This is a favorite south-Indian sweet, which is popular as a crowd-pleaser especially in weddings. A great Diwali pick too! With the chefs trying to keep the recipe a secret, and vastly different versions floating around on the internet, it took me a great deal of effort to figure out the "authentic" version and many iterations to perfect the recipe.


Ingredients: (serves 4)

split yellow mung beans - 2 cups
whole milk - 6 cups
maida / all-purpose flour - 2 tbsp
sugar - 2 1/2 cups
ghee / melted butter - 1 cup
cashews - a few
raisins - a few
orange food color - a pinch

Method:

Fry flour in a little ghee and keep aside. Pressure cook mung beans in milk until soft. Cool and blend to a smooth paste. Fry cashews and raisins in a little ghee and keep aside. Heat sugar in a pan and add about 1/4 cup water. Boil to a 1-string consistency. Add the bean paste and flour. Keep stirring continuously. Dissolve orange food color in a teaspoon of milk and add to bean mixture. Add ghee one tablespoon at a time and keep stirring until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and becomes semi-solid (halwa consistency). Garnish with cashews and raisins. I'm sending this recipe to the Diwali sweets and snacks event and MLLA#29 ideated by Susan.