Moong Daal Halwa

Let's start this month of May on a sweet note! This is a sinfully rich dish which is worthy of special occasion.

Moong Daal Halwa
Lentil Pudding
Ingredients
1 cup yellow moong daal(without peels), soaked for 4 hours

1/2 - 3/4  cup clarified butter/ghee/toop

1/2  cup mawa/khoya/khawa or Ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 cups milk

Garnish
Few strands of saffron, soaked in 1 tbsp. warm milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg powder, freshly pounded/grated
8-9 green cardamoms, peeled, pounded

Method
1. Soak yellow moong daal in adequate water for 4 hours. Drain completely.
2. Grind to a coarse paste adding just few drops of water as needed.
3. Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed saucepan.
4. Add the ground daal paste and fry on a low flame without letting ground daal burn.
5. Sauté patiently for about 45 minutes till raw smell disappears.

6. Add khoya or cheese. And keep frying again on low flame for another 45 minutes. (Yes, it's tedious!;-)
7. Now, add sugar and milk.
8. Add nutmeg, cardamom and saffron.
9. Keep on whisking on low flame till pudding/halwa/shira like consistency is reached.
10. Enjoy warm moong daal halwa.

Note -
1. Use yellow moong daal - the one without green peels.
2. This is a rich dish that needs lot of ghee/clarified butter. But the daal paste needs to be roasted well in ghee to avoid the raw daal flavor to the dessert.
3. Adjust sugar per desired preference.