“When chocolate won’t do any good, have a laddoo and join the desihood.”
I am one of those who doesn’t really like sweets. Especially chocolate. Yes, it is good to eat in pairings like with salted caramel or with notes of roasted almond, but seldom I have been swayed by sweets. That is till I was opened to the box of boondi laddoos. This staple Indian dessert manages to be sweet but not overly so, like a bite of perfect morsel that it is. Of course add in nuts and dried fruits and it’s just hard to eat one. But then, who said you have to eat only one?
RECIPE
For brightening up 1 festival feast
INGREDIENTS
- 500gms besan (chickpea flour)
- 750ml water
- 250gms sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter) or oil
- 500ml oil, for frying
- 50gms raisins, chopped
- 50 gms cashews, chopped
- 50 gms almonds, chopped
METHOD
- Mix the besan, saffron, and 500ml of water to form a smooth batter, with a consistency of heavy cream. Set aside for 10 mins.
- In a pan, bring the rest of the water and sugar to boil to form a sugar syrup. Once it achieves a thread-like consistency, take off the heat.
- In another wide and shallow pan, add ghee (or oil) and fry the dry fruits and nuts. Once golden brown, set aside.
- In the same pan, add the oil and bring it up to high heat.
- Using a slotted spoon or bowl, pour the batter on the oil to form round droplets or boondis. Work in batches and remove the cooked droplets or boondis as soon as they turn golden. Do not over cool them and remove as soon as they are just cooked and looking golden yellow.
- Drop the boondis into the sugar syrup and let them steep along with the dried fruits and nuts. Once cooled, make them into round balls of a size to your liking.
- Eat freshly made or store and serve for long lasting smiles.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- You fry the dried fruits and nuts in oil instead of ghee to make it fully vegan.
- You can choose the dried fruits and nuts to your preference.
- Instead of saffron, you could you use food coloring (orange/red/yellow) or leave it out completely.
- The recipe can be scaled by using a 1:1 ratio for the flour and water mixture as well as for the sugar syrup.
