I first ate this at a Marwari wedding, and I was bowled over. A big fan of rich, decadent desserts, I had to eventually learn how to make this as I couldn’t find it anywhere nearby. The traditional recipe involves soaking the dal and then grinding it using minimal water. This is a very painful process and I hesitated everytime. Until I figured a way out. Now, I grind the powder to the desired consistency and then soak it. The advantages are many – the grinding is more uniform, you don’t have to spend an hour removing all the sticky particles from the blender, and most importantly, it cuts down hugely on the soaking time.

If you eat this at a traditional halwai, it will almost be swimming in ghee, so if you’re underweight, you can pretty much use as much as you like. Always, always serve small portions because it is very heavy.

Serves 6-8
Time taken: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 cup mung dal (yellow)
½ cup milk
1 cup sugar
A generous pinch Saffron
1 cup ghee
½ cup dry fruits (cashew nuts, raisins, almonds, pistachio)

Method

• Grind the mung dal into a coarse powder. Soak it in water and let it sit for about half an hour.
• Soak saffron in hot milk.
• Blanch almonds in boiling water for 5 min. Cool, peel and slice them. Set aside.
• Heat ghee in a thick-bottomed pan and add the dry fruits. Once golden brown, add the mung dal paste.
• Cook over a low flame with constant stirring, until the dal turns brown.
• Add sugar and saffron milk
• Stir well till they are thoroughly incorporated and the halwa is of dropping consistency.
• Serve hot. For an extra dose of richness, cover the top with a layer of silver foil just before serving.