Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 1 cup yellow moong lentil
  • 1 cup ghee
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 200 grams khoya (crumbled)
  • 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoon cardamom powder
  • 1 pinch saffron
  • 10-12 almonds (chopped)
  • 10-12 cashew nuts (chopped)

Instruction

  • Wash and soak 1 cup dry yellow moong dal in 5-6 cups of water for 5-6 hours. This step is important to make sure the nutrients in lentils are easily absorbed by the body and they don’t trouble the stomach.
  • Once the dal is soaked, drain the water completely. Add the soaked dal to the medium jar of a high-speed blender and grind the dal to make a coarse paste without any water. Be careful to not grind the dal to a smooth paste. Keep scraping the sides of the grinder while grinding.
  • Heat 1 cup ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Make sure to use a non stick pan to make the halwa. It makes the process much easier as compared to a regular pan. Do not compromise on the quantity of ghee. This halwa will not turn out good if the quantity of ghee is reduced.
  • When the ghee is slightly hot, add the ground dal to the pan.
  • Fry the dal on medium heat till it turns light golden brown. Initially, the lentils will be pasty, then after a few minutes they will become lumpy and after a few more minutes of frying, they will become granular. It will take at least 15-20 minutes to fry the lentils to the desired color. Do not fry it on high heat otherwise, it will not cook properly. Keep stirring frequently.
  • Once the dal is golden brown in color, add 3 cups of whole milk and cook till all the milk is absorbed by the dal. It will take 8-10 minutes.
  • Crumble 200 g of khoya and add it to the pan. Mix well. Skip this process if not using khoya.
  • Add 10-12 chopped almonds and 10-12 chopped cashew nuts and mix again. Adding dry fruits at this stage makes sure they also get fried during the process and becomes even more flavorful.
  • Now add 1 and ½ cup sugar, 2 tsp cardamom powder, and 1 pinch saffron. You can use crumbled jaggery in place of sugar. Using saffron is optional.
  • Cook on low heat till the halwa turns brown and starts to leave ghee from sides. Keep stirring continuously during this process. This step will take 20-30 minutes. Cover the pan if the halwa is spluttering too much. Or else, fry the halwa in the microwave as my mom do. I have mentioned the process in the tips below.