Oh so healthy ladoos! Can’t have just one

Ladoos! Those melt in your mouth Indian desserts that are synonymous with mom’s love. Traditionally ladoos are made out of wheat, gramflour [besan] or boondi. This ladoo has poha as the base ingredient and is very easy to make. Usually ladoo making can be a long process as roasting flour can be time consuming. But this recipe allows you to make ladoos in under an hour. Give it a shot!

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown poha / beaten rice / rice flakes [can substitute with white poha]
• ¾ cup sugar / jaggery/ grated palm sugar
• 2 green cardamoms
• ½ cup desiccated coconut [optional]
• ¼ cup ghee or milk or coconut oil for binding
• Cashew nuts and raisins as desired

Preparation method

1. Dry roast poha till crunchy. Add coconut and fry till it begins to smell good. Transfer this to a wide plate to cool.
2. Once cool, add the mixture to a blender along with the cardamom and grind into a fine powder, add jaggery and blend well again. Transfer this mixture onto a plate.
3. Heat ghee in a pan, add cashews and fry them till they turn golden, then add the raisins. Switch off the stove.
4. Add the fried cashews and raisins to the mixture. Knead everything well with the palm sugar and add a small amount of the ghee/milk/coconut oil and roll into balls.
5. Dry roast nuts and use them to garnish your dish. Store these in an airtight container.

This was first published in the February 2015 issue of Complete Wellbeing.