When summer holidays used to arrive we used to always have besan ladoo, avalakki chivda and kodubale at home. My mother always ensured she stocked up on these favourite North Karnataka snacks. Besan ladoo and avalakki chivda are infact the 2 most important snacks in a North Karnataka household. When you visit someone’s house you are sure to be offered these snacks. A cup of fresh chai and guests are served!
The trick to make fragrant and non-pasty/non-dry besan ladoo is patience. Yes you heard me right, you have to fry the mixture on low flame for quite sometime to get the right consistency, colour and taste! I mention it multiple times throughout this post, never ever be tempted to increase the heat on your pan, the mixture will turn into a clay like colour (ew!).
Besan ladoo needs only a few ingredients, besan of course, freshly made sugar powder. I add elaichi while making sugar powder so that the flavour spreads throughout. Some ghee to fry the mixture and cashews. I only prefer cashews but some people add almonds and raisins as well 🙂
Try 7 Cups barfi from FOI. More besan recipes, besan cheela, palak pakoda, kanda bhaji etc. Try more sweet recipes from FOI, rava unde/ladoo, kobbri mithai, shenga barfi, shenga unde/ladoo etc.
- 1 Cup besan
- ¾ Cup sugar
- 7-8 elaichi
- ¼ Cup ghee
- 10-12 cashews broken
- Chopped pistachios for garnishing
- In a mixer jar, add sugar and elaichi, dry grind into a powder and keep aside
- Melt ghee in a pan on low heat
- Sieve besan, add it to the pan and start frying, mix with ghee
- Keep frying, besan mixed with ghee turns into a paste
- Keep frying on low flame till it slightly changes colour and becomes aromatic
- After a while it starts releasing more aroma and becomes fragrant
- It takes around 30-35 minutes for it comes together and for besan mixture to be fully fried
- Empty the mixture into a bowl
- Add chopped cashews into the warm mixture and mix well
- Let it cool till warm to the touch, do not let it cool completely
- Next add powdered sugar and mix well, ensure there are no lumps and all sugar gets incorporated with besan
- Further add 1-2 tsp ghee if required and make unde/ladoo
- Make ladoo to the size you like, ensure there are no cracks
- Store in an airtight container
- Garnish with chopped pistachios and savour the sweet ladoos!
Ensure the mixture is not very hot when adding the powdered sugar, to avoid making the mixture runny
The heat in the besan mixture is enough to give the cashews a light aroma and crunch, so I add it at last. You can also add it 2 mins before switching off the flame
Besan Ladoo Stepwise:
In a mixer jar, add sugar and elaichi, dry grind into a powder and keep aside
Melt ghee in a pan on low heat
Sieve besan, add it to the pan and start frying, mix with ghee
Keep frying, besan mixed with ghee turns into a paste
Keep frying on low flame till it slightly changes colour and becomes aromatic
After a while it starts releasing more aroma and becomes fragrant
It takes around 30-35 minutes for it comes together and for besan mixture to be fully fried
Empty the mixture into a bowl
Add chopped cashews into the warm mixture and mix well
Let it cool till warm to the touch, do not let it cool completely
Next add powdered sugar and mix well, ensure there are no lumps and all sugar gets incorporated with besan
Further add 1-2 tsp ghee if required and make unde/ladoo
Make ladoo to the size you like, ensure there are no cracks
Store in an airtight container
Garnish with chopped pistachios and savour the sweet ladoos!
