Jan 15, 2010

Moong Dal Halwa for Indian Cooking Challenge

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge Srivalli chose Moong Dal Halwa. I was skeptical in the beginning as I have never ventured making halwas of any kind and have never eaten any halwa made with dal. I however gathered up the courage and prepared this delicious halwa according to Simran and Lata's recipe.

I especially loved the color of the halwa. Since I did not have kova, I tried the second recipe suggested. Here is the recipe as given by Valli.

Ingredients
Split (Yellow) Moong dhal - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cups
Milk - 1/2 cup
Cashews/ raisins roasted in ghee for garnish.

Directions

Soak 1 cup moong dal overnight. Next morning, grind to a paste.

Heat a heavy Kadai, take initially only 1/2 of the ghee and heat it.

Add the dhal and stir continuously, not allowing lumps to form. This part is very tricky as the dhal cooks really fast, irrespective of the ghee.

Keep the heat at the lowest and keep stirring even after the dhal becomes thick.

Add the rest of the ghee intermittently and cook the dhal until aromatic and the ghee starts oozing out.

Meanwhile mix the sugar with water/ milk in a pan and bring to a boil. Add this slowly to the cooking dhal.

Keep the fir low at all times and break lumps if formed while adding the sugar and water/ milk mix.

Cook until the ghee surfaces.

Garnish with cashews and raisins.

Notes
Use a thick bottom pan or better nonstick pan.
Don't leave the halwa unattended. The dal can stick and it can go from just done to burnt in a second so keep stirring as much as possible. You should remember to keep stirring to prevent dhal from sticking irrespective of the ghee added.
You aren't looking for the halwa to get too thick when you turn off the heat. It was thicken as it cools.
Cook until ghee surfaces on the sides and the halwa attains a very nice shine.
Initially, it may appear that all the ghee is being used up. But as the dhal cooks the ghee separates. So the ghee measure is sufficient.
In both recipes depending on how you got the moong dal paste, you may require slightly more ghee to get the texture.

39 comments:

  1. Looks lovely, it was fun and yummy making them ..

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  2. Even i skipped the first recipe coz of khoya, tempting moong dal halwa, beautiful click Divya..

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  3. U whipped up beautifully the halwa!

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  4. looks so delicious and colorful Divya. HAPPY PONGAL :)

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  5. Delicious halwa.. We are still enjoying it fron the fridge.. Urs looks yummy.

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  6. Halwa looks soft and tempting! Beautiful presentation!

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  7. Happy Pongal to you too Divya. Moong dal halwa looks very tempting and nice in color.

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  8. I've been meaning to try making this halwa since I have so much moong dal lying around-now I have a recipe:)

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  9. Absolutely beautiful halwa, Divya! I really like that bucket-measure you used for the dal too ... it's too cute!

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  10. Looks Perfect!! lovely pic too..
    Renuka
    http://cookingyummy.blogspot.com

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  11. Looks terrific, Divya!Happy pongal!

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  12. I am literally drooling over the halwa after looking in all the blogs..

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  13. What a beautiful halwa! Yummo.

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  14. Happy Pongal diya!!nice presentation dear!!

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  15. It's moong dal halwa on so many blog. Hey, you made a good halva too.

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  16. Looks luvely Dhivya. The texture looks really smooth unlike mine! It turned to be bit dry.

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  17. Hi Divya, the halva is so tempting. It is so perfect...

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  18. Looks good, Divya. I like the concept of ICC, thaks to which you get to try something new or do something in a new way.

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  19. Hi Divya

    first time here...delectable Moong Daal Halwa!!!nice space and recipes too...

    cheers and do visit
    http://joyofcooking247.blogspot.com

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  20. Ah! Love the color of the halwa Divya :)

    Siri

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  21. This is so tasty Divya and I really like the picture of the dal.

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  22. Divya, very nice colour and texture unlike mine...And as is always nice clicks.

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  23. Yummy yummy halwa!!! Very new to me will try...

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  24. While commenting this post, I realize that it has been ages since I visited your blog.. I have 1000+ posts in my reader and everyday I pick up few alphabets and read their blog .. And today I am visiting all the blogs with letter 'D' & 'S' :) So I am here today.. I hardly get 30 minutes to spend with my reader... sobs...btw, the moong dhal halwa looks delicious, completely different from what I made... my version was close to coffee brown...

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  25. HI Really delicious! I remembered my Kullu Manali travel in Apple Country Resort. I realy cant forget those days! Very nice Thanks for sharing with us.

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Hi..
Thanks for dropping by my blog and rendering your valuable comments..Hope you had a nice time reading my recipes..Thanks for your encouragement..