Maddi

This is a sweet lentil dish from the Southern region of India. Note that the lentils used are dried split chickpeas NOT toor dal. It is readily available in any Indian grocery store. So is ghee.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  cup split yellow lentils, cooked (chana dal)
• 1  cup  loosely packed dark brown sugar (can substitue plain white sugar or jaggery)
• 1⁄4 cup milk
• 2  teaspoons  clarified butter (no substitutions) or 2  teaspoons ghee (no substitutions)
• 1  tablespoon raisins
• 1  tablespoon cashews
• 3  green cardamom pods, peeled and seeds powdered

Directions

1. Wash the lentils and cook them until soft in about 2 cups water - I usually use a pressure cooker to cook lentils because it's fastest (If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can do it in a covered saucepan).
2. The lentils should be soft but still retain their shapes faintly so that there will be a slight bite to it.
3. Drain water from the cooked lentils if there's any excess.
4. Place the lentils in a heavy bottomed saucepan on medium heat and add the milk and sugar, mixing well - Bring to a boil.
5. Lower heat and simmer the mixture until thick, stirring often (about 5-10 min).
6. Once the mixture has thickened, turn off the heat and stir in the ghee.
7. Add the cashews, raisins and cardamom powder.If desired, these can be roasted in the ghee beforehand.
8. Mix well and serve warm or cold.