To make moong dal halwa, soak yellow split moong dal for a few hours, grind it to a coarse paste, roast the paste slowly in ghee until it turns golden and smells roasted, then cook it with hot milk and sugar until it thickens and leaves the pan. Our starting point for 200 g of dal is 150 g of ghee, 150 g of sugar and 500 g of whole milk. The roast is the slow step.
At a glance
- Wikipedia's entry on moong dal halwa says it originates from Rajasthan and is made in the winter months and for Diwali, Holi and weddings.
- USDA FoodData Central lists raw mung beans at 347 kcal per 100 g, ghee at 900 kcal, granulated sugar at 387 kcal and whole milk at 61 kcal.
- On those figures our batch is 2,929.5 kcal, about 366 kcal a serving over eight; our lighter batch about 295.
- ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines say to limit ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day and define sugar above 25 g a day as high on a 2,000 kcal diet.
What is moong dal halwa, and what is moong dal?
Moong dal halwa is a sweet of soaked, coarsely ground yellow split moong dal roasted in ghee and cooked with sugar and hot milk or water. Wikipedia's entry on moong dal halwa lists those four ingredients, plus cardamom and dry fruits.
The dal is the mung bean, Vigna radiata, dehusked and split. Wikipedia's entry on the mung bean says that in some regional cuisines of India the beans "are stripped of their outer coats to make mung dal". FSSAI's draft pulses standard of 14 December 2017 lists "Green gram (Moong)" and "applies to the whole or shelled or split pulses"; we found the draft on FSSAI's site but not the final text.
What ratio of dal, ghee, sugar and milk should you use?
Our starting point, by weight, is 200 g of dal to 150 g of ghee, 150 g of sugar and 500 g of whole milk: three-quarters of the dal's weight in ghee and in sugar. Our lighter version keeps the dal and milk and cuts the ghee to 100 g and the sugar to 120 g.
Neither is a standard. We weigh the dal: USDA FoodData Central puts a cup of whole mung beans at 207 g, and split dal packs differently. The recipe blog that ranks for this query uses 6 to 8 tablespoons of ghee to half a cup of dal; we opened it only to see what it does, not as a source.
We have heard that moong dal halwa needs more ghee than sooji halwa. We opened no source that tests it. Our sooji starting point is equal weights of grain and ghee; here it is three-quarters, and the paste still roasts. Weigh the ghee: our guide to ghee spoon measures in grams explains why a tablespoon weighs 12.8 g or 15 g.
Why soak and coarsely grind the dal?
Because the halwa is built from a paste, not a flour. Wikipedia's entry describes the dal soaked for a few hours and ground into a coarse paste, and that paste is what the ghee roasts. Soaking softens the dal enough to grind; keeping the grind coarse gives the finished halwa its grain.
In our kitchen, a fine grind turns into one stiff lump and roasts unevenly; a coarse grind breaks up as it dries and browns grain by grain. Grind with as little water as possible; every spoon added must be cooked off again.
Why is the roast in ghee the slow step, and when is it done?
Because the paste must first dry out and then brown, and both take low heat and constant stirring; the dry flour of atte ka halwa skips the first stage. Wikipedia's entry says it is roasted slowly in ghee until golden and aromatic, and that "the process is time-consuming and requires constant stirring to avoid burning".
From the stove, in our experience, the paste soaks up the ghee into a heavy, pale mass, and for a long stretch nothing happens but steam. Then it loosens, free ghee shows at the edges, the grains turn sandy and separate, and the colour moves from pale yellow to gold. The smell is the surer sign: raw and beany gives way to roasted and nutty. That is the point to pour.
Stop too early and it tastes of raw dal; go past deep gold to brown and it tastes bitter. Both are kitchen experience.
How do you make moong dal halwa step by step?
Soak and grind the dal, roast the paste in ghee on a low flame until golden and nutty, pour in hot milk with the sugar in it, and cook until the halwa thickens and leaves the pan. Quantities are our starting point; the lighter version uses 100 g of ghee and 120 g of sugar.
- Soak. Rinse 200 g of yellow split moong dal, soak it in plenty of water for a few hours and drain well.
- Grind. Grind to a coarse paste with as little water as the grinder needs, stopping while it is still gritty.
- Heat the milk. Bring 500 g of whole milk to the boil with 150 g of sugar and keep it hot.
- Melt the ghee. Put 150 g of ghee in a heavy, wide kadhai over a low flame.
- Roast. Add the paste and stir without stopping, scraping the base, until it dries, turns sandy and golden and smells roasted.
- Pour. Turn the flame to its lowest and pour the hot milk down the side of the pan in a steady stream, stirring hard with a long ladle. It will spit; keep your face back and children away.
- Cook. Keep stirring as the halwa thickens, with a pinch of cardamom if you like.
- Finish. When the halwa gathers into one mass that leaves the sides of the pan and ghee shows at the edges, take it off the heat and serve warm.
Heat the milk first: in our experience, cold milk seizes the hot paste into lumps. We opened no source that explains why.
How many calories are in a serving of moong dal halwa?
About 366 kcal a serving for our starting-point batch and about 295 kcal for the lighter one, when a 200 g dal batch is split eight ways. The figures are USDA FoodData Central's SR Legacy records, multiplied through below; the raw mung bean record stands in for split dal.
Per 100 g, it lists mung beans, mature seeds, raw at 347 kcal, clarified butter (ghee) at 900 kcal and 60 g of saturated fat, granulated sugar at 387 kcal, and whole milk, 3.25 per cent fat at 61 kcal.
| Per batch, 200 g of dal | Our starting point | Lighter |
|---|---|---|
| Moong dal (347 kcal per 100 g) | 200 g: 200 × 3.47 = 694 kcal | 200 g: 694 kcal |
| Ghee (900 kcal per 100 g) | 150 g: 150 × 9.00 = 1,350 kcal | 100 g: 100 × 9.00 = 900 kcal |
| Sugar (387 kcal per 100 g) | 150 g: 150 × 3.87 = 580.5 kcal | 120 g: 120 × 3.87 = 464.4 kcal |
| Whole milk (61 kcal per 100 g) | 500 g: 500 × 0.61 = 305 kcal | 500 g: 305 kcal |
| Batch total | 694 + 1,350 + 580.5 + 305 = 2,929.5 kcal | 694 + 900 + 464.4 + 305 = 2,363.4 kcal |
| Per serving, 8 servings | 2,929.5 ÷ 8 = 366.19, about 366 kcal | 2,363.4 ÷ 8 = 295.43, about 295 kcal |
| Ghee per serving | 150 ÷ 8 = 18.75 g (3.75 teaspoons at 5 g) | 100 ÷ 8 = 12.5 g (2.5 teaspoons) |
| Sugar per serving | 150 ÷ 8 = 18.75 g | 120 ÷ 8 = 15 g |
How does a serving fit the ICMR-NIN 2024 guidelines?
As an occasional sweet. The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) say: "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible." On their household measure of "Teaspoon 5g", that is 5 to 10 g; our serving carries 18.75 g, the lighter one 12.5 g.
On saturated fat, the guidelines say: "Use of SF is considered high when more than 10g/day of visible saturated fats (for a 2000 Kcal diet/ day) is consumed in the form of ghee, butter". At USDA's 60 g per 100 g, our serving's 18.75 g of ghee carries 18.75 × 0.6 = 11.25 g; the lighter serving's 12.5 g carries 7.5 g.
On sugar: "Consumption of sugar in quantities that contribute over 5% of total energy intake per day or 25 g/day (based on average intake of 2000 Kcal/day) is defined as 'high' sugar." Their added sugars "include sucrose (table sugar), jaggery, honey", so jaggery counts the same. Our serving carries 18.75 g, the lighter one 15 g. If a doctor or dietitian has set your fat or sugar intake, follow their advice.
Is moong dal halwa a winter or Rajasthani sweet?
Both, as far as the one entry we opened goes. Wikipedia's entry on moong dal halwa says it originates from Rajasthan, is particularly popular in the northern Indian states, and "is typically prepared during winter months and festive occasions such as Diwali, Holi, and weddings".
That entry's references are recipe books and a recipe site, so we treat it as custom, not history. We opened no source that explains why it belongs to winter, and make no claim that it warms anyone. The ghee is the flavour that comes through; ours is Himdhara's A2 bilona ghee, churned from curd on a wooden bilona.
The short version
Moong dal halwa is soaked, coarsely ground moong dal roasted slowly in ghee until it dries, turns golden and smells nutty, then cooked with hot sweetened milk until it leaves the pan. Our starting point is 200 g of dal to 150 g of ghee, 150 g of sugar and 500 g of milk; our lighter one has 100 g of ghee and 120 g of sugar. On USDA figures that is about 366 and 295 kcal a serving over eight.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Wikipedia contributors (2026). Moong dal halwa. Wikipedia.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Mung beans, mature seeds, raw. FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Butter, Clarified butter (ghee). FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (2017). Draft Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulations, 2017. FSSAI, New Delhi.