Last year when I visited India, my sister in laws mother who knows our family's weakness for sweets, very kindly made a nice amount of assorted sweets for all of us. Among this treasure of sweets she made, I found a few long forgotten treats that I haven't had in a long, long while. One of them was besan ladoo. Besan ladoo is an Indian sweet made with chick pea flour and semolina. It has this delicious melt in your mouth quality to it that makes it quite irresistible. As I was biting into a delicious ladoo the thought that kept running in my head was why......why is it that I haven't made this yummy treat in such a long time?
Deciding to remedy that as soon as possible,at the first opportunity after we returned back home, I made this sweet. The first time I made this I made it with only chickpea flour, but besan ladoo without semolina doesn't taste quite right. Don't get me wrong, it isn't awful or anything like that, but I personally like the crunch and texture that semolina gives this sweet. So I made it a few more times to perfect the recipe. This version of this ladoo is the one we love the best, it has the perfect texture and sweetness for us and this one has become one of my favorites. It's easy and fail proof and is perfect for sharing with friends or for a special occasion or Indian festivals :)
Click here for a printable view of this recipe
Ingredients and Method to make Besan Ladoo
1 and 1/2 cups of chickpea flour (besan/ kadalai maavu)
1/4 cup semolina (medium rava/sooji)
1 and 3/4 cup sugar (shakkar/sakkarai) to be powdered fine
1/2 tsp cardamom seed powder (elaichi/ elakkai)
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup warm clarified butter (ghee/nei)
Optional(see notes)
1 tsp clarified butter/ghee/nei + 2 tbsp broken pieces of cashew
In a heavy bottomed pan roast semolina in about 2 Tbsp of clarified butter/ghee/nei until it is aromatic. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.
In the same pan, in low to medium heat, roast besan/ chickpea flour in 1/4 cup of ghee/ clarified butter stirring continuously to make sure the besan does not burn. Roast until the besan is aromatic. It takes about 15 to 17 minutes for the besan to get to this stage on low to medium low heat. If you take the besan out too early and it tastes raw, it will spoil the taste of this sweet so take your time with this step to ensure the besan is properly cooked. Remove from heat and add to the large bowl along with semolina.
Allow the mixture to cool a little.You can even cool this all the way to room temperature if you wish. Add cardamom seed powder to this mixture and mix well.
Powder the sugar to a fine powder and add to the above mixture and mix well.
When you are ready to make the sweet, add warm clarified butter/ghee/ nei to it and mix well. When you take a little mixture and make a fist, the mixture should hold. Roll into gooseberry sized ladoos. Place in another container. Proceed with the rest of the mixture in the same manner.
Yielded approx 28 to 30 medium sized ladoos. Yield will depend on the size of each ladoo.
Notes:
If you wish to add cashews to the ladoos, roast cashews in 1 tsp clarified butter until it turns golden brown. Add it to the mixture along with the cardamom powder, mix well and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
If you are looking for Indian sweet recipes, here are a few more
Deciding to remedy that as soon as possible,at the first opportunity after we returned back home, I made this sweet. The first time I made this I made it with only chickpea flour, but besan ladoo without semolina doesn't taste quite right. Don't get me wrong, it isn't awful or anything like that, but I personally like the crunch and texture that semolina gives this sweet. So I made it a few more times to perfect the recipe. This version of this ladoo is the one we love the best, it has the perfect texture and sweetness for us and this one has become one of my favorites. It's easy and fail proof and is perfect for sharing with friends or for a special occasion or Indian festivals :)
Click here for a printable view of this recipe
Ingredients and Method to make Besan Ladoo
1 and 1/2 cups of chickpea flour (besan/ kadalai maavu)
1/4 cup semolina (medium rava/sooji)
1 and 3/4 cup sugar (shakkar/sakkarai) to be powdered fine
1/2 tsp cardamom seed powder (elaichi/ elakkai)
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup warm clarified butter (ghee/nei)
Optional(see notes)
1 tsp clarified butter/ghee/nei + 2 tbsp broken pieces of cashew
In a heavy bottomed pan roast semolina in about 2 Tbsp of clarified butter/ghee/nei until it is aromatic. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.
Allow the mixture to cool a little.You can even cool this all the way to room temperature if you wish. Add cardamom seed powder to this mixture and mix well.
Powder the sugar to a fine powder and add to the above mixture and mix well.
Yielded approx 28 to 30 medium sized ladoos. Yield will depend on the size of each ladoo.
Notes:
If you wish to add cashews to the ladoos, roast cashews in 1 tsp clarified butter until it turns golden brown. Add it to the mixture along with the cardamom powder, mix well and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
If you are looking for Indian sweet recipes, here are a few more
 Moong dhal ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with mung bean lentil |  Coconut Burfi ~ Nariyal burfi ~ Indian coconut fudge |  Easy Rava Ladoo without sugar syrup ~ Indian sweet made with semolina and coconut |
 Oats Poha Kheer ~ Oats Aval payasam ~ Beaten rice flakes pudding |  Gajar kaju kheer ~ Carrot cashew payasam |  Badam Kheer ~ Payasam ~ Indian almond pudding |
