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Diwali or Deepavali is a National festival of India. In Hinduism, Diwali marks the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom Ayodhya after defeating Ravana-the ruler of Lanka and celebrates the slaying of the demon king Narakasura by Lord Krishna. The celebration is marked by decorating the homes with lamps, wearing new clothes, bursting fire crackers and last not least but SWEETS. Making different varieties of them and distributing them to family and friends.
Deepavali is once a year occasion and of course sweet indulgences are well justified but once you are in the know what you eat mode. It is slightly difficult to get out of the shell. After lot of thinking i made this Mung dal halwa. Made out protein rich mung dal, home made khoya out of organic raw milk, ghee ( i believe in the atkins formula- so fat is fine), raw milk and sugar(this is the only bad part). But it is not too sweet as the ingredients used Mung Dal, Khoya have their own natural sweetness, so you don’t have to add lot of sugar. The halwa tasted divine and i got a A++ from my kids.
Ingredients
Mung Dal(yellow one) - 1 cup
Khoya/Mawa – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 to 1 1/2 cups (If you have a sweeter tooth go for 1 1/2 cups)
Melted ghee – 1 cup
Milk – 1/2 cup
Water – 2 cups
Saffron – few strand
Ghee roasted almonds and cashew – 2 Tbsp
Method
1) Soak mung dal for 4 hours till it becomes soft and tender, rinse few times thoroughly with enough water and drain it.
2) Grind it into a fine paste by adding little bit of water and keep it aside.
3) Heat a heavy bottom pan and add the ghee and keep it in medium heat. Once the ghee is hot add the ground paste and using a egg beater stir it fast and continue till the dal paste has changed color, raw smell is gone.
4) Now add the khoya to the dal mixture and keep stirring and till the ghee separates out from the mixture, at this point switch of the stove. (Some of the utensils which have a sandwich bottom retain the heat, so the bottom of the dal mixture might brown, so take care and transfer the contents to a plate or another pan if required).
5) Soak the saffron strands in milk and keep it aside.
6) Heat a wide mouthed pan and add the sugar and water. Leave till sugar is completely dissolved and if there is any dirt or residue in the sugar. Switch off, filter the syrup and use it.
7) To the sugar syrup add the mung dal & khoya mixture, saffron soaked milk and keep stirring till it leaves the side. Now add the ghee roasted almonds and cashew and serve.
8) Best served warm.
Event Participation:
Diwali Dhamaka 09 going on in Purva's Daawat
FIL-Ghee Sweets in Sanghi's tasty-bites.
Sweet- Series in Mom's recipes hosted by Sireesha
Sweet Celebration in Funnfoodcafe, hosted by Mansi.
