Besan Almond ladoos (Chickpea and almond ladoos)

Diwali fun and sweet making continues.! And mind you all this fun was amidst the busy working and school days.! The days and nights were all just rolling into one. Hah finally the weekend is here! Which will bring a grand culmination – partying and exchanging the Diwali goodies with our other foodie friends! 🙂 How come all festivals are all about only eating (aka bingng!) Anyways I am not complaining…at least not now. Later maybe when I jump off my weighing scales! 🙁

Besan ladoo is yet another Diwali sweet…without it the Diwali platter is incomplete. Although a huge fan of besan ladoo myself, I am also overtly critical (almost persnickety!) of how they are made.!  Just any besan ladoo will not do it for me. The besan has to be roasted in the ghee(butter) until it is dark brown (sorry no yellow or even golden brown for me, thank you ) The sweetness needs to be exactly right too – it its a tad too sweet, sorry I will pass that ladoo.  OK so you get the point…so now let’s get down to my recipe which I have perfected over the last 15 years! (Smelling a snobbish tone here even arrogance maybe? Never mind…ignore that…the recipe is indeed very good! 🙂  And as to getting the perfect round balls every time? hah …I have to admit without my dear hubby’s help they would never come out as perfectly round and smooth ladoos. The credit does go to me though for having trained him really well! 🙂 Hope he is not reading this! 🙂

This time I decided to add powdered almonds too in the mixture to make it a healthful and less sweet version of the traditional besan ladoo.

I am bringing these besan almond ladoos to our neighborhood Diwali potluck party and also bringing them to Angie’s virtual weekly party,the much famous ‘Fiesta Friday!‘ Happy Diwali everyone!

“Besan Almond ladoos (Chickpea and almond ladoos)” time=”About 60 minutes excluding 1 hour to cool the mixture” difficulty=”Moderate”] This recipe makes about 24-26 ladoos

Ingredients:

3 cups Besan (chickpea flour)

1 cup unsalted butter (or 2 sticks) or 1 cup ghee

1/2 cup almonds, powdered

1 1/2 cups granulated or powdered sugar

2 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

Take a large wok or kadai and add the besan in it and roast lightly for about 5 minutes on low stirring continuously.

Melt the butter/ghee and add to the besan and keep stirring until all the butter is well mixed with the besan.

Continue stirring for the next 20 minutes or so on low to medium heat until the besan changes color to brown.

First the besan will start changing color and then continue stirring until the texture of it changes to a lumpy mass.  That’s when its cooked perfectly. Now add the powdered almonds, the sugar and cardamom and stir to mix. Turn the heat off and let cool for about 1 hour or so and then make ladoos out of the mixture by slowly taking some amount in your fist and by making a continuous motion of closing and opening the fist until you get a smooth round ladoo. Place ladoo on a tray or plate. Repeat until all ladoos are made.