BOONDI LADOO

Ladoo... This is what i call my nephew G in bombay. He is such a cute boy that this sweet reminds me of him. The staple of any south indian weddings, this is as versatile as the badusha and the mysorepak. This is another of my own recipe. Handed down from my grandmother, i made some changes. My gm makes the traditional south indian ladoos which are yellow in color and has a sugar basted look and feel in it. I always make this north indian version ladoo which has tiny boondis and is much softer and tastes great, but i have my own doubts about the shelf life (The SI ladoo stays fresh for 10 days in the fridge) .

 OK, now for the verdict, the ladoo tasted great, had the same texture and look, but......, i went wrong with the color and aroma. Out of curiosity, i added a bit more of the orange color (that is why the ladoo has a deeeeeeeeeeeeep color); i should have added pure saffron, i went for the essence instead; The usual elaichi and nutmeg combo gave this dish a nice aroma but the "shree mithai" aroma was lacking. Should do some research to acquire that aroma. Nevertheless the dish was superhit.

Recipe

Besan Flour - 500 gms

water           - 3 cups

orange color - a pinch

Sugar          -  1000 gms

oil               -   to deep fry

ghee           -   to deep fry

cucumber seeds - to garnish

elaichi, nutmeg - 1 tsp

saffrom essence - 1 tsp

Make a runny batter with the besan flour, water and color. Leave it for 10 mts. Heat a kadai with oil and ghee in equal proportions. Seive the batter through a fine boondi strainer. Make boondis with all the batter.

Prepare sugar syrup of less than one strand (1/2 string) consistency. Put in all the boondis. Simmer the mixture with the lid closed for 10 mts. The boondis should absorb all the syrup and they should not be sticking to each other. Let them cool down until they are warm.Mix in the elaichi/nutmeg powder/essence/  cucumber seeds and shape into ladoos. Enjoy