Asoka Halwa/ Moong Dal Halwa

Blogging Marathon #43: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Festival Recipes

Dish: Asoka Halwa/Moong dal Halwa

I am so excited for 'Blogging Marathon #43 - week 2". That's because the theme of this week is to do 'Festival Recipes'. The reason is because due to being self conscious and being on a diet etc. I never get a chance to post some traditional South Indian Recipes - recipes that I have gathered from some very great cooks in our family - recipes that I have grown up eating in every family gathering we ever had. This is my chance to redeem my blog from this shame and capture some recipes that feature in our celebrations.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#42

"Asoka Halwa" is a halwa that is made with moong dal, sugar and melted butter or ghee. It is a very famous halwa that originates from the Thanjavur region of Tamil Nadu.This Halwa holds a lot of happy memories for me, coss it is a specialty item of my chithi(aunt) and my grandma. They make this with ghee freshly melted from home made organic butter. The asoka drips with ghee and is melt in your mouth goodness. I can't tell you how many occasions and vacations I have enjoyed relishing on this yummy sweet.

The original version uses wheat flour in addition to the moong dal so that it thickens a bit. There is also no milk in the original version. My grandmother's version however uses ghee and only uses moong dal and no wheat flour. It is also a very easy recipe, coss you don't have to worry about one string consistency etc. It is a very easy and forgiving recipe.

The proportions in the below recipe are for the ghee dripping - melt in your mouth asoka - a.k.a recipe and instructions as dictated by my aunt/grandmother. However, I have reduced the ghee to 1/2 a cup and sugar to 2 and half cups when making this recently(pictured below), it still turns out pretty well.

Heat a couple of tsp of ghee in a pan. Add the cashews and fry until golden brown. Remove the cashews and the add the moong dal to it. Fry for a few minutes. The moong dal should not change color much, but it should give a nice aroma to the halwa if you fry it. To this fried moong dal in the same pan, add milk and water. Let cook until the dal is soft and mushy. Since we are cooking the dal in milk, take care to cook the dal over medium heat, so that the milk doesn't burn.

After the dal is cooked, the dal should be completely soft. Use the back of a spoon or an immersion blender to completely mash the moong dal, so that there are no lumps. To this mixture add the sugar. Let the sugar melt and cook along with the dal. Add the food color and cardamom powder. Slowly start drizzling the ghee tbsp by tbsp and keep stirring. The ghee will all get absorbed by the dal mixture. Keep stirring. In a few minutes, you will see the ghee ooze out of the halwa and the halwa coming together as a single mass. This is your cue that the halwa is done. Add in the fried cashews and switch off the stove. Don't worry if the halwa is still runny. It will solidify as it cools down.

Serve warm! It tastes best when warm. If you plan on making this ahead, reheat in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.

Verdict: The moong dal is sweet and creamy and the ghee just makes it taste divine! I add very few cashews, and don't add any other items such as raisins to maintain the purity of this dish and to preserve its texture from being distracted by several additives. I enjoyed making this dish so much and dedicate this to my loving chithi and my grandma.