DESCRIPTION:

Laddu or laddoo are ball-shaped sweets popular in the Indian Subcontinent. Laddus are made of flour, minced dough and sugar with other ingredients that vary by recipe. They are often served at festive or religious occasions.

Besan laddu is a popular Indian sweet dish made of (chickpea flour or gram flour), sugar and ghee. Besan is roasted in ghee till golden brown appearance with nutty fragrance. Then sugar is added to it. Pistachio pieces are also mixed in this mixture optionally. Sweet balls are then made from this mixture. It has a long shelf life. It is often served at festivals, family events and religious occasions in India.

PREPERATION:

Preperation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 35 mins

INGREDIENTS:

-2 cups besan / chick pea flour
-1 ¼ cup sugar
-3 to 4 green cardamoms/ elaichi
-1 to ½ cup ghee 
-¼ cup Cashews chopped
-½ cup raisins

STEPS:

1. Add 1 ¼ cup sugar, 3 to 4 cardamoms and little sugar to a blender jar and make a fine powder. Set this aside.
2. Use the besan at room temperature.
3. Heat ½ cup ghee in a deep pan, fry ¼ cup chopped cashew until golden. If using raisins, you can add them towards the end. When they puff up set these aside.
4. Set aside cashews in a bowl as well along with 2 - 3 tbsp. of the ghee it 
5. Now lower the flame and add besan to the same ghee in the frying pan.
6. Mix the besan well with ghee to get the right taste and fragrance. If the mixture looks dry, add 1 tbsp. ghee that was set aside. 
7. Now continue to roast on a medium flame, constantly stir for even roasting and to prevent burning. After 12 - 15 minutes( approximately ) the color of the besan will change. The time it may take depends on the flame, the kind of pan used.
8. When the besan begins to change the color, lower the flame and continue to stir. When it changes to a slightly dark color, you will notice, ghee begins to ooze out slightly from the mixture.
9. Allow it to cool down a bit. Add powdered sugar, cardamom powder and nuts. Mix well.
10. Now the mixture will look fairly greasy and good enough to hold shape, if not then add the rest of the ghee little by little as needed and mix well.
11. Now take small portion of the mixture and make small balls out of it. You can store them in a air tight jar for 2 to 3 weeks. 

Servings: 14-15