Humne dekhi hai, un aankhon ki mahakti khushboo
Haath se chhuke ise, rishto kaa iljaam naa do
sirf ehsaas hai yeh, rooh se mehsoos karo
pyaar ko pyaar hi rehne do – koi naam naa do
pyaar koi bol nahi, pyaar aawaaj nahi
ek khamoshi hai – sunti hai – kaha karti hai
nay eh buzhti hai, na rukti hai, na teherti hai kahin
noor ki boond hai, sadiyon se baha karti hai....
thus goes the song from Khamoshi. For many years this song meant what love was for me. Being a die hard fan of old Hindi melodies, pathos and melancholy ones hit me straight on head. If I wanted to have a hearty cry for no reason, would just listen to one of these and have a good cry. It been ages since I have had a moment to listen to one and think about the other world, soaring high on these, when my mortal legs couldn't take me so. I remember those late evening reclining on a easy chair, staring at the twinkling stars, with Kishore kumar singing full of pathos in the background. It helped Dad being fond of old Hindi songs too.
Thinking on the same lines, this reminds me of one late afternoon at school during my 11th grade. There I was, standing in front of my teachers, about to embark on a mission impossible. I just plunged in and voiced lyrics from the movie, Aashiqui. I went on and on with a voice more manly than Kumar Sanu could've got..
Dhire dhire se meri zindagi men aanaa
Dhire dhire se dil ko churaanaa
Tumase pyaar hame hai kitanaa jaanejaanaa
Tumase milakar tumako hai bataanaa
and in a voice not as sweet as a crow! God knows what else would've happened, had the teachers not been so dumbfounded to see me in a singing competition! I was there on a mission to help my best friend. He wanted to be there because his girl was participating and he couldn't find any excuse to be there. So I thought the best way to get him there, was to participate. Oh for the sake of friendship, I had to endure the worst time of my life, voicing a song in front of gaping crowd. But I enjoyed the entire episode, that is the first part of it anyways. I guess my teachers were too shocked and surprised to see me there, that they selected me for the second audition.
Now, once I can muster the courage right, but if they expect me to come for second, what am I supposed to do. Obviously I can't sing the same song again. But that was the only one I knew. So I spent the entire evening and the next day to learn another one. By afternoon, I was thinking if I would chicken out. But my friend wanted to be there again. So I can't ditch him. This time, the teachers had their sense about and you know how it might've ended. But the fun part was, my classmates thought I had the greatest manly voice and made me sing that song for many months to come. Though I must've sung this song some umpteen number of times, nobody was tempted to entire my life. That, I believe is the love story of mine!
Coming back to present, I asked hubby dear what his plans are for 14th, he asked what 14th? Well I couldn't say much after that, can I?. But being persistent, reminded him what 14th is about. He gave me one look and told me, well if your three brats will give me a second to take a breath, I might remember what date it is today! So there goes my chances of imagining on romantic tone. Anyways, its not like me to give importance to any specific dates like this. But if its for a blog event, then of course you can find me being busy planning what to do. And Pooja wanted a heart shaped ones! So its Moong Dal in heart shape for hubby dear.
Finally I came about to prepare Moong dal halwa. And in a most chaotic situation. I will spare you the details as I don't' want to bore on those everyday affair at home. Result was, I loved it but hubby dear said it should've been little more soft. Well love and life is like that right. Gets hard on the beginning and going soft as the time goes..I shall take the philosophy from that.
I am going to prepare this again till I get the perfect one. But till then for those of you who know how to prepare the perfect Moong dal Halwa, can help me with it, others can enjoy the hearty Moong dal while I get on the business.
Ingredients needed
Yellow moong dal - 1 cup.
Ghee - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 & 1/2 cup
Cardomom & Nutmug - a pinch
Method to prepare
Soak Moong dal for 4 hrs. Since moong dal on soaking expands, remember to take only whats required. Grind to smooth paste with little water.
Heat a thick bottom pan with ghee. Add the moong paste and keep stirring well so that it gets cooked and soft. Non-stick would work out well but I did a mistake in selecting a thin one. So it got struck to the bottom.
Heat milk and add this along with sugar to the cooking Moong. It takes about an hour to get cooked. Ensure the moong is soft and you keep stirring it so that the bottom doesn't get burnt.
I used my konda's mould to make out the heart. It looked very pretty indeed.
This I sending to Pooja for her Valentine's Day party!
Nags says
lovely and sweet hearts 🙂 also checked out your cartoon blog. it was good 🙂
kamala says
loved those sweet hearts.Nice write up.
Kalai says
I am sitting here laughing my head off, Srivalli! Your husband reminds me of my husband... Mine probably has no idea that V day is coming up either. I'm sure he doesn't know what today's date it! *laugh* Thanks for a sweet story and an equally sweet recipe! 🙂
Uma says
The hearts are so hearty! Lovely! I have to try this.
Cham says
Lovely heart - Moong dhal halwa should taste yummy
sra says
Valli, "when I want to have a good cry for no reason ..." that amused me no end. Thanks for reminding me of that first song!
Asha says
Hearts and Lemons are everywhere these days! Looks delicious Sri, love the little heart mould you have!:))
Jayashree says
Hope you have a happy valentines....heart shaped moong halwa is a nice touch...
Rina says
Srivalli, this is a new desser for me... Sounds yummy... I like moong dhal.. so will be happy to give this a try. Thanks for sharing.
Happy cook says
I love all kind of halwa's and home made are the best.
I don't think one have to do anything special for 14th. I 've meae this deal with hubby we don't buy nothing for each other that day, only bacause it is so pohaa in the shops. Can't go anywere without the red hearts.
Why should one have a certain day to celebrate.
Namratha says
Hehe, nice recollection of the past Sree 🙂 The halwa looks good and is new to me, will give it a try.
Latha says
🙂 That was a lovely story Sri! WE do lots of fun spontaneous things when we are younger. Looks like we think too much and dont enjoy life as it is when we get older! A lesson to be learnt 🙂
The halway hearts look great!
Hey, when u left that comment on my blog about "Jounrey called Life" i did nto understand what u meant - now i do! Looks like we think alike girl 😉
Have a fun V day (inspite of the 3 brats!)
Hugs
Sia says
lol valli. u r too sweet to help ur friend meet his crush by singing;) that was really a funny write-up and i enjoyed reading it.
inspite of seeing all red and white heart shaped baloons flying around krish comes and asks me what's the special ocassion!!! what do i say! so no sweets and no treats for him on v-day;) we never celebrated v-day since 3 yrs and i cant see it happening for another 30 yrs:) its really gr8 if he remembers my b'day let alone v-day;) he he he...
never heard of moong dal halwa. sound very interesting. does it give nutty flavour?
Hima says
A healthy halwa sri. You know what, you are talking about valentines day, yesterday was our third marriage anniversary and I forgot that. Good thing is that my hubby remembered and wished me, that is when, I scratched my head and wished him too. Very bad!! isn't it.
AnuZi says
Moong daal halwa really!! Never would have put those 2 together. But it looks yummy none the less. Cute story and a great recipe. Cant expect any less from you :o)
Siri says
Sri, the halwa hearts looks delish n yummy...Happy Valentines day dear!
- Siri
Pooja says
that first song ,is sooooonice, i love it too , Pyar ko pyar hi Rehne do Koi Nam na do .... 🙂 , such a thoughtful song.
I loved the whole post infact.I wonder with one thing , why even i nthe hell of busy schedule we girls never forget this day(doesnt matter we celebrate it or not ) , and boys used to ???
I love mung dal halva, though never tried it , will surely try it with little amount first time.
Thanks a lot dear for sharing the recipe and participating 🙂 . i am glad to see your entry .
Kamini says
"He gave me one look and told me, well if your three brats will give me a second to take a breath, I might remember what date it is today!" - they're his brats too!!
This is a good way to sneak dhal into a kid's diet.
Kamini
Pooja V says
This looks so good. And its raining hearts all over blosphere.
bee says
one cup ghee? must have been delicious.
Mansi Desai says
I just LOVEEEEEE mung-dal halwa..my mom makes it awesome! loved your cute halwa hearts Srivalli:) Happy Valentine's to you:)
satya says
Nice write-up:-D, enjoyed reading it Srivalli.Sweet hearts are looking cute.
Sig says
Now we need an audio clip of you singing that song 😀 it will make a good V-day gift for your hubby dear too:D
The heart shaped halwa looks so cute 🙂
Srivalli says
Nags, thanks...nice of you to check on them..glad you liked it
sra, hahahha...yeah those are the ups of a youth in prime right!
Asha, yeah every body is so keen on lime and hearts these days!..glad you liked it..me too..
Jayashree, thanks ..yeah I was thinking about it for a whole day and had to search for it...for a moment I thought I wouldn't find it...glad I was able too
Happy cook, nice to know...yeah we too don't ...but its fun to do for an event right
kamala, thanks..
Latha, glad you liked..:D..yeah thats the joy of being younger!...good you found out abt my tag line..agree with you...thanks and have fun
Sia, thats nice to know abt krish...just have him look at the ToI for some idea...:D
moong halwa is very healthy and its very soft because of loads of ghee...you can have some nut flour included to have nutty flavour too..but on its own it doesn't' until you ground the lentil coarse...
Kalai, thanks...glad to see I am not alone!...
Kamini, hahha..they are not his brats!..they are his angels..when they are brats, they are mine...men are same everywhere right..yeah infact when I went back home, I heard that my younger one loved it so much that he didn't eat his food but had only this...now I got to make this for him again..:D
Uma, thanks..sure do..its yummy
Cham, thank you...it indeed yum
Pooja, haha..yeah we are all always ready for a blog event right
Rina, you should try this then...its really tastes great
bee, yeah I was apprehensive, but you won't believe that never showed...
Mansi, then I will have to take the recipe from you!..thanks and wish you the same
Namratha, ..:D..thanks..great..give it a try you will love it
Hima, yeah very healthy...what..thats seriously bad...my best wishes to you!...
AnuZi, this is very famous in north...now I got to keep up to that I guess..:D
Siri, thank you...wish you a very happy v day too
Pooja, yeah that line is what I like too...hahah..very true..you won't believe this post has been going on my mind for a while...thanks for hosting!
satya, glad you liked them...I enjoyed writing it
Superchef says
those look soo cute as little hearts!!
Vcuisine says
Valli, we can make everyday as Feb 14th. Correct? Nice write up and the halwa too. Viji
Srivalli says
Manju, thank you
Viji, yeah wish we could..thank you for liking them
Anonymous says
We tried your moong dal halwa and packed for the small trip.It came out very tasty and we really enjoyed it.Thanks for sharing it with us.
sam
swapna says
i looove moong dal halwa..was introduced to it at previous workplace..& fell in love...am not such a fan of moong..but the halwa is OUT OF THE WORLD!
am planning to make for Diwali.
will skip the milk in ingrediants.
Anonymous says
hi,as far as i know or heard abt it moong dal is tht tuffiest of all halwa's.anyhow i mad it 2day n so i have some Q. - as soon as i added moong dal paste(in which i didnt add a bit of water) in ghee, it didnt stick tomy non stick pan or anywhere in kadhi rather it took the shape of lump; i mean it was very difficult 4 me to break that lump( its not like sooji; i mean free flowig or sticky, im i right?????)and since it didnt stick to my kadhi; it was easy for me to stir but i tried breaking that big lumps into smaller ones. but after adding sugar water (i didnt use milk bcoz my recipe didnt call 4 it) the lump got soft but still the halwa is not free flowing or without lumps like sooji. Plz advize me if i have done anything wrong?????.Thax in advance.