BESAN LADDOO

Besan(chickpea flour) laddoo is a very popular Indian sweet generally made during the festival season. It is very easy and less time consuming unlike other sweets.

I associate this dessert with my mother and grand mother's mouth watering laddoos.  They made it so perfect that I did not even like the store bought laddoos.  My grandmother often made these laddoos with lots of crushed almonds during the winter time. When I asked her why did she make them only during the winter, her reply amazed me.  She said we are more susceptible to cold during the winter months so if you eat just one laddoo a day, cold won't come near you. 

So this Diwali, I made the besan laddoos for the family.  My recipe is quite simple.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups besan( chickpea flour), 3 tbsp sooji (semolina), 5 tbsp of ghee or clarifying butter, little less than 2 cups of powered sugar, 20 - 25 almonds,1/2 tsp cardamom powder.

Method:

Pan roast besan and sooji on a low to medium heat, depending on your stove.. Sooji takes less time to roast and besan takes 8 to 10 minutes on a slow flame.  So it would be better to roast both of them in different pans.

Once roasted, mix both in the same pan. In the meanwhile crush almonds in your grinder or mixer. Add these almonds to the mix.

On a slow flame add ghee to the mix.  Once ghee melts, mix it very well with the flours and almonds. Sprinkle cardamom powder and stir it again.

Turn off the stove and add sugar. Mix it very well. Let it cool off for a couple of minutes and take a small portion at a time and make balls.  Set them in a plate.

When these besan laddoos cool off completely, you can store them in an airtight container. They can be preserved for good month or so.

Enjoy these mouth watering laddoos and have lots of fun on Diwali. I wish you all good health and good fortune.