Make Besan Ladoo: Easy & Tasty Indian Sweet

Make Besan Ladoo: Easy & Tasty Indian Sweet

Roast Besan with Ghee till golden and fragrant; mix with powdered sugar (made from granulated sugar), almond meal, roasted poppy seeds, cardamom an sliced almonds. Take a small portion of the mixture into your palms, squeeze tightly to bind, then roll into smooth round Ladoos (small balls). Serve as dessert or teatime snack. Enjoy!

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Bengali, Gujarati, Indian, Maharashtrian, North-Indian, Punjabi, Rajasthani, South Indian

Servings Ladoos

Calories 121 kcal

Equipment

Heavy bottom un-coated 10 inch (25 cm)frying pan - stainless steel or cast iron preferred traditional Indian heavy-bottom iron wok OK as well;
Wooden spatula for roasting preferred unlike metal spatulas, wooden utensils don't get hot from the continuous stirring needed
Spice grinder/coffee grinder for grinding whole almonds into almond meal, and for grinding granulated sugar into powder: do not use icing sugar/confectioner's sugar for making these Ladoos
Mortar and pestle for crushing cardamom seeds; if not available, use the spice grinder

Ingredients

To roast Besan

1 cup Besan Chana Dal flour - finely milled preferred; coarse texture requires a slightly modified recipe: see Recipe Notes for details; Note: Besan is NOT the same as Chickpea flour, which is made from whole white chickpeas (Garbanzo beans), not Chana Dal (from Indian brown chickpeas - Kala Chana)!
2 tbsp Ghee use high quality fresh Ghee; homemade preferred
1 tbsp Ghee add after roasting the Besan; may need extra 1-2 tsp later to bind the Ladoo

To add to roasted Besan

1/4 cup Sugar - granulated If you want sweeter Ladoos, use up to 2 tbsp more granulated sugar; Do NOT use icing sugar/confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp Almond meal from 8-10 whole almonds; for nut-free, omit, or use crushed melon seeds (Magaz seeds) or lightly toasted hemp seeds
1 tsp White Poppy seeds if not available, omit; Do NOT use black poppy seeds
1 tbsp Almonds - thinly sliced from about 4 almonds; for nut-free, omit, or use sliced melon seeds (Magaz seeds)
1/4 tsp Green Cardamom - freshly crushed/ground pre-ground cardamom is not as flavorful as freshly ground seeds/pods
2 tbsp Raisins (optional): chopped coarsely

Instructions

Roast the Besan: will take about 15 min of continuous stirring

Heat 2 tbsp Ghee in a heavy bottom 10 inch (25 cm) frying pan on low-medium heat.
When it melts, add 1 cup Besan
Use a wooden spoon/spatula to roast the Besan on low-medium heat: stir continuously otherwise it will quickly start to burn.
Note: While roasting, you might see lumps form - that's fine. As you continue to roast, the lumps will start to disintegrate.
While stirring, lift the Besan from the bottom of the pan and turn it over... Periodically also spread it out over the surface of the pan- this way, you can 'see' it very well and observe how far along the roasting has come.
It will soon start to change color, and the texture begins to look and feel somewhat 'grainy' as you stir it.
Turn the heat to the lowest setting and continue to stir until the color becomes a rich golden brown; you can smell the wonderful aroma of the well-roasted Besan too!
Note:
Be very alert and do NOT let it burn! and get black charred spots - this will make your Ladoos taste bitter!
- SO: 100% attention and no distractions!
Turn the heat off and move the pan away from the hot stove-top grid.
Add 1 tbsp Ghee to the golden roasted Besan, mix well and set aside to cool a bit while prepping the other ingredients.

Prepping other ingredients

Grind 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a spice grinder to a fine powder. It will now measure about 6 tbsp. This amount gives the perfect sweetness for me.
However, If you like sweeter Ladoos, you can add a bit more sugar: up to 2 tbsp more of the granulated sugar - that will measure just a bit less than 1/2 cup after grinding.
If you do add more sugar, you will likely need to add a little more Ghee as well to help bind the Ladoos.
Note:
Do NOT use confectioner's sugar / icing sugar: this has anti-caking agents that will give your Ladoos a weird taste!
Make Almond meal: Grind 8-10 whole almonds to a powder: slightly coarse texture is OK.
If making nut-free Ladoos, use melon seeds (also called Magaz seeds) instead of almonds.
Slice 4 almonds thinly.
If making nut-free, use melon seeds (also called Magaz seeds) instead of almonds.
Toast the poppy seeds for 1-2 minutes on low-medium heat, stirring until they start popping and become aromatic. Turn the heat off and transfer the toasted poppy seeds to a small bowl and set aside to cool.
The color changes: the seeds start browning a little during the roasting.
Peel and crush/grind 5-6 green cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle
Note: I highly recommend placing a folded kitchen towel under the mortar while crushing the cardamom - this helps to protect the countertop during the pounding of the hard seeds.
Note: If you do not have a mortar and pestle, you can use the spice grinder: mix the cardamom seeds with a little bit of the powdered sugar you made earlier (about 2 tbsp) and grind together.
BY this time, the roasted Besan should have cooled a bit and become lukewarm.
Add the ground sugar to the warm roasted Besan. stir well to distribute evenly.
Note: Do not add sugar until the roasted Besan cools down quite a bit and is lukewarm
Add the roasted poppy seeds and almond meal.
Take about 2 tbsp mixture in your fist, squeeze tight, then see if you can roll it into a ball, squeezing the mixture tightly as you work with it.
If it keeps falling apart, it needs a bit more Ghee.
Add 1 tsp warm ghee, mix it in well and check again: try making the Ladoo again.. You might need to add more Ghee: 1-2 tsp
Note: Even if the mixture seems a bit too dry, Do NOT add too much Ghee all at once!
Note: Excess Ghee gives a pasty-looking mixture: your Ladoos will not retain their round shape - they will become flat!
Once you ensure that you can bind the Ladoos with the mixture, break up your 'trial' Ladoo and mix it back into the rest of the mixture.
Mix well, then add the sliced almonds... and raisins (if adding)
Use a 2 tbsp measure to scoop up the mixture into your palm; close your fist tightly over it to bind it together; then roll it in you hand, squeezing with each turn to make it into a tight round ball.
Repeat with the remaining mixture: this will give about 10 small Ladoos
Nore: If you like your Ladoos to be bigger, that's fine: you should be able to make about 6-7 large Ladoos.
Serve at teatime with a cup of tea/coffee, along with a savory, spicy snack.
Enjoy!

Notes

Coarse Besan: also called Ladoo Besan

This recipe is meant to be used with finely milled Besan, not coarse textured Besan.

Then why is it called Ladoo Besan? Some types of Besan Ladoos are made with coarse Besan,

However, if you only have the coarse Besan available, no worries...

Use the following method to obtain a slightly finer-textured flour than what you started with.

Sieve it through a fine mesh strainer: collect the fine flour that goes through the sieve and set it aside.
Transfer the coarser particles left in the sieve to a spice grinder and grind to a finer texture and sieve again.
Repeat until you have 1 cup of sieved Besan- this will still not be quite as fine as finely milled Besan.
- Return any leftover coarser particles to your jar of coarse Besan.
Use this sieved Besan as directed in the recipe
- You might need to slightly adjust the amount of Ghee added at the end, to ensure that the Ladoo is tightly bound and does not fall apart or crumble easily.
Note: These Ladoos will have a nuttier/more grainy texture that the ones made with super-fine Besan: they are just as delicious!

How to Store Besan Ladoos

Store these Ladoos in a single layer in a shallow lidded container. They do not spoil easily and it is safe to keep them in a cool dark area in your pantry for 2-3 weeks.

My guess is they will get polished off long before you need to worry about spoilage! However, if you make a large batch and want them to last longer, you can certainly refrigerate them and even freeze them.

Note:

The Ladoos will be hard when you take them out of the refrigerator/ freezer, because the Ghee will have solidified in the cold temperature of the refrigerator/freezer.

SO:

Before you serve them, leave the Ladoos out on the counter, uncovered or loosely covered, to soften as they come to room temperature.

In the refrigerator:

Good for 4-5 weeks, possibly longer.

In the Freezer:

Good for 3-4 months, possibly longer.
To serve:
- Take out however many you plan to serve, put them on your serving dish, cover loosely and give them about an hour or so on the counter to slowly thaw and come to room temp.
- If the Ladoos seem to have become flattened or a bit shapeless while thawing, just put a little bit of Ghee on your hands and re-roll them gently into round balls, before serving them.
- This way, you can also make sure that they have actually thawed all the way to the innermost part of the Ladoo.
- Re-rolling the Ladoos will also give them an attractive smooth and glossy look - from the melted Ghee on their surface.

Nutrition

Serving: 1LadooCalories: 121kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 3gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 8mgPotassium: 112mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 5IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 16mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Besan, Besan ke Laddu, Besan Ladoo, Besanachey Ladoo, Clarified butter, Desi Ghee, Diwali sweets, Ghee, Indian dessert, Laddu

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