Moong Dal Halwa |Moong Dal Sheera | Dal ka Halwa | Rajasthani Moong Dal Halwa

Moong Dal Halwa is a delicious Rajasthani dessert. It is made with soaked and ground moong dal.

Typically, it is made on auspicious occasions, marriages and festivals. In North India, it is made in winters to keep body warm and protect it from bitter cold.

To make this halwa, one requires a lot of patience and effort. It requires constant stirring while roasting halwa but end results are worth it! This halwa requires generous amount of ghee to get traditional taste .

Moong Dal Halwa is generally grainy (danedar) in texture.

I have used mawa (khoya) as it enhances taste and makes it more rich. Use of mawa is optional. Here it is how to make it…

How to make

1. Soak 1 cup yellow split husked Moong dal in enough water for 4 hours.
2. Wash and drain well. Grind it in blender and make slight course paste.
3. Add 1 ¼ cup of ghee in a pan. Once ghee melts (don’t overheat), add grounded moong dal in kadhai. Initially, it will get lumpy, but keep stirring on low flame. After 5 minutes of stirring, ghee and dal will be mixed properly. Keep stirring on low flame.
4. Approximately after 20 – 25 minutes ghee will get absorbed. Have patience and keep stirring on slight medium flame.
5. Meanwhile, mix 1 cup of water and 1 cup of milk in saucepan and add 7-8 keshar strands and keep it for boiling on other stove on low flame.
6. After another 15-20 minutes of roasting on low to medium flame, dal will start releasing ghee and mixture will turn golden brown in color and frothy in texture. It’s a sign of perfectly roast halwa.
7. To gross up – it takes almost 35 – 45 minutes roast halwa completely.
8. Add ¾ cup khoya and chopped dry fruits. Stir on low flame till khoya mixes properly in roasted halwa. It takes approximately 2-3 minutes for mix khoya. Adding khoya is totally optional. One can skip adding khoya and only add chopped dry fruits and roast for a minute.
9. Add mixture of boiled water and milk in dal carefully (as it splutters).
10. Once liquid fully absorbed, add 1½ cup of sugar and ½ tsp of cardamom powder and ½ tsp of rose water (optional). Keep stirring till sugar melts on medium flame. Generally when you add sugar, halwa liquify, but keep stirring for 2-3 minutes. Halwa will regain its normal texture.
11. Cover and cook it for 2-3 minutes on low flame. At this stage, halwa will release ghee.

Moong Dal Halwa |Moong Dal Sheera | Dal ka Halwa | Rajasthani Moong Dal Halwa

Moong Dal Halwa is a delicious Rajasthani dessert made with soaked and grounded moong dal. Generally in Indian culture, it is made on auspicious occasions like marriages, festivals – mostly on Diwali. In North India, it is also made in winters to keep body warm and protect it from bitter cold.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Soaking Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 5 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 6 People

Equipment

• Thick bottom pan/ Kadhai
• Sauce Pan
• Spatula
• Measuring Cups

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup Split husked yellow moong dal  
• 1¼ cup Ghee or Clarified butter
• ¾ cup Khoya / Mawa Optional but recommended
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 cup Water
• 1½ cup Sugar
• ½ tsp Cardamom / Elaichi powder
• 1 tsp Rosewater optional
• 8 strands Saffron / Keshar
• Handful of chopped dry fruits of your choice for garnishing
• A bowlful of Love & Care

Instructions

 

• Reference picture of ingredients.
  
• Soak 1 cup yellow split husked moong dal in enough water for 4 hours.
  
• Wash and drain well. Grind it in blender and make slight course paste.
  
• Take 1 ¼ cup of ghee in a pan.
  
• Once ghee melts (don’t overheat), add grounded moong dal in kadhai. Initially, it will get lumpy, but keep stirring on low flame.
  
• After 5 minutes of stirring, ghee and dal will be mixed properly. Keep stirring on low flame.
  
• Approximately after 35– 45 minutes of roasting, dal will start releasing ghee and mixture will turn golden brown in color and frothy in texture. It’s a sign of perfectly roasted halwa.
  
• Add ¾ cup khoya and chopped dry fruits. Stir well till it mixes properly. It will take approximately 2-3 minutes to mix khoya well. Use of khoya can be skipped and only dry fruits can be added and roasted for a minute.
  
• Add mixture of boiled water and milk carefully (as it splutters).
  
• Once liquid is fully absorbed, add 1½ cup of sugar and ½ tsp of cardamom powder and ½ tsp of rosewater (optional). Keep stirring till sugar melts on medium flame.
  
• Cover and cook it for 2-3 minutes on low flame. At this stage, halwa will release ghee. Garnish it with dry fruit of your choice.
  

Wisdom

1. Use thick bottom kadhai / pan, so that halwa does not burn as you roast.
2. If you are using non-stick kadhai, I recommend to use silicon / plastic / wooden spatula.
3. Use good quality aromatic ghee. If ghee is not available, can be made with unsalted butter.
4. Grinding dal – I prefer not to use water for grinding dal. More the water, more time required to roast halwa. If needed, use 1 to 2 tbsp only.
5. It’s totally optional to use mawa / khoya in this halwa. Using it enhances taste and makes it more rich.
6. Water or milk ? : You can use either of two. Usually, I go by half water – half milk.
7. Measurement of sugar, is completely dependent on one’s taste. If you like it sweet – add more sugar and if you like it less sweet – use less sugar.
8. Generally when you add sugar, halwa liquify, but keep stirring for 2-3 minutes. Halwa will regain its normal texture.
9. I have used non-stick pan to make this halwa, as it’s easier to roast. If you are not using non-stick pan – I recommend to use approx twice quantity of ghee in ratio to dal. Example, for 1 cup of moong dal use approximately 2 cups of ghee. In this case, you can also add ghee is batches. Also, increase water use by half a cup. Like, for 1 cup dal, use 2 ½ cup of water/milk.
10. How to know if your halwa is cooked well? After 2-3 minutes of adding sugar and cardamom, halwa will separate from pan and release ghee. That’s a sign of well-cooked halwa.
11. Patience – it’s a key for making any halwa. Roasting of grounded moong dal on low to medium flame till it turns golden brown and spreads aroma. Avoid roasting too much, as it will spoil taste.
12. You can refrigerate this halwa for almost a week. If refrigerated, heat it in microwave or take it in a pan and heat it.
13. Microwaving tip – if re-heating in microwave keep ½ glass of water along with halwa as it retains moisture of halwa and doesn’t dries up.