, skinless 1 cup
Sugar 1 cup
Saffron a generous pinch
Milk 1/2 cup
Mawa (khoya) 3/4 cup
Ghee 1 cup
Almonds 10-12

Preparation

Wash and soak the moong dal for six hours. Grind coarsely using very little water. 

 

Prepare one string syrup with sugar and one cup of water. 

 Soak saffron in some milk.

If you got mawa or half and half with you, then crumble it all into fine granules and keep aside. I made my own mawa by boiling milk for a long long time till it reduced to a thick consistency.

 

Blanch almonds in boiling hot water for five minutes. Cool, peel and cut them into fine slivers.

Heat Ghee in a thick-bottomed pan and add the ground moong dal.

Keep stirring over a low flame till the dal turns a lovely golden brown. Please dont get tempted to hurry through this.

This will take a while. So please be patient and do not rush through this step. 

 Dont be too patient please. Keep an eye on it.

Add the sugar syrup and saffron milk, stir till they are thoroughly incorporated and the halwa is of dropping consistency. Add mawa and cook till it dissolves.

Notice how the colour is now a deep golden brown.

Serve hot, garnish with almonds.

Thank you Sanjeev Kapoor.

P.S: it's quite yummy when served hot with roti or poori. Enjoy!