Recipe: MOONG DAL HALWA

I made this yummy Halwa on New Year’s Day. I have tasted it at Gujju weddings and suddenly felt the urge to try it out. The recipe is my own – tried and tasted!

Ingredients:

Moong Dal – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
Sugar – 1 cup
Ghee – ½ cup
Cashew-nuts – 6 (cut to pieces)
Almonds – 4 (cut in lengths)
Kishmish – 10
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Method:

1.    Add 2 cups of water to the moong dal and pressure cook it for 3 whistles. Mash the dal well after opening the cooker.
2.    Heat a spoonful of ghee in a saucepan and shallow fry the dry-fruits in it, adding the kishmish last. Remove and keep aside.
3.    Heat the rest of the ghee and add the mashed moong dal to it. Cook for about 5 minutes before adding the sugar. Now, you have to cook longer until the mixture starts to leave the sides.
4.    Add the cardamom powder at this point and mix well before switching off the gas.
5.    Transfer the Moong Dal Halwa into a bowl and garnish with the dry-fruits.

Served hot or cold, it tastes heavenly. The shelf-life for the Halwa is at best 3 days in this cold weather. You may refrigerate it and reheat in a microwave oven before serving.

Recipe: GAJAR HALWA

Gajar Halwa

The season is just right for this one. Red carrots are available in plenty. I will not discuss the soaring rate of vegetable prices on this platform ;)

Ingredients:

Carrots – ½ kg (peeled and grated)
Ghee – ½ cup
Milk – 1 ½  cups
Sugar – ¾ cup
Powdered Cardamom – ½ tsp
Badam, kaju, pista (a few of each - sliced)
Kismis - 10

Method:

1.    Heat a couple of spoons of ghee in a saucepan and shallow fry the badam, kaju, pista and kismis. Remove and keep it aside.
2.    Heat the rest of the ghee in the saucepan and shallow fry the grated carrots in it until soft.
3.    Add the milk and let it cook well till all of it is absorbed and the mixture is turned to the consistency of halwa.
4.    Add sugar and powdered cardamom and cook well for a few more minutes.
5.    Pour the halwa in a bowl and garnish with the fried dry-fruits.

It gets polished off within an hour in my home. You should try it too.

NOTE: You may use condensed milk instead of regular milk. About 50ml should be fine. Do not add sugar in that case.