Indian Festival Sweets: Wheat Flour and Dry Fruits Laddu Recipe
Cooking is one of my passions. I like to make nutritious and tasty foods at home without using preservatives and artificial colors.
Wheat Flour and Dry Fruits Laddu
Delicious and Nutritious Sweet Balls
In India, people traditionally celebrate festivals with homemade sweets. For the first festival of the calendar year, Nagara Panchami, it is common practice to make wheat flour and dry fruits laddu. This aromatic sweet is easy to make; its main ingredients are wheat flour, jaggery, ghee, dry fruits, and oil.
If you look at the ingredients list, you will observe that the items used in making this sweet are nutritious and tasty. The recipe features easy steps that don't take much time. I made these laddus in just 40 minutes.
These laddus are easy to break, and they are not sticky. Let me show you how to make this yummy treat!
Cook Time
| Prep time | Cook time | Ready in | Yields |
|---|---|---|---|
25 min | 15 min | 40 min | 10 laddus |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons ghee, melted
- 4 cardamom pods, powdered
- 2 tablespoons cashew nuts
- 2 tablespoons almonds
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 2 teaspoons copra, thinly sliced
- 1 heaped cup jaggery, powdered
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Add wheat flour and salt to a mixing bowl. Melt the ghee and make it very hot. Pour it on the wheat flour. You will hear sizzling. Mix it with a spoon. When the temperature reduces, mix it with your fingers.
- Add water little by little to make a firm dough. Add only the amount of water needed to knead the dough.
- Divide the dough into many lemon-sized portions. Make patties out of them.
- Deep-fry these patties in fresh oil over medium-low heat until they become crispy both outside and inside. Transfer them to an absorbent paper towel to drain the excess oil. Spread them out and allow them to cool.
- When the patties have completely cooled, break each of them with your fingers. Next, put them into a mixer jar and pulse 2 or 3 times to get granules. Collect them in the bowl that you used to make the dough.
- Add crushed cardamom and set aside.
- Saute the almonds and cashew nuts in a very small amount of ghee until they become crispy and slightly change their color. Put them into a mixer jar.
- Saute the thinly sliced copra in a very small amount of ghee until they become lightly golden brown here and there. Add them into the same mixer jar.
- Pulse the mixer 2 or 3 times to get granules. Add this mixture to the bowl.
- Saute the raisins in some ghee until they become round and swollen. Transfer them to the same bowl.
- Heat a deep-bottomed pan. Add jaggery powder and 2 teaspoons of water.
- Allow the jaggery to melt. Let the mixture boil for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and transfer it to the bowl while straining. Straining the jaggery liquid removes any impurities.
- Mix the contents in the bowl with a spoon. When the jaggery has cooled, mix it with your fingers. While holding a lemon-sized portion in your fist, make a ball (laddu) by pressing and firming the mixture inside your fist.
- Similarly, make balls (laddus) using the mixture.
- Place the laddus near one another on a plate. Allow them to cool completely. When they become cold, they will become firm and hard.
- Enjoy eating these laddus whenever you want. You can also offer them to god.
Storage Tips: These laddus remain fresh for 14-15 days at the room temperature. For longer shelf life, store them in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator.
Photo Tutorial
Step one: Melt the ghee and make it very hot. Turn off the heat.
In a large mixing bowl, add wheat flour, and a little bit salt. Add the hot ghee. You will hear a sizzling sound. Mix it with a spoon. Once the heat reduces, continue to mix with your fingers.
The mixture should be such that if you hold some mixture in your fist and press, it should make a shape. If you can't shape it, add a little more hot ghee and mix well.
Adding a very small amount of water, make a stiff, lump-free dough. Divide the dough into many lemon-sized portions. Shape each of them into patties.
Step two: Deep-fry the patties in medium-hot oil until they become crispy both inside and outside. While frying, one or two patties may break. Fry them as is and collect with the other fried patties. Spread them out on an absorbent paper towel.
Similarly, fry all the patties. Allow them to cool down completely.
Once they are cold, crush them with your fingers. Next, put the pieces into a mixer jar and pulse to get granules.
Collect the granules in a mixing bowl. Add crushed cardamom.
Step three: Adding a little ghee, saute the raisins. Add them to the same bowl.
Fry the cashew nuts and almonds in some ghee until they become crispy. Collect them on a plate.
Saute the copra in some ghee until they get light golden brown spots here and there. Add it to the plate containing roasted almonds and cashew nuts. Allow them to cool down.
Add it to a mixer jar and pulse once or twice. Add it to the bowl.
Step four: Add powdered jaggery to a deep-bottomed pan and heat it. Add 3 teaspoons of water. Stir the mixture. After some time, the jaggery melts completely. Let the mixture boil for 2-3 minutes.
When the mixture becomes a little bit thick, turn off the heat and transfer the hot liquid jaggery to the bowl while sieving it to remove any impurities.
Mix the contents with a spoon. When the mixture cools, take a lemon-sized portion in your fist and form a ball while pressing all the sides. Place it on a plate. Similarly, make all the balls (laddus).
Place the laddus one near the other on a plate. After 1 or 2 hours, these laddus become a little bit firm and hard. Enjoy eating these delicious sweet treats!
