Besan Ladoo for me has always been synonymous to festivities. It’s an Indian sweetmeat that is part of traditional food extravaganza that adorns our festivals and celebrations.
In this recipe, we have made ladoos from scratch, which involves additional step of roasting Chana Dal (Split Bengal Gram) and making its fine flour (Besan). To speed up the process, we can choose to use store bought Besan in the recipe. However, I would recommend and in fact urge you dear readers to make Besan from scratch as it would provide you an assurance of consuming unadulterated Besan, which is more commonly sold during festivals like Diwali. Ladoos made from freshly grounded Chana Dal flour (Besan) are unmatchable in flavor and aroma to store bought Besan.
Chana Dal is dry roasted in a large pan on a low heat until it turns light brown in color. It is then allowed to cool down completely before it could be grounded into a fine flour. This is an important step in the recipe. Please ensure that the Chana Dal is completely cooled down before you start grinding it else it may result into the flour being lumpy and sticky than being free flowing. The flour is then roasted in ghee until it begins to release a nutty aroma and its color changes. It is advisable to roast Besan on a low heat, to prevent burnt flavor which may result into bitter ladoos. While roasting the flour, keep stirring regularly for more even browning of the flour.
Another important step in the recipe is addition of Ghee. I always keep melted ghee on standby and add it to flour in small quantity while forming the Ladoo dough (we have used 170 grams of Ghee in the recipe from 250 grams listed in the ingredients). Keep adding Ghee in moderation and continue to bring the flour together to form a smooth and non-crumbly dough. Once the dough is formed, take a small lemon sized portion from the dough and roll it into Ladoos (round shaped).
Enjoy the fresh Besan Ladoos during the festivities. Share your feedback with us in the comment section below.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 25-30
- 500 grams Chana Dal (Bengal Gram Split)
- 200 grams Powdered Sugar
- 8-10 Cashewnuts
- 8-10 Almonds
- 2 tbsp. Charoli (Chironji). Lightly toast the ingredients in 3, 4, 5 and ground it coarsely.
- 125 grams Rava (Suji)
- 250 grams Ghee (clarified butter)-used in the recipe as needed
- 1 tsp. Elaichi (Cardamom) Powder
- We will start with dry roasting Chana Dal in a large pan. Keep stirring regularly for an even browning of Chana Dal. Chana Dal slightly changes its color in 7-8 mins and we will continue roasting for few more mins. After roasting for 12 minutes, Chana Dal is evenly browned. Switch off the heat, and allow it to cool down completely.
- In another pan, heat 4-5 tbsp. Ghee. Add Rava and roast until Rava becomes brown in color. Ensure that Rava is roasted on low heat. Rava gets evenly browned in 10 mins. Switch off the heat and allow it to cool down completely.
- Grind roasted and then cooled chana dal in a grinder in batches. You can get Chana Dal grounded in a flour mill. Grind into a fine powder (Besan).
- Heat 4-5 tbsp. Ghee in a pan. Add Besan and roast on a low heat. If Besan seems to get too dry, you can add 1-2 tbsp. Ghee while roasting (Keep melted ghee ready while roasting).
- We have roasted Besan for 15 mins on low heat. Besan has no lumps in it and has become evenly brown. Switch off the heat and transfer roasted besan to a large plate and allow it to cool down completely.
- When besan has cooled down completely, we will mix all the ingredients together. Add roasted Rava, Cardamom Powder, and Powdered Sugar and mix all the ingredients together.
- Now, add coarsely grounded Nuts and Chironji. Add melted ghee as required. We must add enough Ghee to form a smooth and sticky dough (must not be crumbly).
- Mixture has come together to form a dough. Take a lemon sized portion of dough and roll them into shape of balls (ladoo).We have used total 170 grams of ghee in this recipe. Similarly, roll into equal sized ladoos.
- The aroma of Besan roasting in Ghee is too enticing. You begin to feel the festivities in the air. Make Ladoos for festival of Deepawali
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