Boondi Laddoos

Dish type: South Indian Dessert
Time required: 45 min

Yield: 12 nos. approx

Ingredients

For batter:

Besan                                  1 cup

Milk                                    Just enough to bring besan to idli batter consistency

Turmeric Powder                1/2 tsp

Sandalwood powder           1/3 tsp

Salt                                      A tiny pinch

For sugar syrup:

Sugar                                  3.5 cups

Water                                  Just enough to cover sugar in bowl

Cardamom                          2 or 3 nos.

Clove                                  5 to 6 nos.

Cashewnuts                        2 or 3 tsps (broken pieces)

Raisins                                2 or 3 tsps

For frying:

Pure ghee (or butter)          100 gms approx. for each batch of frying

Directions:

Mix milk (preferably Good Life milk), besan, sandalwood powder and turmeric powder. Bring it to idli batter consistency.

Heat 100 gms of ghee / butter in an iron kadai.

(to check if ghee is hot enough for frying, drop a drop of besan batter into hot ghee. If it flattens, it means batter is dilute. Add 1 sp of besan to adjust the consistency. If it forms a tail, it means batter is thick. Add 1 sp of water to adjust its consistency)

Before you begin to fry boondis, fry broken cashews and raisins, remove and keep aside.

Start preparing boondis using a boondi ladle. Using one hand, keep boondi ladle a little above the kadai. Using the other hand, pour batter on to the ladle so that it falls into the hot ghee in the kadai through the holes in the ladle. Wipe the ladle clean and dip it back into the batter. Use another ladle for frying and not the one dipped in batter.

Fry the boondis normally, don’t let it brown or burn. Ideally it is to be fried with sufficient ghee so that boondis have space to float. If you are comfortable using the extra ghee, do in small batches with lesser ghee. When boondis are in the last stage of frying, separate stuck boondis with light pressure.

Towards the end of boondi preparation, prepare sugar syrup to one string consistency and transfer fried boondis to sugar syrup.

Preparing Sugar Syrup:

Boil sugar in 500 ml water. Let sugar dissolve and boil for a few minutes till the syrup reaches a light thread consistency.

Add fried boondis, raisins, cashews, cardamom and clove to the boiling syrup. Let it boil for 2 to 3 min. When ladle starts getting sticky or stiff, switch off the flame. If syrup quantity is more, continue frying for another 2 to 3 min.

Let it cool down, enough for you to handle. .Add pinch of camphor and mix well. Transfer it to a wide basin, make portions and then form laddoos. Start making rough balls from these portions. Press well, but don’t squeeze out all the sugar syrup. Laddoos will become dry. Repeat 3 times. At this stage, it will be a well formed laddoo.

Boondi Laddoos are now ready. Offer to Guru/Jupiter

Tete – a – Tete:

For perfect round and dense laddoos, take out a ladleful of soaked boondis, powder them in a mixie and add it back to the rest of soaked boondis before forming them into laddoos.

Cardamom powder can be added either to sugar syrup or to besan mix.

It is important that sugar syrup reaches light thread consistency.

If batter is too thin or if ghee is not yet hot, boondi will absorb more ghee.

It is better to heat just the required amount of ghee for every batch of frying rather than heating larger than required quantity of ghee at a time.

Adding milk to besan softens the boondis.

Recipe contributor: Ms. Sreeja M