Besan Ladoo Recipe | Best Besan Ladoo

ABOUT

Besan Ladoos are delicious traditional North Indian sweet made with Gram flour (Besan – hindi) , Sugar and Ghee. These ladoo melts in your mouth as they are slow cooked with ghee till aromatic. These are typically made during festival seasons like Diwali, Ganesh chathurthi etc.,

Similar recipes like Rava laddu (made with semolina), Maa Laddu (made with roasted gram / Pottukadalai) which are flour based. There are many famous sweet recipes made with gram flour (besan/Kadalaimavu), like Boondi laddu, Mottichur laddu, mysore Pak which are enjoyed throughout India.

So I am sharing with you the most easy and reliable recipe with all the tips and tricks to get these laddus right and perfect every time. Whenever we deal with sweets , first get your measurements right and next is the consistency which will come through practice.

TIPS AND NOTES

1. Besan must be in good quality. Sieve the gram flour before use to get better results and making it less vulnerable to lumps.
2. Cook the gram flour till there is a notable change in color as well as aroma. Only when the raw smell goes the dish will taste good. If needed try to taste in between incase you have any doubt
3. Using less ghee will make it so dry and making ladoo will be difficult. On the other hand, if ghee is too much it will become too loose to handle.
4. In case you have added more ghee, do not panic, leave the mixture to cool completely , it becomes slightly thick and you may require a little extra sugar powder to get the right consistency of the laddu.
5. In case the ghee quantity is low at the end, you may require to add a little warm ghee to make the laddu
6. Sugar must not have lumps, grind it super fine in a good mixer jar. Add cardamom pods to sugar while grinding which gives amazing flavor in case you miss out cardamom powder.

INGREDIENTS

Gram Flour

Gram flour basically has a steady raw smell unlike semolina, rice flour or roasted gram/pottukadalai, therefore the main time consuming work is to cook till the raw smell fades away. There are different quality of gram flour available in market from medium to fine. For sweets get the fine and good quality gram flour. The time of cooking to make it aromatic differs based on its quality.

Sugar

For this recipe, powdered sugar would be required. However, we have given measurements of normal store bought crystal sugar. The measured sugar can then be powdered in a mixer jar finely. Add cardamom pods while grinding sugar. This gives fantastic flavor to the dish. If you have cardamom powder , use it directly.

Ghee

This plays a major roll when we prepare any kind of sweet except sweets like therattipal/palkova where we don’t use ghee. Ghee should preferably be kept in room temperature and need not melt it, but make sure it is slightly loose to get the measurements right. Besan has to be cooked in ghee (clarified butter), which gives an excellent aroma to the dish.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS WITH PHOTOS

1. To a pan add 1/2 cup ghee which is in room temperature
   
2. Once it melts , keep the flame to the lowest and add gram flour which is finely sieved.
   
3. Keep stirring continuously in low flame until all the ghee is completely incorporated in the flour and forms crumbles. Keep on sautéing till it starts to dry. Now add 1 Tbsp. of ghee and stir
   
4. It starts to loosen but the raw smell has to go. Once it dries up again add two more tbsp. of ghee and keep mixing
   
5. Once it starts to change colour and become loose , check for the raw smell and taste
   
6. Stir till it becomes slightly stiff, then switch off the flame and let it cool. If you can’t get this consistency, off the flame and the loosen mixture will be slightly stiffen when it completely cools down. Rest for around 10-15 minutes in such cases.
   
7. Take the measured crystal sugar and grind it in a mixer jar with cardamom pods. Once it is completely cool or when it is warm enough to handle, add the sugar. Even if your flour is slightly loose, adding powdered sugar will give you correct consistency.
   
8. Mix well without lumps. You will get a crumbly texture slightly moist
   
9. Now start to make laddu . Only if you have moisture , laddus will not break. So don’t reduce the ghee quantity, it forms cracks in your laddus.
   
10. Take nuts of your choice, I have used Almonds here, chopped it to thin slices and topped it over. You can roast them and place as well.
    
11. So your Besan laddu is ready to be served. Enjoy !! Happy Eating!!
    

STORAGE

It has great shelf life. Since it has sugar in powdered form which by itself is a preservative, it can be stored up to 10 days in room temperature and in fridge it can be stored up to a month.

*For Information and reference purpose only & are approximate values