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Loading...Green Moong Dal halwa is a lentil-based dessert traditionally referred to as moong dal halwa or mithai. Lentil-based recipes here in the Indian states are quite common and hold an important place in daily meals. If lentils are the main ingredient, then the outcome can be either sweet or spicy.
For example, you can cook spicy dal curry using green gram lentils or make a traditional, moist and flaky halwa out of it.
A different picture perceives in our minds when it comes to lentils. Seasons and occasions also play an important role in when and how to consume lentils here in India. Depending on what you are doing with green gram
Lentil dessert recipes are widespread across India and are made for different purposes. Some lentil-based sweets and desserts are seasonal and are only made during that season. one such seasonal lentil sweet or dal sweet is the moong dal halwa, known for its moist and flaky taste.
Lentil is what we refer to as Dal here in India. A step further it’s a traditional Indian sweet helping eat lentils in a tasty way. This way there’s a whole new stack of sweets in front of you made by using lentils.
Your Green Moong Dal Halwa is:
- A traditional sweet dish made from green gram
- Silky smooth and melts in the mouth
- Made with and without khoya in it
- Super soft like other regional sweet dishes
- Made with hours of manual labour (Continous Stirring)
- Delicious with dry fruits, especially red raisins
- Aromatic when cinnamon or cardamom powder is used
- Not a quick 10-min recipe. It requires a long time to cook.
- Favourite Indian homemade sweet dish on festivals & wedding occasions
Important Steps For Moong Dal Halwa
Making delicious green moong dal halwa requires lesser ingredients. The less you put in, the tastier it comes out. Please take a look at the main ingredient list and what they secretly do.
Soaking the Moong Dal
However, soaking lentils before cooking saves your time and energy. But that’s not the story always. If you soak lentils before making halwa, it will increase your cooking time by almost double. The moisture in it will resist the process, making you stir continuously. Soaking is not a bad idea. If you are comfortable with soaking the lentils first then go with it. Either way works.
Ghee
Ghee or clarified butter is an essential ingredient in green moong dal halwa. It’s the base of the entire recipe. Now there could be different opinions regarding the quantity of ghee. You can make halwa using less ghee. But wait there’s a risk of burning. Using less ghee makes the dal frying process challenging. The halwa will be dry moreover it will lose its texture quickly.
On the other hand, increasing the quantity of ghee will retain moisture in the recipe. On top of it, ghee will uniformly grease the utensil keeping the halwa away from burning.
Milk or Heavy Cream
Both of them are the best choice to make your halwa creamy. Although water is a common substitute for milk or heavy cream, it won’t give a silky texture. Traditional halwa recipe doesn’t include any of the above. I suggest using milk, heavy cream or milk cream (malai) to make your halwa more flavorful.
Mawa or Khoya
Similar to milk or heavy cream, the traditional halwa recipes don’t permit using mawa. Khoya, aka mawa, is a milk-based ingredient. Using either milk, mawa, or heavy cream will elevate the recipe’s taste & texture.
However, adding mawa or any milk-based element will also increase the cooking time. The reason why your cooking time will increase is you will need to burn the water content. Not doing so will make the halwa watery. Hence, be careful with milk, mawa or heavy cream quantity.
