This incredibility delicious dessert comes from the north of India....Rajasthan. It has a lot of ghee but if you try to reduce the amount of ghee it will not turn out as creamy and rich as it should be.

Ingredients

• Moong daal -  2 cups

• Ricotta cheese -  1 cup

• Milk - 1 cup

• Saffron 2 pinches  (soaked in 1 teaspoon milk)

• Rose essence - a few drops

• Ghee (clarified butter) - 1 1/4th cup

• Sugar - 1 2/3cups

Method

1. Soak lentils for 8 hours or overnight. Grind to a coarse paste. Heat the ghee and gently fry the moong daal paste till golden brown. At this time the daal would have almost cooked. Add milk and cook on low until the  milk evaporates. This will cook the daal all the way. Add the ricotta cheese  and stir on low. Mix well. Cook for a few minutes until the mixture comes together.

2. Dissolve sugar in a cup of water, add saffron and reduce syrup to a one thread consistency. Add the lentils to syrup and stir briskly. Add the rose essence.  and serve hot (or chilled if preferred)

3. Moong Daal Halwa is best eaten warm. Add a dollop of French Vanilla ice cream on top of the warm moong daal halwa. Enjoy !

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