Moong Dal Barfi
This sweet gluten-free indulgence hails from the land of forts, palaces, camels, the beautiful Rajasthan, is a popular delicacy consumed lovingly during cold weather pleasing the taste buds besides keeping the body warm.Moong Dal Barfi or Yellow Split Dahl Fudge only reminds me of two things; comfort and Paa. The effort and love he puts in is what makes the dish so delightful and that's the reason we can never get bored of it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow moong dahl (lentil)
- 1 cup mawa
- 1 cup sugar or to taste
- 3/4 cup clarified butter or desi ghee
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- few saffron strands dipped in 1-2 tbsp warm milk
- dry fruits of your choice( optional)
- some warm water or milk in a cup to loosen the if needed batter( optional)
Garnish
- few toasted halves of almond or pistachios
- few saffron strands
Instructions
- Soak the yellow moong lentil overnight or at least for 3-4 hours.
- Strain & blitz with moderate coarse texture.
- In a heavy bottom pan or wok, start roasting and fry the dahl batter on a slow to medium heat.
- The lentil mixture will stick to the sides and bottom just keep adding clarified butter to avoid sticking.
- Using a non stick vessel would be helpful. Roast it until the raw smell has completely gone. This will take some time, patience is the key roughly up to 30minutes.
- It takes a lot of butter, but I didn't do too much. If looks on the drier side, add a little more clarified butter.
- After it has toasted well, add dry fruits to your choice. Now chuck in some cardamom powder.
- Add the warm water to the roasted dahl if you need to loosen up a little and stir it.
- I added it to the mixture slowly with regular stirring at the bottom of the pan to make sure all the liquid has been absorbed with no lumps. You can skip this step if not required.
- Add mawa to the batter and mix well again. Continue to cook the entire batter for few minutes.
Sugar syrup preparation
- Now prepare sugar syrup for making barfi. Take sugar and 1 cup water in any utensil and place it on flame.
- When water starts boiling, cook for 1-2 more minutes. Sugar syrup is now ready.
- To add color to barfi you can also add some food color in sugar syrup. Stir in sugar and saffron dipped in milk with continuous mixing and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Take care the batter is moist and not dried out, it should not be overdone.
- I threw the cooked mixture on a greased tray or plate using a spatula evenly spread and smoothen out.
- Sprinkle almond or pistachios halves, press them gently. Within 2 hours barfi will get set. Now cut this mixture in square pieces. Moong dal barfi is ready.
- Store it in air tight container and place it refrigerator. Relish eating it upto for 8-10 days.
Notes
It takes time though while roasting in the pan, worth the effort, as it’s the key stage to deliver the best taste and flavours to the sweet dish.
Stir the mixture constantly on low and medium flame, else it may stick at the bottom of wok or pan. Try using nonstick pan for frying and roasting. I have used a mixture of thick paste and coarsely grounded moong lentil, please be free to create the textures to your choice. Desi ghee or clarified butter to obtain the authentic taste.Please be free to replace the butter content to your preference. Mawa can be replaced with condensed milk or milk powder. I have only garnished, have skipped the dry fruits at cooking stage, if you want chewy nutty textures please be free to help yourself. I have used soft brown sugar, as I prefer that sweetness. I keep warm water or warm milk handy, just in case to loosen up the batter. Vegan option; use soya or almond milk.Plant based clarified butter.
Stir the mixture constantly on low and medium flame, else it may stick at the bottom of wok or pan. Try using nonstick pan for frying and roasting. I have used a mixture of thick paste and coarsely grounded moong lentil, please be free to create the textures to your choice. Desi ghee or clarified butter to obtain the authentic taste.Please be free to replace the butter content to your preference. Mawa can be replaced with condensed milk or milk powder. I have only garnished, have skipped the dry fruits at cooking stage, if you want chewy nutty textures please be free to help yourself. I have used soft brown sugar, as I prefer that sweetness. I keep warm water or warm milk handy, just in case to loosen up the batter. Vegan option; use soya or almond milk.Plant based clarified butter.