Chana dal, split bengal gram is soaked, roasted well in lots of ghee until aromatic, cooked in milk and added with sugar to make this simple sweet, chana dal halwa.
I was thinking to post something simple and sweet as Holi special recipe, I though first I would try moong dal halwa, but then I saw this one in Tarla dalal and decided to make chana dal halwa. Never expected this much tasty result to be honest.

But I knew it would turn out great when the aroma of chana dal while roasting it in ghee was amazing. Some thing like mysore pak smell. I would say it was so easy after you finish roasting the chana dal fragrant.
chana-dal-halwa-recipe1

I have tasted moong dal halwa recently twice in buffets. But both were not at all good, very less sweet. Now I am confident could make moong dal halwa better the same way as this one.

Chana dal halwa recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian | Recipe Category: Sweet
Prep Time: 3 hrs | Cook time:30 | Makes: 4 | Author: Raks anand

Click here for cup measurements

Chana dal, split chick pea is soaked, roasted well in lots of ghee until aromatic, cooked in milk and added with sugar to make this simple sweet, chana dal halwa.
chana dal halwa recipe

Ingredients

Chana dal – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Milk – 1/2 cup
Ghee – 1/4 cup + 2 tsp
Cardamom – 1
Almonds/ cashews – 5

Method

Soak chana dal for 3 hours. Drain water completely and transfer to the mixer. Grind coarsely without any water.
Heat a pan with ghee, add ground chana dal. Mix to avoid forming lumps.
Continue roasting so that the ground chana dal is resemble a crumble. It will turn starting golden and fragrant.
Set aside. Boil milk along with 1/2 cup water.
Add the roasted chana and mix well to avoid lumps.
Continue cooking in medium flame or low flame until it absorbs all water+ milk and gets cooked.
Add sugar and stir well. The sugar will melt and mix with the chana dal.
When the halwa starts leaving sides add cardamom powder and nuts to garnish.

Notes

While grinding chana, make sure to drain water completely.
Do not grind continuously, just give a run, wipe the sides to ensure even powdering. Repeat few times to coarsely grind chana dal.
Reducing ghee will give dry texture instead of halwa consistency.
Adding water equally with milk is important to cook the chana.
If chana is not cooked properly, the halwa texture will not be soft. It will be chewy.