Besan Ladoo - Indian Sweet Recipe

Chickpea Flour / Besan laddu Recipe

Besan ladoo or besan laddoo or besan ke laddu, with step by step instructions. Besan laddoo is a popular Indian sweet recipe made all over India.

Besan laddoo is a must as Diwali sweet. It is also a good item to give as a gift to someone as it has a long shelf life.

Besan laddoo - chickpea flour laddoo

About word laddoo:

Laddoo is generally a sweet round ball. Laddoos are made with a variety of ingredients.

Rava(semolina) laddoo,

Whole wheat flour (atta laddoo),

Mung dal flour (moong ke laddoo),

dry fruits laddoo etc.

I just love the sound of the word laddoo. It reminds me of a chubby bubbly baby.

Besan laddoo is one of most popular laddoo.This Ladoo or laddu is a made with besan - chickpea flour - bengal gram flour.

Chickpea flour(bengal gram flour) is known as besan in Hindi and other Indian languages.

It takes a bit of time to patiently roast the besan but making the laddoo is a simple and easy process. This laddoo lasts for more than a month. Most of the time it gets over before that as it is very much in demand.

Besan laddoo is made during festivals and at other times too when you feel like having it. It is a must Indian sweet for Diwali sweets or any other festival or a celebration.

How to make besan ladoo

Ingredients for besan laddoo - makes 6-8 laddoo.

Besan - Chickpea - Gram flour

Desi Ghee - Clarified butter

Sugar

Besan (chickpea flour-chana dal flour) - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Ghee(clarified butter) -1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts - chopped - 1 tsp
Raisins - 1 tsp cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
milk or fresh cream - 1 tbsp

Preparation before making besan laddoo

Sift the besan so that there are no lumps.
Grind the sugar to a fine powder consistency. You may grind cardamom seeds along with sugar or use cardamom powder at the time of mixing.

Roasting besan - gram flour for making besan laddu

Use a deep thick bottomed pan. Mix besan and ghee in the pan.
Keep on low flame and stir continuously till you get aroma of the fried besan. This will take about 20 minutes. It will also turn a little brownish to. Do not let it become dark brown.
Switch the stove off.
Add 1 tbsp milk/fresh cream stirring continuously. The mixture will bubble a little. Keep mixing, scraping the bottom for a minute.
Cool completely.

Final mixing and shaping besan laddoo

Fry cashew nuts in a little ghee.
When the roasted besan is completely cool, mix powdered sugar in it. Use your fingers to mix the sugar powder thoroughly.
Add cardamom powder, fried cashew nut pieces and raisins to the sugar + besan mix and mix well evenly without any lumps.
Take some laddoo mix and form into round balls (laddoo). You can do it with one hand or use both hands to form laddoo.

Besan ladoo - chickpea flour laddoo

Tips:

Remember to keep the flame low while roasting. Do not let the flour turn brown. It will taste bitter.
Powder the sugar fine. If not, the laddoo will become crunchy with sugar and that does not feel good.
Traditionally, besan ladoo is made with ghee. If you do not want to use ghee, you may use any vegetable oil. Vegans can use coconut oil. The taste will change accordingly.