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Mohan thaal
Ghee-roasted gram-flour fudge (मोहनथाल) with cardamom, saffron and pistachios, made for Diwali and Janmashtami
Mohan thaal, named after Krishna, is offered at temples on Janmashtami and fills sweet boxes at Diwali in both Rajasthan and Gujarat. It is coarse gram flour roasted in ghee until it turns golden and smells like roasted nuts, then set with cardamom syrup into a grainy, fudge-like slab and cut into diamonds. The texture comes from a step called dhabo: rubbing ghee and milk into the flour, then sieving it into tiny granules before roasting. The mistake most cooks make is cooking the syrup too long; the fudge sets rock-hard and crumbles when cut. Chef's tip: take the syrup off the heat at a firm one-and-a-half string stage, and stop stirring when the mixture pulls away from the pan's sides in one mass.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the dhabo
For roasting
For the syrup
To garnish
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Rub the 2 tbsp ghee and 3 tbsp milk into the 9 oz coarse gram flour (besan, ladoo besan) with your fingertips until it looks like damp sand. Cover and leave for 15 minutes, then push it through a coarse sieve to make fine, even granules.
20 minStep 2: Grease a 20 cm square tin with a little of the 5 ½ oz ghee. Melt the rest in a heavy kadhai over low heat, add the sieved besan and stir constantly.
2 minStep 3: Roast on low heat for 20–25 minutes. The besan will first clump, then loosen and turn liquid, and finally become golden-brown with ghee bubbling at the edges and a strong nutty smell. Don't rush; raw besan tastes bitter.
25 minStep 4: Add the 2 ⅝ oz khoya (mawa) and stir for 2–3 minutes until it melts in. Turn off the heat.
3 minStep 5: Meanwhile, boil the 8 oz sugar, ½ cup water and 1 pinch saffron threads over medium heat for 7–9 minutes, until a drop between your finger and thumb forms one firm thread that almost breaks into two. Stir in the ½ tsp ground green cardamom.
9 minStep 6: Pour the hot syrup into the besan and stir quickly on low heat for 2–4 minutes until the mixture thickens, loses its gloss and starts to pull away from the sides.
4 minStep 7: Spread it into the tin about 2 cm thick, smooth the top, and press in the 2 tbsp pistachios and 2 tbsp almonds. Mark it into diamonds while warm, then leave for 2–3 hours to set before cutting. Keeps 10 days in an airtight box.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 300 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mohan thaal take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of ghee?
- Butter, same amount (keep the heat a little lower, butter burns sooner).
- What can I use instead of milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
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