"Naivedyam : Moong Dal Halwa topped with Almond Slivers" ... a delicious sweet dish/ dessert that’s simple and easy to prepare … go ahead and try it out this festival season and have them to your heart's content with family and friends ... Yummilicious …
** Moong dal halwa also known as Ashoka halwa in northern parts is a delicious sweet dessert prepared out of green gram dal/ mooga dali along with sugar and other ingredients. There are many variations to this halwa and each one turns out delicious. I have kept it very simple this time and prepared it close to sheera method, while the same can also be prepared either with addition of milk or khoya which makes it that much more richer in taste.
** The most important inclusion here is of good quality fresh homemade ghee in plenty almost equal to the amount of moong dal added to get a good textured delicious halwa. But being health conscious we tend to cut down on ghee drastically which makes the halwa drop in taste. So be liberal while using ghee if you want an equally tasty halwa and for health reason which is also of utmost importance cut down consumption by half so that you stay safe.
** I have to mention here that this is a very old post that went unnoticed in my draft mode for almost 3 years along with some more. I somehow missed one file which contained yet to be posted list of pictures and recipes as those days I was busy giving full attention to my newly started food group Konkani Delicacies, which was really eating up on my time and I somehow missed posting many dishes along with some of my short stories edited too.
** Frankly, I did wonder at times about certain recipes that I felt are missing, but just brushed the thought aside and let it be. Last month when there were issues in the other computers in our office all were given a look through by the software engineer and as he deleted unwanted files, I just happened to look through and came across this one. On cross checking I found that I did share them on my fb page and in the food group too, but had not blogged it.
** Well as I always jot down the recipe along with picture in my file, I was relieved that at least I had not lost it all, so these days, I am posting them back to back as is possible so that I complete all the backlog created by default. The festival of lights is fast approaching and in a few days we all will be busy preparing goodies and snacks for sharing with all. Do try out this delicious halwa and enjoy with your family and friends this Diwali/ Deepavali.
** Here is a simple recipe of “Moong Dal Halwa topped with Almond Slivers" … My Style …
** Ingredients :
Moong Dal/ Mooga Dali/ Split yellow green gram dal : 1 cup
Ghee/ Toop : ½ to ¾ cup
Sugar/ Shakkar/ Sakkara : 1 cup
Saffron/ Kesar : large pinch
Edible Orange Colour : a pinch
Milk/ Doodh : ½ cup
Cardamom/ Ellaichi/ Yellu Powder : ¼ tsp
Almond Slivers/ Badam Slices : 2- 3 tblsp
Boiling Water/ Uddaka/ Paani : 2 cups.
** Wash and soak moong dal in water for about 1 hour, drain of the water, put it in a colander and rinse well under running water, keep it aside for 10-15 minutes for excess water to drain away. Then spread it on a cloth and let dry for 10 minutes or rub well remove as much traces of water as possible. The requirement here is to have the moong dal dried out.
** Put the dried moong dal into a mixer grinder and using pulse mode grind it to a fine rava texture without adding any water. Keep mixing in between to get it ground evenly without having larger pieces leftover on sides. Do not add water while grinding, take note that if you dry the moong dal well, then the need of water for grinding is not there.
** Soak the saffron/ kesar in half cup of warm milk along with edible colour. Keep this aside ready to be added on to the halwa at later stage.
** Heat about ¼ cup of ghee in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot, lower the heat and add in the rava textured moong dal and fry well for a few minutes. Say about 5 minutes after which add another ¼ cup of ghee and continue frying till you get a nice aroma and the moong dal gets slightly but evenly coloured too.
** Add in the soaked kesar colour milk and mix well and then add in the boiling water slowly. Be careful as it may splutter. Raise the heat and bring all the ingredients to a boiling point while stirring all the time so that there are no lumps formed.
** Immediately add the sugar and mix well, continue stirring on medium to low heat till it thickens and the content of water is also lessened. Now add in last ¼ cup of ghee and continue mixing well and keep stirring until the halwa turns out into a golden colour and leaves on the sides and starts turning into a soft mass at center.
** The halwa is now done, remove from fire, add cardamom powder, half of the almond slivers and mix well. Add on the halwa onto a plate greased with ghee and pat it evenly to a level with help of back of tumbler to which a little bit of apply is applied. Garnish on top with remaining almond slivers and press it down a little bit again to get a even smooth finish.
** Note : You can leave out almond slivers and add in cashew nuts too if desired. Just fry them in little bit of ghee till evenly lightly browned and add on in same way.
** You can serve it right away in bowls if you want serve it warm or let it rest for about 5 mins after which with the help of knife make insertion marks of desired size and shape. I gave them square shapes as you can see in the picture. Let cool after which you can slowly lift each piece with the help of a flat spatula or blunt knife, I like serving it either way, choice is yours.
** “Moong Dal Halwa topped with Almond Slivers" is done and ready to be offered as Naivedyam to God and there by distributed among family and friends. You can prepare on any auspicious days or on normal days too as a dessert when you have guests dropping by. There is always joy in enjoying sweet dessert by sharing them, so go ahead and try them out this Diwali/ Deepavali festival and have a lovely time sharing it with all. Stay Safe, Stay Blessed.
** Sharing a common link below to all “Halwa” recipes shared in the blog before, do browse through in leisure and try them out, they all taste wonderful …
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