Chana Dal Burfi - SNC challenge

I am part of the South Vs North Challenge, a brain child of Divya Pramil of You too can Cook and the South Vs North Challenge is celebrating its one year anniversary this month. Very proud moment for every one who is part of the challenge. Congratulations and well done guys !! The past few months since I have been part of SNC, the beginning of every month, I eagerly await for the new challenge to be posted and then try to finish them as quickly as possible. I had great fun participating in the event so far.  For the celebratory month, Divya has let us cook from any of the previous challenges. Since I became part of SNC only from April of this year, this meant I had a vast choice available before me. I decided to choose Chana Dal Barfi / Halwa being a celebration time. Plus Diwali is near as well. 



Sweets are both mine and hubby's favorite and Halwas/Burfis are especially close to our hearts. Chana Dal Barfi/Halwa is a delicious dessert and very easy to make. Do try it out for Diwali this year :) The SNC challenge for Chana Dal Barfi/ Halwa was hosted by Kirthi on behalf of Northern Team. 

Chana Dal Barfi / Halwa:

Time Taken excluding soaking time: 30 min
Makes around 30 Burfis. 

Ingredients:

1 cup Chana Dal
3/4 cup Ghee
1/2 cup Sugar
2.5 cups Milk
1 Tsp Cardamom Powder
6 - 7 Chopped Almonds

Prepping:

Step 1: Wash the Chana Dal thoroughly and soak the Chana Dal in water for 2 hrs.

Step 2: Pressure cook Chana Dal in 1.5 cups of water for around 2 whistles on high heat. Then simmer for 5 minutes and switch off.

Step 3: Once cooled, open the pressure cooker and remove the extra water if any left and mash the dal to a grainy paste. 

Method of Preparing:

Step 1: 

Heat ghee in a a wide heavy bottomed pan. Once the ghee becomes hot, add the mashed dal and roast well for around 15 min on medium heat. The raw smell of the dal will disappear by that time and a nutty aroma will spread through the house. 


Here is the pic of the mashed dal as soon as I started roasting in ghee. 

And here is the pic after 15 min. The mashed dal started coming off the plate. 

Note: I used only 3 Tbsp ghee instead of 3/4 cup as we prefer less ghee. If you use 3/4 cup ghee, then you can see ghee separating from the edges of the mashed dal in the pan. 

Step 2:

Add 1/2 cup milk and let it cook on high heat till the milk dries up. 

Again add 1/2 cup milk and let it cook till it dries. Repeat till the entire 2.5 cup milk is used.

Step 3:

Add sugar, chopped almonds and cardamom powder. 

Mix well and cook on high heat for 5 min and switch off. 


Serve hot as Halwa simply like that or spread the entire mixture on a greased plate and let it cool. 

Then cut diagonally and serve as Barfi. 

Enjoy the sweets and have a wonderful and safe Diwali !!