பூந்தி லட்டு :
There are different types of laddoos that are popular in India. Each and every region (north and south) has a different way of preparing these laddoos. The recipe below is the traditional South I.
ndian style laddu that are prepared during festivals. This is my mother’s recipe. My mother-in-law and grandmother are experts in making them. They have prepared endless batches of this delicious goodies and they used to distribute it to neighbors, friends and family during Diwali. Since I am preparing it for the first time, I made a very small test batch today.It needs more practice to master the art of making perfect laddu but am glad it tasted great. The following measurement yields around 15 around laddus.
I was initially very scared to even attempt this recipe. But then thought of giving it a try, after all we learn from our mistakes 🙂
I am splitting the recipe into 3 stages. First step is preparing Boondi, next one is preparing syrup and then the last step is shaping the laddu.
Step 1: Making Boondi.
Ingredients for making Boondi :
- Chickpea flour/Besan/கடலை மாவு ) – 3/4 cup
- Water – 1 cup (add extra if the batter is too thick)
- Baking Soda – 1/4 tsp
- Turmeric or yellow food coloring – a pinch
- Oil for frying.
Two perforated ladles. One ladle to shape boondi, the other ladle to drain and remove boondhis from oil.
Preparation of Boondhi :
1.First mix besan flour, baking soda and turmeric with a whisk or spoon.
2.Add water little by little and make a battar.
3.The consistency of the batter shouldn’t be very thick or thin.
4.Also there should not be any lumps.Heat oil in a kadai.
5.Pour the batter through the ladle as shown in picture below.
6.Slightly keep the ladle above the kadai. This helps in forming boondhis in perfect shapes.
7.If the boondhis are not round and if they have tail, it means that you are keeping the ladle too low. Slightly rise it above from kadai.
8.Fry the boondhis only for a minute or two and remove from oil.You don’t have wait until they turn crispy.
9.Drain excess oil in a tissue and keep the boondhis aside.
10.Keep 1/4 cup roasted boondhis separately. You might need to grind them to a coarse powder before shaping the laddu.
Step 2: Sugar Syrup.
Ingredients for preparing Syrup :
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Cardamom Powder – 1/2 tbsp
- Cloves – 5
- Saffron strands – few
- Edible camphor (optional)
- Water – 1 cup.
Preparation of Syrup :
1.Add sugar in a deep bottomed vessel.
2.Add water until the sugar is completely immersed.
3.Turn on the stove and mix sugar,water well.
4.Keep the flame low at all time.Add in cloves, saffron,cardamom powder and edible camphor at this stage.
5.Wait until you get one string consistency (I couldn’t take pictures since I was doing everything alone :-))
6.Approximately it took around 10 minutes to reach that consistency.
7.Turn off the flame and remove sugar syrup from heat.
8.If you leave the syrup to cook too long, it will start to thicken. Hence concentrate only on syrup while you are preparing it.
9.Now add the boondhis to sugar syrup. Let them get soaked for about 5 minutes.
10.If the mixture looks very dry, it means that there isn’t enough sugar syrup.
11.If the mixture looks very wet it means there is excess syrup.
Step 3: Shaping Laddu :
Now grind 1.4 cup of boondhis to a coarse powder (This step is optional but it helps in binding everything together and it helps in shaping the laddu)
Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pan and first roast 10 cashewnuts,raisins.
Add them to the boondhis.
Apply ghee in your hand and mix everything together and start to shape laddu.
As time goes by they hold the shape together. So press tightly and shape them to your desired size.
Being Diwali weekend, I guess its the perfect time to try this recipe. Waiting for your feedback 🙂
