An exquisite dessert that tingles your taste buds from the lands of Thiruvaiyaru! I’m sure each and every soul in and around Thanjavur would have come across this dessert atleast once in their lifetime.
My mother is from Thanjavur, anyone who is visiting us from there had always brought us this wonderful dessert. I would highly recommend you to visit the shop that serves this dessert for the past 50 years. I’ve tried to bring the nearest version of the original recipe (it’s secret, though), try and let me know your comments.
Ingredients
1/2 cup moong dal (yellow split)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon maida
2-3 tablespoons milk khoya/khova
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
6-7 tablespoons clarified butter/ghee
Nuts and dry fruits as desired
Red food dye (optional)
Preparation
1. Dry roast the moong dal, pressure cook until it becomes mushy and grind it to a fine paste
2. Heat a pan and add a tablespoon of ghee, roast the nuts-dry fruits and remove them from the pan
3. Add another tablespoon of ghee and maida. Cook in a low flame and make sure you don’t burn the maida
4. Pour in 2 more tablespoons of ghee and the ground moong dal paste. Cook in a low flame for a minute or 2, pour in the sugar and keep stirring. If you’re adding a food dye, then add it now by dissolving it in a tablespoon of water
4. Add the khova-cardamom powder and continue stirring
5. Add in the rest of the ghee and keep mixing until it leaves the sides of the pan, approximately 5 minutes
6. Mix the roasted nuts and serve warm.
Tips
Since we have added ghee, it might harden up once it cools down. So, please reheat before serving.
Loavesandfishez 