Hayagreeva

The name Hayagreeva stands for two important things in the Madhwa Brahmin community of Karnataka - a deity and a sweet dish.
The belief is that Lord Hayagreeva or Hayavadana is an avatar of Vishnu and is the god of knowledge and wisdom. He is a god with human body and a horse's head and hence the name. According to the religious belief, he is brilliant white in color, adorns white garments and sits on a white lotus.
And hayagreeva also happens to be a delicious sweet item that is commonly prepared during the religious celebrations at Madhwa homes and temples (Rayara mata / Raghavendra Swamy temple).
One of my close pals whom I have known since my preschool days happens to be a Madhwa brahmin. Her mother introduced me to this delicacy, which remains to be one of my favorite dishes even for today. My friend would always remember to invite me over to her house whenever her mother made hayagreeva or would lure me with this if she wanted me to visit her. :) Thanks Kala.
Three ingredients remain constant in hayagreeva preparation - the chana dal, jaggery and the dry coconut. Some versions use poppy seeds as well but that is not mandatory. I don't remember my friend's mother ever using it. Ditto with ghee. If you are not counting calories, you can liberally use it or use sparingly as I did. And of course there is cardamom for flavor like the rest of Indian sweet dishes. Though the list of ingredients used strike a resemblance to the other delicacy of the Indian region, the chana dal kheer, the two dishes are way apart. Hayagreeva doesn't use milk and is fairly on the thicker side when done. The dal is cooked until just done so that the shape of the dal is retained in the end product.
When Design a Menu - 2 was announced and I saw chana dal in the list, I knew what was going to be my dessert. In fact, I have a whole menu with chana dal alone but since that is not the rule, we will go with this for the dessert part.

And also linking this to Akila's Dish name starts with H.

Ingredients for 4 - 5 servings:
1 cup chana dal
Jaggery powder to taste (1 - 1.5 cup depending upon the sweetness preferred)
1/2 cup grated copra / dry coconut
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 Tbsp ghee roasted cashews and raisins (optional)

Method:
* Cook chana dal in a pressure cooker adding 2 cups of water. The chana dal should not turn mushy but still hold their shape when cooked.
* Add the cooked chana dal, jaggery, grated dry coconut and cardamom powder to a sturdy pan or non stick pan. Start cooking on medium flame till all the jaggery melts and gets incorporated into the chana - coconut mixture. Turn off the stove.
* Add the toasted raisins and cashews if using.

Note:
Don't add water when jaggery is added since hayagreeva should be a thick mass. And also the chana dal should hold its shape. Mine was a little mushy since I added overnight soaked chana dal.

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