Mung Dal Shira – Make it for a Special Occasion

Mung Dal Shira – make it for a special occasion, a delicious sweet treat to celebrate a festival, birthday, anniversary……. Or, make it just because you feel like having it, no reason or justification needed!

It’s a dessert, so yes, it is a bit rich. Of course it has Ghee (clarified butter) and sugar. But wait, its main ingredient, Mung Dal (Moong Daal), makes this dessert rich in protein, fiber and a host of micronutrients too! Not a lot of desserts can claim that now, can they?

So… enjoy this delicious Mung Dal Shira (Shee-raa), made extra special because you will likely rave over it with friends and loved ones while celebrating whatever the special occasion might be.

Mung Dal – nutrient packed legume

What is Mung Dal? It is split, skinless Mung Beans. When the tiny green-skinned whole bean is split and “washed” to remove the skin, the Dal is light yellow. All over the Indian sub-continent, folks love this nutrient-packed legume – the whole bean, as well as the Dal. Most often paired with rice or Roti/Chapati (Roat-ee / Chup-paat-ee), the combination of Dal and grain makes a complete protein: i.e., provides all the essential amino acids our bodies need.

When it’s time for a special occasion, though, this same humble Dal is magically transformed into a range of elegant desserts: one of my personal favorites is the delectable and supremely decadent Mung Halva (Moong Hull-vaa). One creamy mouthful can transport you to Yum-heaven!

Is Mung Dal Shira the same as Mung Halva?

Is the Mung Dal Shira posted here the same as Mung Halva (Hull-Vaa), ? Not quite…. !

Traditional Mung Halva is utterly delicious, of course, but it is pretty darned loaded – about as decadent as can be! I absolutely love it, but by the time I’ve had 3-4 spoonfuls, my head begins to do battle with my tongue…. which wants to devour a whole bowlful of Halva! And, of course, I know my stomach is going to complain later too…. it has to work really hard to digest all this rich stuff!

The Shira recipe I’ve shared here is way lighter – less Ghee, less sugar and no Khoa ( Khow-aa/Kho-yaa, Hindi; Khavaa, Marathi) at all. Even so, I quickly discovered that it is just as hard to exercise “portion-control” with this “light” Shira as it is with the traditional, “rich” Halva.

Mung Dal Shira – adapted from Sooji Shira and Mung Halva

This recipe for Mung Dal Shira is my own concoction…. a “light” version of Mung Halva.

I developed this version years ago, when I was a graduate student, living in a small university town. Of course, Khoa was not available there. And, busy grad student that I was, do you think I had the the time or energy to make Khoa from scratch? Slaving over the stove, stirring the boiling milk, until all the liquid evaporated… Ummm…. No, thank you!

So, I experimented…. I wanted to make a tasty Mung Halva-like dessert without Khoa. I did try using milk powder to mimic the taste and texture that Khoa gives to Mung Halva, but I didn’t like it at all. So, I decided to just drop the Khoa altogether, and to call it Mung Shira: to differentiate it from the rich, oozing-with-Ghee mind-image conjured up by the term “Halva”.

I figured I would begin my trials by borrowing some ideas from the “how to” for making simple Shira (Sooji/Semolina Halva), which is typically made without Khoa. After a few tries, I felt that I had a workable recipe; and with a microwave and a food processor to help me, it was really quite easy to make.

I invited my friends for a taste-test…. when their faces lit up after that first little nibble, I knew I had a winner!

Flexible recipe – vary it as you wish

Over the years, I have continued to tinker with my recipe a little, varying the amounts of Ghee and/or sugar I added, making it with or without milk, etc. I have even used Paneer and Ricotta cheese as substitutes for Khoa. Most of my variations turned out quite well, so I think of this Mung Shira recipe as being pretty flexible. I can keep it very simple and fairly light, as I describe in this recipe, or I can easily transform it into pure decadence.

Check Recipe Notes for suggestions on how to use Khoa, Paneer, Ricotta cheese, etc., to convert this relatively “light” Shira into “Halva”, fit for a royal feast!

Mung Shira/Halva – The First Step

First step in making Mung Shira – rinse and soak the Mung Dal, preferably for several hours. I like to soak it overnight. I find that the long soak gives a softer, smoother and creamier texture to the Shira.

Then, grind the soaked Dal to a slightly coarse texture. In the old days, when folks didn’t have electric food processors/blenders, they had to do this manually, on a grinding stone! With large families and lots of mouths to feed, this must have been back-breaking work!

Thank goodness for our modern appliances, which makes this part pretty darned easy.

Let’s make some Halva – the traditional way

Now to transform this ground up Dal into Halva. Want to make it the traditional way? Sure… what will you need? Patience – lots of it! Oh… and some serious arm-muscle too! Let me explain….

After heating Ghee in a heavy-bottom wok/frying pan, add the ground-up Dal and start stirring. It quickly starts to form little “globs” as it cooks. Well, we really don’t want those in the Halva… So? You have to break them up. How? Maybe poke them with your spatula or smash them gently against the wall of the wok – either way, it takes some focused effort.

But wait, don’t get too focused on doing that…. or the rest of the mixture might start to stick and burn! So… turn the heat down, and maybe add some more Ghee to prevent sticking. Just as you manage to break up some of the “globs”, new “globs” pop up somewhere else! Finally, after what feels like eternity, the mixture will start to look cooked and relatively “glob”-free. Hopefully, you’ve also managed to keep it from burning!

Now what? Add milk and sugar – it becomes a bit gooey and watery! So… Cook it some more, stirring continuously, to let it dry out a bit. This is where you need some serious arm muscle – as the mixture thickens, it becomes increasingly hard to stir. If you don’t stir…. it begins to burn at the bottom. Finally, though, it’s time to add the Khoa…. and yes, stir it some more!

Hmm… All this is way too tedious for me – and not quite my idea of fun at all! Is it any surprise that my Mom didn’t want to make Mung Halva too often? But you know…. helping her make it just made me determined to figure out an easier way to do all this.

Mung Shira – Modernized – easy-peasy!

I have modernized and greatly simplified the procedure I’ve outlined above. Thank you, food processor and microwave oven. Just imagine, no sweat, no sore arms…. now I can make it pretty much on the fly whenever the craving hits!

So… what do I do differently? Well, first I spread out the ground Dal on a ceramic/glass plate, then microwave it for a few minutes. When I take it out, it looks like a dense, solid sheet of cooked batter! I cool it for a few minutes, then loosen the cooked “sheet” from the plate and break it up into chunks. Now run the chunks through the food processor again.

Microwaving the ground Dal eliminates the stirring completely – no “globs” to break up! Re-grinding the cooked Dal is like witnessing pure magic! In a matter of seconds, the cooked chunks get crushed up and completely transformed, giving you fine crumbles. Not a “glob” in sight…. and best of all, no arm-workout at all!

At this point, it’s more than half-way done! Next up, I lightly saute the fine crumbles in a little Ghee for a few minutes. Soon, a lovely aroma wafts through the air: as the crumbles get “fried” and begin to brown just a little. Then I stir in sugar and water, cover and simmer on low heat for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

All done! Delicious Mung Shira is ready – steaming hot and Oh…. so very enticing!

“Kharpus” Shira – Brown the Halva to Enhance Flavor

If you like, you can also “brown” the Shira a little – it adds a complex, light caramel-like flavor and color to the Shira – in Marathi, we describe this flavor as “Kharpus” (‘Khurr’, to rhyme with burr, ‘puss’, as in pussy-cat: Khurr-puss). Lots of folks (me included), really love this Kharpus flavor for Shira/Halva of any kind.

To do this, I simply drizzle a few drops of melted Ghee all around the prepared Halva in a non-stick coated pan, cover and cook on low heat for another 6-8 min and turn the heat off. I leave it undisturbed for 5-7 min, then reach under the Shira with a spatula and flip over a small portion. The bottom should have developed some brown spots. Gently turn everything over in small portions and mix well, to evenly distribute the “browned” portion of the Halva.

So… What’s left to do?

Add freshly crushed cardamom, chopped/slivered nuts (almonds / cashews / pistachios).

Want to make it extra-special? Add a bit of saffron – as its gorgeous color and wonderful fragrance infuses through the Shira, you have a special dessert indeed.

Special Diets

This Mung Dal Shira is vegetarian, but not vegan; it is also gluten-free and soy-free. If you need to avoid nuts, simply omit the slivered almonds. To make the Shira vegan, simply replace the Ghee with coconut oil or almond oil and add a little extra cardamom.

Go ahead, make this Mung Shira to celebrate a special birthday, or anniversary, or another special occasion. Also, if you like this Mung Shira, perhaps you might also like to check out my Sweet Shira recipe, made with wheat Sooji/Semolina (also called Farina, Cream of Wheat).

Do leave a review and a star rating – much appreciated.

Enjoy!