Besan Ladoo or Besan ke Laddu is a popular Indian sweet made during festivals. These are round sweet balls made with gram flour a.k.a besan, powdered sugar and clarified butter (ghee).
½cupGhee(clarified butter) - 125 grams, add more ghee, if required
1cuppowdered sugar(heaped) or boora or castor sugar or confectioner's sugar - 175 grams (powder ¾ cup white sugar or raw sugar in a mixer-grinder, small blender)
1 teaspoon cardamom powderor 5 to 6 green cardamoms, powdered in a mortar-pestle
Dry roast the besan in a heavy kadai or pan on low to medium-low heat for about 10 to 12 minutes.
Keep on stirring continuously right from the beginning. So that the besan is not burned and cooks evenly.
Adding ghee and roasting further
After 12 minutes of total roasting time, add the ghee.
Mix very well and continue roasting the besan for some more 12 to 15 minutes stirring non-stop.
You will see that the mixture will start releasing ghee and will give a nice fragrant nutty aroma. Some ghee will float on top and and you will see a molten lava kind of consistency where the ghee is floating. The mixture will also loose sides of the pan and become one. These are the signs that the besan is fully cooked. Once you see these signs, you can move on to the next step.
Remove the pan from the stove-top and place it on your kitchen countertop. Add powdered sugar.
Adding powdered sugar
Begin to mix with all the strength from your hands. You have to mix this part vigorously so that the powdered sugar melts in the roasted besan and ghee mixture and no lumps are formed.
Add the powdered cardamom, raisins and cashews. Mix again.
Once you have mixed the ladoo mixture well then let it become lukewarm or cool at room temperature.
Making besan ladoo
When cooled, make small or medium-sized besan ladoo and store them in an airtight steel container. If you are not able to shape in balls then freeze the mixture for 5 minutes or refrigerate for 20 minutes. Depending on the quality and consistency of ghee as well as the room temperature you may be able to easily shape these or not.
Serve besan ladoo garnished with some nuts.
Storage
Besan laddu keeps well at room temperature for a month. Keep in a clean covered jar or container in a cool dry place. You can use a steel jar.
You can refrigerate these. But on refrigerating the ghee in the laddu solidifies making them dense or hard. So before serving, let them thaw completely.
Video
Notes
Besan: You can use both the finer variety of besan or the coarser textured besan. Just ensure that the besan is fresh and has not gone rancid.
Roasting: The besan has to be roasted very well so that it starts releasing ghee and gives a nutty fragrance. Roast the gram flour on low to medium-low heat and keep on stirring non-stop. Depending on the pan thickness, size and intensity of flame, the time of roasting will differ.
Sugar: The sugar that is traditionally added is called as"boora" or "bura" in Hindi. Boora is basically ground unrefined sugar. It is made with sugar which is not processed or bleached, but nowadays you do get boora made with refined sugar in the Indian markets. You can even add powdered sugar or castor sugar or confectioner's sugar. Most of the times I powder raw sugar in a mixer and add. With castor sugar or powdered white sugar the taste is different as some companies add cornstarch in them.
Adding sugar: If you add sugar into the gram flour before it is roasted well, then the uncooked gram flour will have a raw taste in the finished ladoo and you won’t get the perfect sweet taste. Also, once you add the sugar then stir continuously so that no lumps are formed.
Shaping: If you are unable to form the besan ladoo once the mixture has cooled completely, then keep the mixture in the fridge for 20 minutes. The ghee will solidify a bit and you will easily be able to form the ladoo. If the mixture looks to dry or hard, then add 2 to 3 tablespoon of hot melted ghee and mix again. Let the mixture cool again and then shape into laddu.
Scaling: You can easily double or triple this recipe and store the extra laddu in an airtight steel container for a quick and easy snack or dessert all week.
Nuts & Dry fruits: You can add nuts like almonds, pistachios, pecans, walnuts and pecans. You can even add a pinch of saffron strands.
Note that the approximate nutrition values is for 1 besan laddu.