Moong dal halwa is an amazingly rich and decadent, royal Indian dessert, slow-cooked in milk and khoya, garnished with chopped nuts. The texture of the coarse moong dal cooked in milk makes it so creamy, soulful, and yum!
Soak moong dal overnight or at least for 6 hours. Drain out all the water.
Grind it to a coarse paste. You may use few teaspoons of water if needed for grinding. This water will be drained out later anyways.
Put the ground moong dal on a muslin cloth and squeeze to drain out all the water. The drier the moong dal paste, the lesser time it will take to cook.
In a heavy non-stick pan, add saffron strands, saute for a minute or so. Heat a tablespoon of milk. Crush the saffron strands between fingers and add it to this milk. Keep it aside.
Heat the non-stick sauce pan on medium. Add ghee. I started with adding ¾ cup of ghee and then later added some more. Once melted, add the moong dal paste. Saute on medium heat for about 15 minutes, continuously stirring so that it doesn't get stuck on the pan or burn.
Add milk, khoya, the soaked saffron strands along with milk, crushed cardamom powder. Keep stirring. Ghee will leave the sides of the pan. Satue for about 20 minutes.
Add sugar. Mix. If adding color, you may add it at this point. Cover the pan for about 3 minutes. Uncover the pan and saute for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Remove the halwa on a plate and garnish it with cardamom powder, chopped pistachios. You may also add any other garnishes like dried rose petals, edible silver foil etc. Enjoy!