What’s Diwali without homemade laddoos? When it comes to laddoos,
all of us at home become Chota Bheems😋 Ever since I started cooking, I had
never thought of making the tasty laddoos at home, which I relished at every
other function. It’s been so many years and only now have I had the courage to
give it a try. Why fear when Vijayalakshmi amma is here? She whole heartedly
helped me in the process, giving me important tips throughout. I followed her
tips and tricks exactly, and voila! I had perfect Laddoos, ready to savour!
The trick in making the perfect laddoos lies in the consistency
of the batter, of the sugar syrup and in the equipment and also in a few other
tricks, all which I have shared below. The perfect laddoos are not too dry or
not too sticky, with ¾ th cooked boondis, combined perfectly. Apart from this,
the hidden additives, like the kalkand, cashews, and cloves make a surprise appearance
in between your tasty experience. Happy diwali folks! 😉
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes| Cooking time: 20 to 30
minutes
Course: Snacks| Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients:
Gram flour (kadalai maavu)- 1 ½ cup
Salt- as needed
Cooking soda – a pinch
Sugar- 1 ½ cup
Water- ¾th cup
Lemon- ¼ tsp
Yellow colour- ¼ tsp (mix in 1 spoon water)
Fried cashews- a few
Fried cloves- a few
Diamond sugar (kalkandu) - a few
Elaich powder- ½ tsp
Oil- for deep frying
Method:
1.
Sieve gram flour well to remove any lumps. Add a
pinch of cooking soda to it.
2.
Add water gradually and make batter. Batter
should be of dosa batter consistency. Do check notes section for tips to check
the consistency of batter.
3.
Heat oil in a large kadai. We need two
slotted/perforated spoons to make boondi. Pictures of those spoons are shown in
step wise pictures below. Please do check. One spoon is to make the boondi and
the other one is to remove it from oil.
4.
Make sure the oil is hot while making boondi.
5.
Hold one of the perforated spoons on top of the
oil and pour batter on it. Use the back of a ladle to gently press the batter
in circular motion. (refer pic below). Let the boondis fall into the oil. After
the boondis are made, wipe the excess batter off the perforated spoon,
everytime.
6.
Fry till it is ¾ th cooked. Don’t fry it too
crispy, as binding it for laddoo later will be a problem.
7.
Remove the boondis from oil using the other
perforated spoon. Drain in a colander or a kitchen towel. Repeat it for the
rest of the batter.
8.
Add sugar to a thick bottomed vessel. Add the
mentioned amount of water to it. Let it boil. Bring it to one string consistency.
Switch off the flame. Add ¼ tsp lemon juice and required amount of yellow
colour mixture. Mix well.
9.
When it is still hot, add the prepared boondis
to the sugar syrup.
10.
All boondis should be equally coated and take
care that there is no extra sugar syrup. If you find extra sugar syrup, make
some more boondis and add to it.
11.
Add half a spoon of elachi powder to the boondi
and give a mix.
12.
Add fried cashews, fried cloves and diamond
sugar to the sugar coated boondis. Mix well. Using the back of ladle, gently
press the boondis so that it binds well while making laddoos.
13.
Transfer everything to a plate. While it is
still warm, start making laddoos using one of your palms.
Notes:
·
To check for the proper consistency of the
batter do the following test. Take a spoon and dip the back of the spoon into
the batter. Hold it on top of the preheated oil. If it drops as perfect rounds
then the batter is perfect.
·
If the batter is too thick, you will get boondis
with tail. Then you may have to add a little more water to the batter. If the
batter is too watery then the boondis formed will be very light and thin. Add a
little more flour to the batter to make it slightly thick.
·
If you do not have the traditional perforated
spoon for making boondi at home, you can also use the flat ones we normally
have at home.
·
One string consistency of sugar syrup is very
imporatant.
·
Don’t forget to add lemon juice to sugar syrup,
as it helps in avoiding the sugar syrup from becoming thick.
Step by step pictures
sieve the gram flour to remove lumps
add a pinch of cooking soda
add water and make batter
use perforated spoons to make boondis
heat oil in a kadai
pour the batter in one
of the perforated spoons
use the back of a ladle and gently
press the batter in circular motion
let the boondis fall into the oil
cook till boondis are 3/4 cooked
perfect boondis ready
drain in a collander
heat sugar and water in a vessel
bring it to one string consistency
mix water to yellow food colour
add colour and lemon
juice to sugar syrup
add fried boondis to sugar syrup
mix it well
add elaichi powder
add cloves, cashews and kalkand.
mix well. press using the back of a ladle.
transfer to a plate
while it is still warm, make balls
of equal size
Thank you for the step by step explanation. Will surely try it
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