BESAN LADDU/KADALAI MAAVU LADDU/SENAGAPINDI LADDU

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It was my niece's baby showers last week end.. a big occasion for the young expecting mother. In this part of India we have a tradition of presenting a platter full of choicest  fruits,  flowers, gifts and some home made goodies to the expecting mother. I love to prepare something at home to keep up the tradition set by my mother and mother in law. This time however, it was a bit of a challenge for me. I train to be a distance runner  and weekends we have long runs and strength training which though are exhilarating are exhausting also. I was also doing some volunteering work. 
I was in a dilemma - should I buy from store or make something simple on my own. 
Oh yes, I remembered  my brother in law's remarks " Your besan laddus are same whenever you make them. Quality, taste and texture are consistent". That put me into relaxed mind set. Lo here is it easy and delectable besan laddus.  I started having positive visualization it was Besan Laddus and my trade mark khara sev for my niece.
Besan laddu is a  sweet dish churned out in kitchens almost throughout India, however taste and texture differ with the region and inputs. I am comfortable with the recipe that I have been following for over three decades and I am sharing the same here.
  • Difficulty - easy, skill aquired with practice
  • Preparation time - 10 minutes
  • Cooking time - 30 minutes
  • Yield - 20 laddus
Ingredients
  • Gram flour(Besan) - 250 gms
  • Castor sugar 200gms
  • Almonds 10 -15
  • Raisins - handful
  • Cashew - 10
  • Cardamom - 4
  • Ghee - 1cup
Method
  • Roast gram flour with a spoon of ghee in a thick bottomed wok under low flame till aromatic and keep aside
  • Powder cardamom
  • Fry chopped almonds, cashew and raisins with ghee in the same wok,  add rest of the ghee to the same wok, switch off heat and let the ghee melt
  • In a large bowl mix roasted gram flour, castor sugar, fried nuts, ghee, cardamom powder and knead well till all the  ingredients combine and bind, 
  • Start making laddus with this mixture when the mixture is still warm
  • After laddus cool down, store in an air tight container.



Note
  • Roasting of besan under low flame  slowly and uniformly is very important. Lesser roasting may leave a raw smell, over roasting may impart burnt smell

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