Besan Ke Laddoo - Sweet balls of Chickpea Flour

I have a biig sweet tooth.  When I searched the net for besan laddoo recipes, I found many. But as a peson who don't like to cook, I went through all and tried to do it my way. This recipe may not be that "awesome!!!", but well, I made it for me, and I am happy. :-).

So when you put that small laddoo in your mouth, it starts as salty but gragually as it melts, you get that gentle sweetness of jaggery.

What you need: (I have used measuring cups, so even if the item is power or solid, I measure it in ml.)

• 75 ml Besan
• 30 - 40 ml finely chopped Jaggery up to 50 ml if you have a bigger sweet tooth
• 25 ml Ghee (I use Amul Cow Ghee)

For kids, eating is always a sheer waste of time, but we parents want them to get the best possible and I would say, natural nutrition. Besan is protein, Jaggery is energy plus a lot of minerals, and cow ghee is almost a medicine. You can also add around 25 ml of dried fruits pieces in the list of ingradients. The above measurements will make around 10 - 12 one-byte size balls.

So, the basic process is (read entire article first!!), mix besan, jaggery, and ghee, and then make byte-size balls (or bigger if you want) out of it.



Here you go with the actual process:

Take besan in a kadai, and heat it at a low flame. Stir continously. Idea is to let moisture escape from the flour and also to make besan a little crisp and also get rid of that typical smell that comes out of the raw besan.

After heating for a few minutes, you will start getting that roasting type of smell. That is the time to take the besan away from heat, and add ghee into it.

So, add ghee in it and mix it well so that ghee mixes with the entire quantity of the flour evenly. This should take a minute or two. And then, add jaggery and continue mixing. Jaggery will start dissolving in the mixture. When after mixing for 2 - 3 minutes, you feel that thre are no jaggery lumps remaining, it is time to quickly start making laddoos or balls.

Idea is to take around 20 ml of mixture and press it so hard that all the air escapes and we get a shape. Traditionally it is done with palm and fingers. If you can do it that way, great, but if you can't,  never mind, take two 10 ml mesuring cups, put mix in it and press them against each other. Or may be press it in ice tray to make squre "cakes". Because the kadai should be hot even now, the mixture will be warm if not hot, so be a bit more careful if you are using hands.

After converting the mix into laddoo (or cakes), let it rest for an hour or so. They will become more dry and firm.

By nature laddoo are highly sweet, such as motichur. Other laddoos like kuler or churmu, might be a bit less sweet, but this one, it will surprise you. By not frying the besan in ghee (the way we do in sukhadi / gol papdi), we have retained the physical properties of besan, which to me, gives a slight salty taste. Ghee acts as a binding agent. All the sweet you get is from nutrious jaggery that has blended will with besan. So when you put that small laddoo in your mouth, it starts as salty but gragually as it melts, you get that gentle sweetness of jaggery.

So, make it, taste it, and if you like it, don't forget to come back and comment on this page!