Recipe- Your Brother Will Love Moong Dal Barfi For Raksha Bandhan

I have always been fond of moong dal (green lentil) halwa made by my mother. She is a cook par excellence, and meticulously makes halwa, cooking it on low flame for about an hour. It requires continuous stirring and scraping as dal paste has a tendency to stick to the surface of the pan while cooking. The end result is worth all the effort required. This Rakshabandhan I thought of making something similar in taste, that can be made with less effort. I decided to make moong dal barfi.

Ingredients

1 cup dhuli moong dal (split and skinned moong lentil) washed and pat dried with kitchen towel
2 cups water
1 pinch saffron starnds soaked in 1 tablespoon milk
1 can (400ml) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
3/4 cup ghee (rarefied butter) melted
1 tablespoon pistachios and almonds slivered

Method

* Dry roast dal on low heat in a heavy bottomed pan. Keep stirring so that dal is roasted equally from all sides.

* When aroma of roasted dal can be smelled, stop roasting. Ayt this time dal will have light brown color. When dal slightly cools down, dry grind it in a grinder. Grind it to get grainy powder and not very fine powder.

* Heat the heavy bottomed pan, and add ghee to it. Then add dal powder. saute it on low heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir continuously.

* Add water gradually to the pan. Keep stirring and take care that no lumps are formed. break lumps if any with stirrer. Cook this mixture in low flame for few minutes. dal will absorb water and mixture will thicken. Add condensed milk and mix properly. cook for about 10 minutes, stirring continuously.

* Add saffron that was soaked in milk and continue cooking the mixture. The mixture will gradually thicken. Keep stirring and scraping it else it will stick to the bottom of the pan and get burnt.

* When the mixture has thickened, and starts leaving the sides of the pan, stop cooking. Add cardamom powder and mix well. Take a greased container, and transfer dal mixture in it. With the help of spatule spread dal evenly in the container. Sprinkle nut slivers, and pat them gently with spatula.

* Allow the mixture to rest for 2 hours. The mixture will dry further, and will be properly set in the container. Cut square pieces with a knife and serve. Barfi can be stored in refrigerator in an airtight container. it will last for 4-5 days or maybe a little more in refrigerator.