Moong Dal Halwa Recipe Dal Badam Halwa

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

What is ‘Moong Dal Halwa’?

Halwa is an Indian sweet dish. It is an eggless, purely vegetarian sweet pudding. The dish is inspired by the Persian dessert called halvah. There are a variety of halwa variants popular across the Indian subcontinent. Moong Dal halwa is one of them. It is one of those Indian desserts that require a lot of patience to make and a fair understanding of the cooking process. There are two ways of making this moong dal halwa.

perfect dessert for festive occasions protein-rich and gluten-free no artificial colours/flavours easy-to-follow halwa recipe requires pantry staples meal prep friendly

Dal: The yellow mung (moong) dal is the key ingredient. Use dry, uncooked moong dal for this halwa recipe. Ghee: It is the soul of moong dal halwa. The good fat of ghee balances the protein of lentils. There is no way to skim or skip ghee in the halwa recipe. Almond: It gives a nutty and delicious mouth feel to the halwa. Plus increases its protein value. Gram Flour and Semolina: One tablespoon of each gives a perfect texture to the halwa and makes it easy to roast the dal powder. A full-fat milk, preferably with cream (malai) is the ideal choice. While slow roasting, the full cream milk turns into khoya (mawa). Granulated white sugar to sweeten the halwa. The brown sugar or jaggery powder does not do justice to the dal halwa taste and texture. Saffron and Green Cardamom

Method 1 – make a wet paste of dal

My Verdict: I find this method a bit tedious, time taking, and tricky. The wet paste took one hour to reach the desired texture and colour before adding milk. Plus, continuously frying wet paste requires a lot of muscle power. Hence, I am not a big fan of spending nearly 2 hours in the kitchen for a single dessert bowl.

Method 2 – make a dry powder of dal

My Verdict: This is my favourite way to make dal halwa. It requires less time and muscle power. The roasted dal powder is meal-prep friendly. You can store it for 1 – 2 weeks at room temperature. No need to start each time from scratch by soaking the dal and making a paste. Simply grab the dal powder and start making halwa.