A traditional Indian dessert made during special occasions,festivals and weddings.The lentils are browned in ghee and then cooked in sugar syrup. The result is a rich,indulgent dessert well worth the effort involved in browning the dal.
This recipe has been shared by my husbands bua/aunt. She was one of the few people,her age,that I knew, who actually had written recipes and her recipes always turned out perfect. I did write down the recipes for Mathris and Gobi,Gajar and Salgam Achar from her before coming to the US. Must say,each recipe is a gem and worth passing on!(will make and share those soon as well)
I made this Halwa recently at a party at my house for 60 people. It was the hilite of the evening. Some of the other recipes I made for the party were Dal Makhni, Shimla Mirch Aloo ki Sabzi, Paneer Bhurji, Gobi Matar and Mishti Doi. For 60 people, I used 7 cups dal, 6 cups/12 sticks of butter(I used 1 cup less),7 cups sugar and 14 cups of water with 1 tsp cardamom/elaichi powder.
This dessert lasts a really long time as there is no milk in it. Its a perfect recipe for parties as it can be made ahead of time. I like to serve from a crockpot or a chafing dish as its best enjoyed warm.
Here is the written recipe followed by the pictorial one-
Moong Ki dal Ka Halwa
Ingredients
- 1 cup Moong dal washed and soaked overnight or minimum 6 hours
- 1 cup unsalted butter/ghee I used unsalted butterUse vegetable oil for a vegan option.
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups water
- Few strands saffron
- Cardamom/Elaichi powder
- Nuts and silver vark for garnishing
Instructions
-
Wash and soak dal overnight or minimum 6 hours,
-
Grind coarsely without adding any water.
-
Mix Ghee/butter(Oil for vegan option) and dal in the pan that you will be cooking in(without putting the pan on the stove)
-
Add elaichi powder
-
Cook till the dal turns golden brown
-
Meanwhile prepare syrup by boiling the sugar,water and Saffron(optional)for 5 minutes.
-
Add sugar syrup to browned dal and cook till the water dries up and halwa is of desired consistency.
-
Garnish with nuts,vark and additional nuts.
Notes
Ingredients-Moong Dal/lentils-soaked and drained,unsalted butter and sugar
Drain the water from the dal/lentil completely and grind coarsely in a food processor
Melt ghee/butter and remove from heat. Add lentil to the ghee/butter. Mix well and then place on stovetop.
keep stirring on medium flame,till the dal turns golden brown(if you don’t brown it well, halwa will have a raw flavor)
Meanwhile,boil sugar,water and saffron(optional) for 5 minutes to make a syrup.
Add syrup to the dal and keep stirring
Cook till you get a nice thick consistency and ghee/butter floats on top.
Garnish with silver vark,nuts and additional saffron
Please like my Facebook page to continue to get healthy,easy and tasty recipes from me
If You try my recipes, please share your feedback on my blog or my facebook page with a comment or picture. Would love to hear back from you.
Niraj Arora
Mouth watering 👌👌
Aanchal Gupta
Thanks Niraj
Supriya
Perfect no fail recepie. 😍Tried and tested several times. Thank you Anchalji.
Aanchal Gupta
Hi Supriya, thanks a lot for your feedback. Happy to know it always turns out good. It sure is a no fail recipe. I love making it for festivals and parties as my friends love it as well.
Sabita
Love this recipe. Tried so many times. Absolutely no fail recipe.
Aanchal Gupta
Thanks for sharing your feedback. I love moong Dal Halwa