Wednesday, April 20, 2011

BM # 4 DAY 3 : Chandrakanthalu (Moong Dal Sweet)

I got this recipe from my mom. Chandrakanathalu are sweet moong dal diamond cuts, i used to love these as a kid. My sister and me.. we used wait for my mom to make these but this was usually made during festival times. While my mom used to fry these we used to enjoy eating the dough because its sweet and tastes very good and of course kid friendly . Rather than eating them hot or on a same day, i used eat them the next day. They taste great at room temperature.
I was so nostalgic while making these...hmmm .... memories of childhood just rushed through me .... i always ate these made by my mom but today i was making chandrakanthalu all by myself ..... hope you all like it :)


Ingredients :
1 cup moong dal
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
4 tablespoons freshly grated coconut
A pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
Measure sugar, water and moong dal with same cup.


Directions :
1. Soak moong dal for atleast 4 -5 hours.
2. After its soaked, blend the moong dal into a paste without adding water. The paste should not be very smooth or very coarse.
3. Heat a heavy bottom pan on medium high, add sugar, water, grated coconut, salt. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
4. Once the sugar dissolves add cardamom powder.
5. Reduce the heat to low and by continuous stirring add the moong dal paste. Mix well.
6. Let it cook on low flame till it reaches halwa texture. You should be able to form a ball with the dough and also it should not be sticking to your fingers. When it reaches this consistency, remove from heat.
7. Soak a cotton cloth or a cotton towel in water and squeeze out all the excess water from it. 
8. Transfer all the moong dal dough on to the wet towel and spread the dough to 1/2 an inch thickness. Its a bit difficult to spread the dough as its hot, so what i do is, i put the batter in one end of the towel and cover it with other end. I wet my hand and spread the dough or you can also use a rolling pin. Let it cool down completely.
9. Once it cools down, cut into desired shapes.
10. Heat oil on medium high heat and fry the pieces till golden brown.
11. You can serve them warm or at room temperature.
Note : Do not over crowd the oil while frying otherwise they will stick to each other.
They taste best when they are a day old. You need not refrigerate them, they have a shelf life of 4 to 5 days without refrigeration.


Check out whats cooking in my fellow bloggers kitchen today ....

Diabetes Diet/Management: KamalikaSmithaSuma  






Kid Friendly Recipes: AnushaCool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: JayasreePavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu  
Seven Days of PreservesGayathri KumarVaishali 
30 Minutes Meals: Priya MahadevanSrivalli  

16 comments:

  1. Very new recipe. The procedure is quite interesting..

    ReplyDelete
  2. a different kind of sweet.....which region does it come from?.....n i like the coconut in this...may b we can add some nuts too....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yumm.. I've heard abt these, but never had thm before. They look sweet and delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! super rich dessert - looks yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thats such an amazing sweet with moongdal.I am familiar with diamond cuts.But this one is new to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I used to enjoy it as a kid too!...I havent tried it out tho!...maybe this year for Diwali! :)
    u made them perfectly!
    Smitha
    Smitha's Spicy
    Flavors

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ vaishali sabnani .. this a recipe from Andhra Pradesh. Its made during festivals and yes you can add chopped nuts.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice festive treat indeed! Love the name of this dessert too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A new recipe for me.. Is it necessary for it to be deep fried. Will it taste good at the halwa stage itself. Or is that its not fully cooked at that point?

    ReplyDelete
  10. @ Jayasree ... the recipe authentically calls for deep frying. Its cooked by the time it reaches the halwa texture, we deep fry it to give a nice crunchy texture. As i mentioned, as a kid i always enjoyed eating it even before frying... it tastes good even like that, but as there is no ghee in it it might not be as rich as halwa, but its definetly tasty. You could probably add some nuts to it :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very new recipe for me too...its looks soo crispy and delicious..

    ReplyDelete

I love cooking and it's even more fun being able to share it with all you fabulous people. Please leave me a comment and I'll be sure to stop by your blog as well! :)
I love hearing from everyone!!