Gujarati Sweet - Mohanthal

Our lovely lady Sharmilee Sriram with magic fingers brings us yet another mouth watering recipe this time from the most famous Gujarati sweet, Mohanthal. Perfect for the festive season as the Navratri is just around the corner.

Mohanthal

                               

Picture Credit: Sharmilee Sriram

 

 Ingredients:

Besan Flour - 1 cup

Ghee - 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp

Sugar - 1 and 1/4 cup

Mawa/ Khoya - 3/4 cup

Water - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Mixed nuts (pista, almonds and cashews) 

Broken pieces - 2-3 tbsp; powdered - 2 tbsp

Process:

• Grease a stainless steel plate with 1 tsp ghee and seta side.
• Melt and keep aside 1/2 cup of clarified butter/ghee
• Keep mawa/khoya at room temperature and have 3/4 cup grated. Set aside.
• Powder a handful of mixed nuts and set aside. Then chop the mixed nuts and keep around 2 tbsp of it aside.

Picture Credit: Sharmilee Sriramn

• Take besan flour and sieve finely.
• Add a tbsp of milk and crumble using fingers. Then add 1 tbsp of ghee and continue making crumbles. set aside.
• Add sugar and 1/2 cup of water and make a syrup with one string consistency. Set aside.
• Add 1/2 cup of melted ghee in a pan, heat it and now add the crumbled besan flour and saute nicely on a low-med flame for 6-7 minutes till the raw smell of besan leaves and a nice aroma fills your kitchen.

Picture Credit: Sharmilee Sriram

• Now add the grated mawa/khoya and keep frying for another 5-6 minutes.
• Add the sugar syrup now and keep stirring continuously without any lumps.

Picture Credit: Sharmilee Sriram

• When the mixture slightly thickens, add cardamom powder and powdered nuts and keep stirring.
• At one stage, you can see the sides of the mixture leaving the vessel and foaming up here and there. 
• At this stage, switch off the flame and transfer the mixture to the ghee greased plate and allow it to cool.

Picture Credit: Sharmilee Sriram

• Generally within few minutes, it will solidify or it can take 1-2 hours for it to solidify. 

Picture Credit: Sharmilee Sriram

Picture Credit: Sharmilee Sriram

• Take a knife, grease it with ghee and make lovely slices as per your preference. Some like squares, some like diamond shapes. Or get creative, use a cookie cutter and make out new shapes.

Picture Credit: Sharmilee Sriram

Tips: If your mixture did not solidify even after 2 hours and still remains gooey or soft, maybe you took it a little early from the flame. In that case, transfer the whole mixture back to flame and stir for few more minutes and then pour it back and cool it down. You should be able to make the squares easily this time.