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.


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