Moong dal Halwa

My friend Pushpa Sriram is an awesome cook and makes delicious sweets and she shared this with me, one of her mother's recipe, a halwa made with moong dal which is very nutritous:

• Ingredients : 1 Cup Moongdal ;
• 1 cup sugar;
• 1 cup ghee;
• 1/2 cup milk; cardamom powdered for taste; a pinch of clove powder;
• a pinch of nutmeg powder;

saffron few strands.

Khova - optional

Garnishing: slivered almonds,

pistas, roasted cashew and raisins.

Soak moong dal for 4 hours. Soak

saffron in a little warm milk. Drain water from

soaked moongdal and wash it well.

It has to be washed well many times so that

the raw smell goes away. Grind the

soaked moongdal coarsly without adding

water. Heat 1/2 cup of ghee in

nonstick pan or heavy bottomed dekchi, add the

ground moong dal, and roast on low

heat. Be careful not to allow to form lumps.

If required add a little milk to

make it easier. The moong dal has to be roasted on

low heat. It takes time and

patience, keep adding ghee slowly little by little and

as the ghee starts separating, add

the sugar and a little more milk and cook well

to halva consistency and add khova

(2-3 spoons) .

Add cardomom powder, clove powder, nutmeg powder and

soaked saffron and mix well.

When cooked well to golden colour remove from

flame. Garnish with almonds, pistas,

cashew and raisins.

This can be stored in

fridge and when heating for serving add little milk and heat, so it

does not dry

out. If required sugar can be increased to suit your

taste.