Boondi Ladoo (Bundi Ladoo)

These Boondi or Bundi ladoos are the most beautiful looking ladoos that are there in the market. That light yellow /orange color makes it look so beautiful and festive! It is a collection of tiny pearly balls of gram flour, first fried then dipped in sugar syrup and then rolled into a ladoo. Boondi ladoo is a very delicious treat and is seen served on almost every joyous ocassion in India.

Never in my wildest dreams, I thought that one day I would be making this treat in my kitchen! I always thought it is a difficult dessert to make. No one made these back at home either, we always got it from the store and have eaten plenty at weddings and pooja ceremonies :)

But one day I simply pulled up my socks, said a small prayer in my mind and started making these goodies. To my surprise, they came out so good that my joy had no bounds! From then on there was no looking back. I look forward to make boondi ladoos every Diwali festival. Another reason to learn this exotic ladoos was my son, yes, he saw boondi ladoos from that Krishna animation series and wanted to have it along with rasagulla, sandesh, and besan ladoos :) Thanks to that series, my kid pushed me to do the needful and I couldn't be more happier with the end results!!

This recipe is adapted from manjulas kitchen site.

Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup gram flour (besan)
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water adjust as needed
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sliced almonds
• 5 green cardamom pods crushed
• Oil to deep fry

Preparation:

• Add the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. When the syrup comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium and stir to dissolve the sugar. Let it simmer until the syrup is about half thread consistency.
• Mix the gram flour with water to make a smooth pancake-like batter or slightly thicker than dosa batter. You can test by pouring little batter on a perforated ladle(which we use to serve rice) and see drops of batter coming out. If it is runny you will have to add little more besan, if it's too thick add little more water to the batter.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. The frying pan should have at least 1 1/2 inches of oil. To test if the oil is the right temperature, drop a pinch of batter into the oil, if it rises immediately without changing the color then the oil is ready to start frying the boondi.
• Hold the skimmer(perforated ladle) about 1 to 1 1/2 inches above the oil over the center of the frying pan with one hand. With your other hand pour some of the batter onto the skimmer to cover all of the holes without spilling over the edge of the skimmer. If you hold the skimmer higher than 1 1/2 inches above the oil boondi will not be round.

• The batter will start dropping through the holes into the oil. Drop enough boondi into the oil so they just cover the surface of the oil in frying pan in a single layer
• Fry them until the sound of sizzling stops and boondis are light gold in color but not crispy. Lift the boondi out of the oil with a slotted spoon (this allows excess oil to drip back into the frying pan) and put them directly into the warm syrup and mix.
• Before making the next batch of boondi, wipe clean the skimmer. This helps to keep the boondi round.
• Repeat the process of making boondi and adding to the syrup with rest of the batter. You may have to adjust the heat in between making boondis.
• When finished frying the boondi, let them soak in the syrup for few minutes.
• Add the crushed cardamom seeds and sliced almonds to the syrup.
• Now drain off the excess syrup.
• If the boondis are still hot, let them sit only until they are warm enough to handle  but don’t let them to cool off. If the boondis become cold you will not be able to form them into ladoos.
• Grease your hands with some ghee, to make the ladoos, scoop up some of the boondi mixture into your palm with a spoon. Gently squeeze the mixture between both palms to shape into a round ball about the size of a golf ball. As you are squeezing some of the syrup will come out. Dont worry about it.
• Repeat the process till all the boondi is used up to make ladoos.
• As the ladoos cool to room temperature they will become firm but they should still be moist.
• Serve it as a dessert or snack.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!
Notes:*
If the syrup is not of the right temperature, you will not be able to form the ladoos. If the boondis cool down to room temperature before being shaped into balls, the sugar will crystallize. If you are not able to make ladoos, don’t worry. You can still enjoy them as sweet boondi or use it in boondi raita without adding the fried boondi to the syrup.

Besan Ladoo

Besan Ladoo is a very loved and famous sweet from India. Most of us have a fond memory of this sweet being made in our mom's kitchens where moms were busy rolling it out in their palms like an expert (which they are) over some gossip with other members of the house :) The aroma that lingered in the kitchen then is soo friggin nostalgic now that I cannot describe. These balls of goodness are nothing but a mixture of roasted gram flour, sugar, ghee, cardamom pwd and nuts. After mixing these together you create a ball of sweet!

My son actually got introduced to besan ladoos by a TV series called Little Krishna.  He got addicted and loved watching it when he was 4-5 yr old (after my India visit). There is this one scene in an episode where Krishna(as a kid) tells his friends that he loves ladoos, rasagullas and sandesh (something like that). Since then he loves these ladoos :)

Taking this opportunity to make besan ladoos again on the occasion of Janmashtami ( Lord Krishna's birthday). My kitchen smells so heavenly right now and nostalgia is hitting the roof! For the first timers, if you don't get it right don't lose heart, keep trying, because some things come to us by practice.

Ladoos can be enjoyed as a snack with your tea/coffee or as a dessert after meals. Children have the privilege to gobble it anytime they want :)

Let us take a look at this wonderful recipe quickly!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup besan (gram flour)
• 1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)
• 3/4 cup sugar (add 2 tsp more if you like sweet)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder 
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped nuts (cashews, pistachios, almonds)

Preparation:

• In a nonstick pan, add 2 tbsp ghee, 1 cup sifted gram flour and on a low heat, stir everything together. Keep stirring and adding 1 tbsp ghee after 5 minutes each till the half cup of ghee is used up. 
• Keep a close eye on the flour and ghee, we don't want to burn it. Keep stirring for about 30 minutes till the raw smell of besan goes away. 
• Switch off the gas, add the nuts(except 1 tsp) and cardamom powder. Keep it aside to cool down (for about 10-15 minutes)
• Add fine sugar into it and mix everything together with a spatula or use hands. 
• Grease your palms with little ghee. Take a little portion (2 tbsp) of the ladoo mixture in your palms and press it together to form a small ball. Keep rolling it into your palms till a firm round ball is made. 
• Makes around 14-15 ladoos. Sprinkle little nuts mixture on top of each ladoo to make it look more fancy :)
• Leave the ladoos on a plate to cool to room temperature before storing it in a container. The ladoos can be stored in an airtight container for 2 to 3 weeks.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes*: You can also add ghee and besan all at one time and stir the mixture till the raw smell goes away (I have found that this takes longer time). If the mixture is very gooey, keep it in the fridge for some time before you start rolling out ladoos.

Health Benefits: Well it is a dessert with sugar so health benefits are not so much other than it gives pleasure to your brain and well being :) If consumed in small portion should not do much harm. One can use sweeteners instead of sugar and make it a sugar-free dessert. Now the benefits of besan (gram flour) are indeed to take into consideration. It has a low glycemic index and has a soluble fiber in it , has low-calorie count, is gluten free, and a protein loaded flour. Nuts provide nutrients and good cholesterol oils. So yes, we all gotta live a little :) with small pleasures in life.