Mohanthal- Traditional Gujarati Recipe

Gujarati mohanthal recipe is a delicious and popular Indian mithai or sweet made for Diwali mainly.

This is slightly grainy, rich and delicious fudge with chickpea flour or besan and ghee as main ingredient.

Here I am sharing a super detailed with an exhaustive list of tips and tricks so that you can make best mohanthal for Diwali. It does take some time but totally worth it 🙂

For more diwali sweets please check kaju katli, kalakand, sooji halwa, badam halwa, gulab jamun recipes.

With festival coming up, I thought of sharing some traditional and detailed Indian mithai recipes along with the ones I have already shared.

Chickpea flour or besan is an ingredient widely used in Indian cooking. It is used for making different sweets across the country.

Few popular Indian mithai with besan are besan ladoo, mysorepak, besan burfi, besan halwa, mohanthal etc.

These sweets require a very small set of ingredients and the recipe is easy too, but you need to get the hold of sugar syrup consistency, the texture and choosing the right ingredients. All those comes with practice and following the correct recipe.

Coming to mohanthal, I will not say it is an easy recipe. It does take some time and effort to make this sweet but let me tell you, it is totally worth your time.

It is such a tasty treat that once you try this out, you will surely want to master this 🙂

Sure there are many shortcut versions of mohanthal with condensed milk, but nothing matches this traditional Gujarati mohanthal recipe with besan, desi ghee and sugar.

When you use condensed milk, it totally masks the flavor and that nutty subtle flavor of chickpea flour or besan is lost. If you want to make easy sweets with condensed milk I suggest peda, quick malai ladoo are made ways with milk, so using condensed milk does not alter the flavor.

Now coming to our mohanthal mithai recipe, If you do not no what this sweet is about, here are some details.

What Is Mohanthal?

Mohanthal is a traditional Gujarati sweet fudge made with besan or chickpea flour. You basically have to roast the chickpea flour well, mix it with sugar syrup and set into squares.

This Indian mithai is usually made for Diwali in Gujarat and Rajasthan. There are slight variations in the recipes of Gujarati mohanthal and Rajathani mohanthal. In rajasthan a small amount of khoya or milk solids is added to this recipe.

To achieve that porous melt in mouth texture and perfect nutty flavor, we need to roast the besan perfectly, get the consistency of sugar syrup right and remove the mohanthal mithai from stove at the right time.

It is also important to use the right kind of pan to make Indian sweets.

It is a super delicious sweet that stays good for a week, making it ideal as Diwali gift.

This Mohanthal Is

Soft, porous and melt in mouth

Delicious and rich

perfect Indian mithai for Diwali

Vegetarian and gluten free

Traditional Gujarati sweet

made with desi ghee!

Ingredients

Besan – Chickpea flour or gram flour is known as besan in India. For this recipe you will need the fine chickpea flour. Use fresh flour to avoid bitter or rancid tasting mohanthal.

Ghee– As with any Indian mithai, homemade desi ghee or clarified butter works best here. If ghee is unavailable you can melt butter and use it in a pinch. However make sure to use very good quality ghee or butter for best flavor.

Sugar– I have used organic raw sugar in this recipe, so the color of my mohanthal has the traditional kesar color without adding any food coloring, You can also use granulated white sugar.

Milk- A small quantity of milk is added to chickpea flour to crumble it. This step will lend the mohanthal its signature crunchy bits and grainy texture.

Cardamom- Cardamom powder or pounded green cardamoms are added for flavor. I also like to add pinch if saffron. You can also add mace.

Nuts– Chopped assorted nuts are used to garnish this sweet.

Tips To Make Mohanthal

Crumble the besan with milk– Please note that mohan thal is not smooth like besan burfi. We need that porus and grainy texture. It does melt in mouth but it is not a soft fudge.

To get this texture and those delightful crunchy bits of besan, you need to crumble the besan or gram flour well with some ghee and milk. I also usually set aside the mixture also known as dharbo for 20 minutes. After that we will sift the mixture and use it in the recipe.

Sugar Syrup– Next the consistency of sugar syrup is important in this recipe. You will need 2 string sugar syrup for this recipe. That is 115C ir 239 F in a candy thermometer.

If the sugar syrup is not cooked enough the mohan thal will not hold shape and it will also turn very soft which we don’t want here.

Use the right pan– Use a wide and heavy pan for this recipe mohanthal. Also make sure to cook the whole recipe in medium heat.

Method

Besan Dharbo

Take 2 cups besan in a wide bowl.

Add 3-4 tbsp of milk and 3 tbsp ghee.

Mix well with your fingertips and crumble the mixture well.

Set aside for 20-30 minutes.

After that, sift the besan mixture once. Keep aside.

Sugar syrup

Combine water and sugar in a pan. Cook in medium heat, mix well until the sugar dissolves completely. Add saffron strands and cardamom powder.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer till the mixture reaches 2 string thread consistency. If you are using a thermometer, cook until 115C/ 239 F temperature is reached.

Once the consistency is right, remove from flame. Keep aside until use.

How to make mohanthal mithai

heat heat in a pan.

Add the sifted besan to the ghee. Mix well and roast besan in medium flame.

keep cooking until the besan is well roasted and turns to a slight golden brown color.

After 8-11 minutes, the mixture will bubble and turn grainy.

At this stage add the prepared sugar syrup.

Mix well in low flame for another 3-4 minutes. Once the mixture leaves the sides of the pan remove from flame.

Transfer to a greased tin and spread the chopped almonds and pistachios. Let it cool completely to room temperature.

Cut into squares and store mohanthal mithai in airtight containers.

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