Boondi Laddu

My first recipe with the name of Lord Ganesh is बूंदी लड्डू. A special Indian sweet made of tiny, sweet  balls. A favorite of one and all.

2 years back when we first moved to the US, it was almost time to celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi. Although I made churma ladoo, I also wanted to get my hands on to delicious boondi laddos. Luckily Tarlaji and her website were my rescue crew. I checked her recipe of Motichur Laddu on Tarla Dalal.com and it was a success. Every since, I have enjoyed this recipe of ladoos.

Tip: Put lots of love and affection and see how the sweet becomes favorite of all :)

Ingredients.
To make boondi batter:
1 1/2 cups of besan/chickpea flour
1 1/2 tbsp.rawa/ semolina

To make sugar syrup:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp. milk
1 1/2 tsp. saffron/kesar for bright yellow color.

1 cup chopped dry fruits and nuts. (cashews,almonds, pistachios, raisins)
1/2 tsp cardamom powder.(elaichi)
Desi Ghee/clarified butter for deep frying.

To make the batter, combine all the ingredients with 3/4 cups of water to make a smooth paste.

To make the sugar syrup, combine water and sugar and bring it to a boil stirring continuously. Add milk to the sugar syrup and let it simmer. Do not stir it. The impurities of the sugar will float on the syrup. These impurities can be removed slowly by using a ladle. Add crushed saffron to the syrup and let it boil for 2-3 mins till the syrup turns yellow. Remove from heat. Add cardamom powder and few seeds.

To make boondis, heat desi ghee in a frying pan or kadhai. Using a perforated spoon over the hot ghee add a tablespoon of batter on it. The batter will slowly pour down the perforations making small balls of equal sizes. Fry till the balls start floating and get golden colored but does not turn dark.

 

Add the fried boondis to the sugar syrup and mix well. Fry more boodis and add the syrup as soon as they are fried. Add a cup of dried fruits and cardamom powder and mix well. Let the mixture cool completely and boondis soak up all the liquid.

Take a tablespoon of mixture in your palm and make a ball or a laddoo. Keep it aside to set.

* You can use few drops of saffron color in the sugar syrup instead of saffron.
* Use seperate perforated spoons, one to make boondis and other to fry them.

Enjoy fresh homemade Boondi Laddus