Moong Dal Halwa / Moong Dal Sheera / Rajasthani Halwa
Moong Dal Halwa is melt in the mouth and incredibly delicious. This Rajasthani dessert is pure bliss.
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow Moong Dal ((Yello Split Lentils))
- ¾ cup Ghee ((Clarified Butter))
- 14 tablespoon cane sugar or regular sugar
- 1½ cups milk
- ¼ cup cream
- Few strands of saffron
- 10 Almonds roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 2 tablespoon chopped nuts for garnishing
Instructions
- Pick the excellent quality of Moong Dal for this recipe. Rinse the Moong Dal thoroughly with water and soak it for at least 4-6 hours.
- Drain the water completely from the Dal. Take the drained Dal into a blender jar or grinder jar. You might need some water to grind this Dal; add only 2-4 tablespoon of water if required.
- Grind the Moong Dal into a smooth paste. If you like the grainy texture of Halwa, then make the paste a little coarse.
- Heat Ghee in a non-stick Kadai or frying pan. I would highly recommend using non-stick cookware because we need to stir it continuously. So we do not want this Halwa to stick to the bottom and to do extra muscle work.
- Once Ghee starts melting, add Moong Dal paste and start mixing immediately. The process should be swift and make sure there are no lumps. We have to cook this Halwa on low to medium flame the whole time.
- After a few minutes, Moong Dal will start separating from a lump. Continue stirring on low to medium flame.
- After 15-20 minutes, Halwa will start getting lighter and changing color. Continue stirring on low to medium heat.
- After almost 30 minutes in total, Halwa will change color to a light golden brown. It will also feel significantly more lightweight, and Ghee will start to separate. Add chopped almonds into Halwa and mix well.
- Meanwhile, take the milk into a saucepan, add saffron strands, mix and heat until it starts simmering.
- After almost 35-40 minutes, Ghee will separate from the Halwa. Also, the color will be golden brown. There will be no raw smell of Moong Dal, and the mixture will be very lightweight.
- Add saffroned milk into Halwa and stir it continuously. Soon Halwa will start soaking the milk. Continue stirring.
- After all the milk is absorbed, add sugar and cardamom powder.
- Mix well and continue stirring until Halwa is thick and Ghee starts separating again. If you have used the same amount of Ghee as mentioned in the recipe, there will be less Ghee. But if you have used 1 Cup of Ghee, there will be more separated Ghee.
- Continue cooking and stirring for 4-5 minutes or until Halwa is not sticky anymore. You can check by taking a small portion of Halwa into your hand and rubbing it with your fingers. If Halwa is not sticking to your finger and only leaves grease (Ghee) on your finger, that means Halwa is ready.
- Turn off the heat, take the Moong Dal Halwa into a serving bowl and garnish it with chopped nuts.
Notes
- If you want the Halwa with a significant amount of separated Ghee, use 1 Cup or more Ghee. Alternatively, you can also add 2-3 tablespoon of Ghee at the end, after mixing sugar and cardamom powder.
- Adjust the sugar amount as per your sweetness preferences. Initially, add ¾ cup of sugar, mix, and taste. Then add more sugar as you require it. For example, I needed to add 2 tablespoon of sugar as per my family’s taste.
- Adding ¼ cup of cream is optional; instead, use 1 & ¾ cups of milk in total.
- Use any combination of nuts as you wish. I have garnished with almonds and pistachios.
Nutrition (Approximate Values)
Calories : 496kcalCarbohydrates : 53gProtein : 11gFat : 29gSaturated Fat : 17gPolyunsaturated Fat : 1gMonounsaturated Fat : 9gCholesterol : 77mgSodium : 40mgPotassium : 110mgFiber : 4gSugar : 33gVitamin A : 311IUVitamin C : 1mgCalcium : 93mgIron : 1mg
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