The joyous treat - Besan Sooji / Besan Rava ladoo

Time surely has some mighty wings..coz it always flies by in a blink. At times, it’s so hard to believe that it’s been almost 2 years since I first tried my hand at besan ladoo and out of sheer enthusiasm posted it on Facebook. It was just a very naïve beginning to something I had no idea would turn out to be such a game (life?) changer. The legacy of posting pictures of any dish I was successful-at-my-first-try continued until the beginning of this year when it turned out to be a little more serious than that. This blog came into existence and it’s been a whole different journey since. I had always wished food to take a more sincere place in my life and besan ladoo seems to have been just a very auspicious start :)

My history with this recipe dates back to 2010 when my Ma was preparing this for Diwali and it piqued my interest so much that I had to try making it. Memories connect back to those days when my grandma would prepare these ladoos for us kids to gorge on with my sister being the most ardent fan of these delights. So being well aware of the emotional attachment of besan ladoo and Diwali, I took on the challenge.My first try at besan ladoo had turned out good but well not without its own share of mistakes – it had too much ghee. So this time around I made sure that the amount of ghee (even though it might not look a lot) was controlled, so that everyone feels comfortable gorging on these scrumptious snack/ sweet. To add a bit of crunchiness to the otherwise smooth textured ladoos, I added in the rava (sooji/semolina) along with some ghee roasted cashews and raisins.This time around I was very satisfied to have balanced both my adventurous and the health conscious self by balancing out the ghee.A big step ahead to start with :)

Besan Sooji ladoo / Besan Rava ladoo

This festive sweet typifies the perfect blend of the nuttiness of chick pea flour along with the crunch from coarse wheat semolina (sooji/rava), roasted till fragrant in ghee. Cashews and raisins add to the richness of this otherwise effortless treat.It forms quite a pair with the salty Chivda as Diwali faraal.

Ingredients: (Makes 20 ladoos using 1 T scoop)

2 C Besan/Chickpeas Flour

¾ C Sugar (I used cane sugar)

¼ C Rava / Sooji/ Wheat Semolina coarse

½ C Ghee 

¼ tsp Cardamom powder

2 T Roasted Cashews (Optional)

1 T Raisins (Optional)

Method:

1.  Dry roast both the besan and sooji separately on a low flame for about 10 minutes. The besan becomes fragrant while the sooji should be very evenly “light browned”. Keep stirring for an even roast.

2.  In a separate pan, add in 1 T of ghee and fry the raisins and the cashews till - the raisins plump up and the cashews are slightly browned. Keep aside.

3.  Add the rest of the ghee to a wide pan over low flame, and add in the roasted besan and sooji to it. Mix well to smoothen out any lumps.

4.  Roast the ghee-besan–sooji mixture till its fragrant and the mixture has a light brown tinge to it.

5.  Turn off the heat and then add in the sugar, cardamom powder, cashews and raisins. Stir to mix.

6.  Let the mixture cool till its tolerable to make ladoos. I used a 1 T scoop to measure out the ladoos and rolled them out by hand.

Some handy notes:

1. I used granulated cane sugar instead of the powdered one. It just adds in more  to the crunch. Opt out of it, if you like your ladoos smoother.

2. Roasting and continous stirring over a low flame is the key. The mixture can burn very easily, so make sure to stir and be around the stove.

3. These ladoos stays very well for about 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator and is a great source of protein (from the chick pea flour) and energy (from ghee and sugar). A great snack when eaten of course in moderation.

I served these Besan- rava ladoos along with the home made Chivda to all my friends who had come over for Diwali. It was just very touching to be able to reach out to everyone I had wanted to while I was preparing these treats. An honest and heartfelt intention rarely goes unnoticed :). Here's hoping these treats made all those who tasted these as much happy as I was while making them. This Diwali became just too special and here's wishing for an even better Thanksgiving :)

Have a great Thanksgiving folks!

Love and good wishes,

J

I am sending this entry to:
- "Lets celebrate-Indian sweets" hosted by UK Rasoi
- "My Diwali basket" hosted by Thou shalt cook
- "Diwali food fest" hosted by Anu
- "Bon Vivant #10: Festive feast" hosted by Sumee.
- "Diwali Dishes" hosted by Cook's Joy