MOONG DAL HALWA- DESSERT

Moong Dal Halwa is a popular dessert from the state Rajasthan. The best part of this recipe is, it stores well in the refrigerator for upto a week. Just before serving heat it up a bit in microwave and serve it warm. SInfully delicious.

Serves – 4 to 6
Preparation time – 5 mins 
Waiting time – 4 hrs
Cooking time – 30 mins
Ingredients:

• Split Skinless Moong Dal(wash, drain and soak in water for 4 hrs) – 1/2 cup
• Water – 2 Cups
• Butter or Ghee (melted) – 1/2 Cup
• Sugar – 1/2 Cup to 2/3 cup
• Cardamom Powder (discard skin and pound the pods) – 2 pods
• Raisins – 1/2 Tbsp
• Cashews (chopped) – 1 Tbsp
• Almonds (chopped) – 1/2 Tbsp

Procedure:

• Make a thick coarse paste of the soaked discarding all the water in which the dal has been soaking in.You may use couple of Tbsp of water just to help the dal blend easily.
• Remove from the blender jar and set the paste aside.
• In a sauce pan add 2 cups of water, sugar, saffron, cardamom powder and bring to a rolling boil. TUrn off the heat.
• In a wide thick bottomed non stick pan add in 2 tsp of melted butter, cashews, aalmonds, raisins and turn on the heat to fry them till golden. Set them aside.
• Into the same pan add in the remaining butter, and dal paste and fry it for 15 mins or until the dal becomes crumbly and there should be a slight color change.
• Then add in the sugar water. Cover and cook the dal with the sugar water on low – med heat until the dal is cooked and water is absorbed by the dal.
• Open cover and cook for 5 more mins. Finally add in nuts and raisins for garnish. Serve warm.