Mohanthal
Mohanthal is a traditional Gujarati sweet dish made up from besan, ghee, sugar and nuts. It is made in Rajasthan too
Ingredients
- 1,1/2 kilogram gram flour
- 1,1/4 kilogram ghee
- 150 grams slivered almonds and pistachios for decoration
- 50 grams coarsely ground almonds and pistachios
- 250 grams Mawa, finely grated
- 1/2 evaporated milk
- 4 teaspoon nutmeg, heaped
- 3 teaspoon ground cardamom, heaped
- 1 gram saffron
- 1 kilogram sugar
- 3 cups water
- 2 grams saffron
Instructions
- Heat together one cup of ghee and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly; do not bring it to boil; remove from heat
- Put flour in a large saucepan and pour this liquid a little at a time and mix to form a crumbly mixture
- Press down the mixture, cover and leave for 5-6 hours or overnight
- Heat the remaining ghee in a large saucepan, add the crumbly mixture ensuring that it is lump-free and fry until very rich golden brown
- Add the mawa and cook for a further few minutes
- Remove from the heat and thoroughly mix in the cardamom, nutmeg and saffron
- In a separate saucepan make the syrup (chasni) with sugar, water and 2 gms saffron; when syrup is about to spin a thread, test between fingers to see that it forms 1-2 threads
- Remove from heat and immediately mix well into flour mixture Method (continued)
- The flour mixture is ready when it comes away from the sides of the saucepan and some ghee oozes out other wise return to low heat for another 2-3 minutes, stirring all the time
- Let it stand for 1/2 hour snd remove excess ghee from the top
- Spread onto a greased tray to 11/2 inch thickness
- Sprinkle slivered and coarsely ground nuts
- It takes 2 days to set; once set, cut into desired squares
- N.B: Another way of testing whether the syrup (chasni) is ready is to take a wooden spoonful of syrup and let it drip back into the saucepan until the last drop is left. Drip it onto an aluminium plate or saucepan lid and if it does not spread and remains firm then the chasni is ready