Vegetarian Treasury (Part 6) : Besan Ladoo
Besan ladoo are delicious sweet balls made with gram flour, sugar, ghee & cardamoms. Ladoos are ball shaped SWEET delights from Indian cuisine made during festivals & celebrations. Besan ladoo are not only delicious & aromatic but also have a melt in the mouth texture.
Step-by-step photos
Preparation
I have doubled the recipe and made so you will find the ingredients more in the pics.
1. Measure sugar and set aside. Add 3 cardamoms and little sugar to a blender jar and make a fine powder. Add the rest of the sugar. Powder it finely. You can use white sugar or any variety of sugar.
2. Set this aside.
3. Make sure besan is at room temperature before using. In case you refrigerate, then allow it to come down to room temperature first before adding it to the ghee.
4. Add 4 tbsps ghee to a heavy bottom pan and melt it. Keep 1½ tbsps in the pan and remove the rest to a small bowl.
5. I also added some cashews to the ghee and roasted them.
How to make besan ladoo
6. Lower the flame. Add besan to the ghee. Make sure your besan is lump free.
7. Mix to coat the besan well with ghee. Keep stirring and begin to fry on a medium heat.
8. Keep stirring constantly for even roasting and to prevent burning. After a while the color of the besan begins to change to a deeper color with a slight aroma. I suggest not to go by the time as it depends on the kind of stove, pan and the intensity of the flame.
9. Reduce the flame to low, then quickly add the rest of the ghee that was set aside. Do not stop stirring. Keep stirring to incorporate the ghee well & continue to roast the besan.
10. After a few minutes, besan changes to a deep golden color with an aroma that fills your kitchen.
11. In just few minutes you will notice that ghee begins to ooze out from the mixture. The color changes to golden and the consistency begins to change.
The quantity of ghee that is oozed out may depend on the besan again. Most times it turns to a semi solid stage. But since there are different kinds of besan in the market, the mixture may not turn runny or semi solid stage. So once the mixture turns aromatic stop roasting.
12. Switch off and set aside to cool. Do not leave on the hot stove, it tends to get roasted further. I place the hot pan on a cork board to stop cooking further & keep stirring for another 2 mins.
13. Allow it to cool down completely. Add powdered sugar and nuts (optional). Do not add sugar to very hot besan.
Making besan ladoo
14. Mix well to incorporate the sugar with the besan mixture. If required knead with your hand to mix it. At this stage, the mixture must look fairly greasy and good enough to hold shape.
15. Take small portions of the mixture and roll to balls. Store them in a air tight jar and use with in 3 weeks.
If using coarse besan, ladoo may not look smooth. Since I doubled the recipe I got 16.
To give a nice smooth finish, after few hours of making these, place each ladoo in a clean white muslin cloth and roll gently.
I did not use a cloth but just rolled them once more after 30 mins. Store besan ladoo in a air tight jar.
Tips to make best besan ladoo
1. Besan or gram flour: Always choose good quality flour to avoid bitter taste. The best choice is the freshly milled flour or using a fresh pack of besan. Gram flour has a nature to turn bitter within a few months of milling.
So always taste it first before using to ensure it is not bitter.
There are 2 kinds of besan available in the market. The smooth kind and the coarse variety. If you prefer the crunch in your besan ladoo then choose the later one.
If you prefer a melt in the mouth texture then choose the smooth and fine besan.
2. Roasting besan correctly is the key to aromatic and delicious ladoos. If this step is not done properly the aroma does not come out from the besan resulting in raw tasting besan ladoos.
If the flour is over roasted, the ladoos can have a bitter and burnt flavor. So roasting the flour stirring constantly on a medium to low heat is very important.
When the besan is roasted properly it turns to a semi liquid state and the your kitchen will be filled with a great aroma.
3. Non stop stirring: You have to keep stirring non-stop & continuously without taking a break even for a few seconds especially at the later stage. Otherwise there are chances of the besan getting burnt.
4. Ghee: Using good quality puree ghee helps to make these besan ladoos more aromatic.
Note
Please note that patience is the KEY to making awesome besan ladoos. Do not get impatient while you roast the besan. Initially you can roast the besan on a medium flame.
Once it turns hot and begins to change the color slightly switch over to low flame completely until the last stage.
If you feel the mixture is getting too hot at any stage, take off the pan from the stove for a while to bring down the temperature.
Making besan ladoos is a lot of arm work as it involves stirring continuously. If you have weak arms, please do not attempt this without a helping hand.
Recipe
Besan ladoo recipe
Besan ladoo are delicious & aromatic sweet balls made with gram flour, sugar, ghee and cardamom powder. This recipe will give besan laddu with a melt in the mouth texture.
INGREDIENTS (1 CUP = 240ML )
Ingredients for besan ladoo
- 1 cup besan or gram flour
- ½ cup + 2 tbsps sugar (or boora shakkar or powdered jaggery)
- 3 green cardamoms or elaichi (or 1/3 tsp ground cardamoms)
- ¼ cup GHEE (4 tbsps) (clarified butter)
- 2 tablespoons cashews chopped (optional)
HOW TO MAKE THE RECIPE
Preparation for besan ladoo
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Powder sugar and cardamom pods finely in a blender jar. Set aside.
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Heat 4 tbsps ghee in a heavy bottom pan.
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When it melts, transfer 2½ tablespoons ghee to a small bowl & retain the rest in the pan.
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Add besan to the pan and stir well to coat the flour with ghee.
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On a medium flame keep stirring and begin to roast the besan.
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When it begins to turn slightly aromatic & changes to a slightly deeper color, set the flame to lowest.
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Then add the rest of the 2½ tablespoons ghee.
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Keep roasting on a low flame stirring continuously without stopping. Otherwise the besan may burn.
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After a while besan begins to turn deep golden in color and aromatic. Your kitchen will be filled with a aroma indicating the flour is well roasted.
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Be cautious at this stage & remove the pan quickly from the stove. Begin to cool down by stirring it for another 2 mins.
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I place the pan immediately on a cork board to bring down the temperature. Most often within few seconds it may turn to a runny or a semi liquid stage. Just ignore that.
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Cool down the roasted besan completely. This step is important.
How to make besan ladoo
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When the besan cools down add powdered sugar.
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Mix very well to combine the sugar.
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At first your mixture may seem dry but keep mixing or knead it with your hand.
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You will have a greasy besan ladoo mixture.
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Take small portions and press down in your palm to roll to balls. You can make about 8 ladoos.
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Store besan ladoo in a air tight jar and use within 3 weeks.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
NOTES
Recipe notes on besan ladoo
- Choose fresh besan or least cut open a new pack of besan to avoid bitter taste. Stale flour often tastes bitter. So avoid it.
- Under roasting the flour will leave a raw smell of besan to the ladoos. So roast until you begin to get a nice aroma and the color changes to deep golden.
- Do not use the entire ghee at the beginning to roast the besan. Adding all the ghee in the beginning makes the flour mixture heavy. It is hard to roast the besan.
- It only takes a minute for the well roasted besan to burn. So be extremely cautious at the final stage. Once done remove it from the stove.
- Ensure the flame is medium until the besan turns hot. Later regulate to low flame till the end until the besan turns golden & aromatic.
- When the besan is done, you will get a very nice aroma. This is the indication to remove from the stove. It may or may not turn semi-liquid depending on the flour. Sometimes it turns to a semi-liquid stage after it is removed from the heat.
- The most important point is to add sugar only when the roasted besan cools down. If you add sugar to hot besan, then sugar will melt and the mixture turns runny. You won’t be able to bind the mixture.
