This rich tasting delicious moong dal halwa is a warm Indian dessert or sweet treat that is believed to have originated in the city of Rajasthan in India. It has a golden hue and a shiny glaze of ghee topped with nuts and is mostly enjoyed during the winter months to keep warm against the bitter cold weather.
It is made with split yellow moong lentils, sugar and ghee. Sometimes milk or khoya is added to make it more rich. The traditional recipe involves a laborious process of cooking the moong lentil paste in ghee on low heat by stirring continuously for long hours till it loses its raw smell and turns aromatic.
Here I’ve tried to simplify the traditional recipe (to save time and labour) by first roasting the moong lentils in ghee instead of the ground dal paste. Therefore I didn’t have to cook the paste so much after grinding the roasted dal. This quickened the whole process and the halwa was ready in no time and tasting as delicious!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Yellow split moong dal lentils
1 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup ghee plus more
1/2 cup whole milk or evaporated milk
A pinch of saffron
1 tbs pistachios
1 tbs almonds
1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
Instructions:
1. Wash the moong dal 3 or 4 times till the water runs clear. Soak it for at least 1/2 an hour. Drain well in a strainer and set aside.
2. Add half the ghee to a non stick sauce pan or wok and roast the washed moong dal lentils. At first they would stick to the pan a bit because they are wet. Keep stirring till the raw smell goes away and you get a whiff of the aroma of roasting dal. At this stage when they are lightly golden, switch off the stove remove and set aside to cool.
3. Grind the lentils in a grinder or Vitamix blender with milk and sugar to a not too coarse or fine paste. It’s nice to have them slightly grainy.
4. Add the remaining ghee to the wok and cook the ground lentil paste on medium low heat while stirring continuously so it doesn’t brown at the bottom.
5. Meanwhile take a pinch of saffron threads and dissolve them in milk. You could first crush them using the mortar and pestle before adding milk to get a concentrated saffron extract.
6. When the lentil paste thickens and starts leaving the sides, lower the heat and add the saffron extract and the cardamom powder. Mix it well and continue stirring. Add some more ghee around the sides and keep cooking till it thickens and starts oozing out the ghee without sticking to the pan anymore. At this stage remove from the stove and leave it to cool.
7. Blanch the almonds and pistachios. You could either slice them, pound or chop coarsely.
8. Serve the moong lentil halwa warm in a bowl or plate garnished with almonds and pistachios. Enjoy as a dessert after meals. It tastes good with roti or flat breads too. So delicious!
Notes:
1. It is better to use soaked moong dal as it softens faster.
2. The halwa has to be cooked on low to medium low heat through out to get an even, smooth and light texture. High heat will burn the halwa quickly and there would be brown spots all over which will give it a burnt taste.
3. You could adjust the ghee and sugar according to your taste and requirement. But if the bliss point is not reached then it cannot be enjoyed as it is meant to be.
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- Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Yellow split moong dal lentils
- 1 cup organic sugar
- 1/2 cup ghee plus more
- 1/2 cup whole milk or evaporated milk
- A pinch of saffron
- 1 tbs pistachios
- 1 tbs almonds
- 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
- Instructions:
- Wash the moong dal 3 or 4 times till the water runs clear. Soak it for at least 1/2 an hour. Drain well in a strainer and set aside.
- Add half the ghee to a non stick sauce pan or wok and roast the washed moon dal lentils. At first they would stick to the pan a bit because they are wet. Keep stirring till the raw smell goes away and you get a whiff of the aroma of roasting dal. At this stage when they are lightly golden, switch off the stove remove and set aside to cool.
- Grind the lentils in a grinder or Vitamix blender with milk and sugar to a not too coarse or fine paste. It's nice to have them slightly grainy.
- Add the remaining ghee to the wok and cook the ground lentil paste on medium low heat while stirring continuously so it doesn't brown at the bottom.
- Meanwhile take a pinch of saffron threads and dissolve them in milk. You could first crush them using the mortar and pestle before adding milk to get a concentrated saffron extract.
When the lentil paste thickens and starts leaving the sides, lower the heat and add the saffron extract and cardamom powder. Mix it well and continue stirring. Add some more ghee around the sides and keep cooking till it thickens and starts oozing out the ghee without sticking to the pan anymore. At this stage remove from the stove and leave it to cool.7. Blanch the almonds and pistachios, pound or chop coarsely.
- Serve the moong lentil halwa warm in a bowl or plate garnished with almonds and pistachios. Enjoy as a dessert after meals. It tastes good with roti or flat breads too.
Notes:
1. It is better to use soaked moong dal as it softens faster.
2. The halwa has to be cooked on low to medium low heat through out to get an even, smooth and light texture. High heat will burn the halwa quickly and there would be brown spots all over which will give it a burnt taste.
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Very delicious recipe. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Really interesting recipe and the flavours sound delish! Do you think this dish can be subbed with red lentils? (I have a ton of them at home)
Thank you Laura. Yes, of course you can use red lentils too.