Ladoo

Another favorite, a delicious & very easy to make sweetmeat, ladoo. It is made with chickpea (channa) flour. When we lived in Cape Town in the early 1980's, a neighbor, an excellent cook and caterer often sent us platefuls of delicious treats. My son, Darshan who was just 2 years at that time, really enjoyed these treats. His favorite was ladoo. As a young man he still enjoys them.

ladoo

Delicious round ladoos

We received so many of these wonderful gifts from my neighbor that we began referring to her as “ladoo aunty”

I have since learned to make my own ladoos. Here is the recipe

This recipe calls for a large amounts of sugar, oil and other fattening ingredients. Do pay attention to your diet before consuming this product. Consider substitutes to ingredients like sugar, butter & milk.

You will need a colander with large holes or any utensil with large holes. You will need to push batter through the holes into the frying pan. Have sets of large spoons to scoop out fried batter and another to add mix into the syrup. When the batter is pushed through the holes, the little curved pieces are called bhoondi.



INGREDIENTS

  1. 2 cups sugar
  2. 1 cup water
  3. 2 cups chick pea/channa flour
  4. 1 cup water
  5. A pinch of salt
  6. 1½ tsp. baking powder
  7. 1 tblsp. yellow food color
  8. 1 tsp. red food color
  9. 1 tblsp. ghee
  10. 2 tsps. ground cardamom (elachi)
  11. ½ tsp. rose essence (optional)
  12. 4 cups of canola oil for deep frying
  13. ¼tsp. ground nutmeg
  14. 4 tblsp. condensed milk
  15. sliced almonds (coloured) for decoration
  16. a handful of dessicated coconut for decoration (optional)

Method

  • Dissolve sugar in water and simmer gently on medium-low heat until slightly sticky. Do not allow threads to spin. Keep aside
  • Add salt and baking powder to flour and sift. Rub in ghee
  • Add water and form a thick batter. Add food colors
  • Heat oil on medium-high temperature
  • Push batter through holed utensil into hot oil. Fry till golden color. Turn the bhoondi to cook evenly. Do not let it get crispy
  • Remove from oil with a long handled slotted spoon, draining as much oil as possible. Steep in pot of syrup
  • Repeat this process until all the batter is used. Each time add the fried batter (bhoondi) into syrup until it is all absorbed
  • Set aside for about 2 hours. Then add spices & condensed milk. Shape into golf size balls. Roll in ground almonds and sprinkle with coconut.
  • It is ready to be eaten

Conclusion

This treat is really easy to do and yet so delicious. You will be certain to have success with this recipe.

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