It is believed that anything auspicious should be welcomed with some sweet dishes. The pomp and show witnessed in Indian festivals is incomplete without traditional sweets. If tomorrow India has to choose a national sweet dish, the most likely contender should be the “Traditional Boondi Laddoo”. And for some good, hearty reasons to begin with, it is an omnipresent sweet. And by this I do not only mean its unmistakable presence in every festival and occasion, but the fact that every region in India has a variety of its own. Today I’m going to share with you Traditional Boondi Laddoo.
How can I miss out ‘Tirupati Laddoo’!!
Not only does this simple variety of Traditional Boondi Laddoo has close to a dozen styles of making it. Their evolution was a very sweet journey that began with the spice route and through the temples, which was a better way of distributing the prasadam without any partiality. Variations in the preparation of Traditional Boondi Laddoo result in diverse tastes. When talking about Traditional Boondi Laddoo, I have a to mention about the ‘Tirupati Laddoo’. It is the most famous laddoo made at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh is immensely popular for its great taste. Tirupati laddoo is one of its kind and it’s my all time favourite. One can’t get similar taste in any other form of laddoo, may be, because it’s the prasadam of the lord of seven hills or because of the ingredients that go into making it. Of course it’s just impossible to replicate it.
Since India unifies many cultures, traditions and cuisines, the cooking style and ingredients used varies from one sweet to another. In fact, in India sweets have their own importance and relevance. In every festival, ceremony or occasion, it is essential to make sweets as a part of the meal. It is believed that any meal is incomplete in India without a proper mithai or sweet. Sweets signify prosperity, happiness and affection. Traditional Boondi Laddoo has it’s own special place in the list of indian sweets.
When does one prepare this sweet?
Indian marriages or any other traditional celebration allure the taste of Indian sweets. The immense hard work that goes with long preparation hours and lots of exotic ingredients make them all the more special. It’s just not only in India, sweets are a part of every culture worldwide. From a birthday celebration to marriage, New Year to Christmas, sweets are preferred in all occasions. Since Indian sweets and deserts have their own unique flavour and taste, they are desired by all sweet lovers including me :).
Off to the recipe for Traditional Boondi Laddoo!!
Step-by-Step Process in making
Traditional Boondi Laddoo:
The process involves 3 main stages-
- Making boondi
- Making the sugar syrup
- Combining the above two and making Traditional Boondi Laddoo
1. How to make Boondi for Traditional Boondi Laddoo?
- Sieve chickpea flour and baking soda in a sifter.
- Add in water slowly and make it into a smooth batter.
- The batter should be little thick, not runny consistency. Make the batter perfectly, only then you will get round boondi.
- Now heat oil over medium heat for deep-frying boodi.
- Now take a perforated ladle as shown in the picture below. Hold it over oil. Pour a ladleful of batter over the ladle and spread it out. The boondis will fall drop by drop.
- Fry the boondi till they are little soft. The boondi shouldn’t become crisp. Drain them and set aside.
3. Making the Sugar Syrup:
- Take sugar and water in a deep pan and mix well.
- Bring it to a boil and cook it to a single string stage. When you take the spoon from the syrup and see, the last drop falling from the syrup should form a single string like consistency.
- To test this, take a little water in a small bowl and add a few drops of the syrup into the water.
- The syrup shouldn’t combine with the water, you should be able to separate it from the water. Then the syrup is ready.
- At this point, turn off the heat and add the boondi to the syrup.
- Mix well and then add cardamom powder and a pinch of edible camphor and nutmeg powder. Just make sure you add very very tiny bit of edible camphor, otherwise you get a bitter taste. Set this aside.
NOTE:
My ladle is not that great, the holes were too small, so could not manage to get perfect shape of boondi after the first round. But now I know one of my to do list in my India trip next month (Check out my latest video with my new ladle)- A good perforated ladle to make boondi!! But any way finally we will bash up the boondi slightly to make laddoos, so you will not feel the odd shape anyways!!
- Now Heat ghee/butter in a small pan over medium heat, add in cashews and fry till it is light golden, add in raisans and fry till golden. I haven’t used raisins because I’m not a fan of them.
- Add the fried cashews to the sugar coated boondi and mix well. Or you can also add each cashew while making the laddoo and then shape them to Traditional Boondi Laddoo.
- Take a small portion of this mix and shape it into a tight laddoo.
- Repeat this for all the mixture. Let this set for 30 minutes to get firm. Then Serve.
- Store them in an airtight jar for about a week.
NOTE:
- Normally people shape the ladoos by pressing the whole boondis together after adding the sugar syrup.
- But I have a small tip here. You have to bash the boondis after the syrup has been added so that the oil from the boondi comes out and bind with the syrup and keeps the ladoo moist and soft. If it is still dry, you can sprinkle a few drops of ghee and then bash up the boondi.
This post was a part of the Blog Hop event ” Sweet Specials“. Do check out other Sweet Delicacies from supremely talented bloggers of the “CULINARY HOPPERS” team..
- Vani (SWEET PLATTER)
- Piyali (DOODH PULI/SEMOLINA AND COCONUT DUMPLINGS IN THICK MILK)
- Jayashree (SHENGA HOLIGE)
- Sonal (PISTA KALAKHAND)
- Swati (MALABI)
- Shailja (PARVAL KI MITHAI)
- Shubha (LAB-E-SHIREEN)
Traditional Boondi Laddoo | Boondi Ke Ladoo
Ingredients
For Making Boondi:
- 1 Cup Chickpea Flour, Gram flour/Besan
- A pinch of Baking Soda
- 1/2 Cup Water, or as required to make batter
For the Sugar syrup:
- 3/4-1 cup Sugar
- ½ Cup Water, or as required
Other Ingredients:
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
- A pinch of Edible Camphor, Pacha Karpooram
- A pinch of Nutmeg powder
- 10 to 15 Cashews, Fried until light brown in 1 tsp butter or ghee
- 10 to 15 Raisins, (optional), fried as above
- Oil required for deep-frying
Instructions
Making Boondi:
- Sieve chickpea flour and baking soda in a sifter.
- Add in water slowly and make it into a smooth batter.
- The batter should be little thick, not runny consistency. Make the batter perfectly, only then you will get round boondi.
- Now heat oil over medium heat for deep-frying boodi.
- Now take a perforated ladle as shown in the picture below. Hold it over oil. Pour a ladleful of batter over the ladle and spread it out. The boondis will fall drop by drop.
- Fry the boondi till they are little soft. The boondi shouldn’t become crisp. Drain them and set aside.
Making the Sugar Syrup:
- Take sugar and water in a deep pan and mix well.
- Bring it to a boil and cook it to a single string stage. When you take the spoon from the syrup and see, the last drop falling from the syrup should form a single string like consistency. For detail check above in the post.
- At this point, turn off the heat and add the boondi to the syrup.
Making Traditional Boondi Laddoo:
- Mix well and then add cardamom powder and a pinch of edible camphor and nutmeg powder. Just make sure you add very very tiny bit of edible camphor, otherwise you get a bitter taste. Set this aside.
- Add the fried cashews to the sugar coated boondi and mix well. Or you can also add each cashew while making the laddoo and then shape them to Traditional Boondi Laddoo.
- Take a small portion of this mix and shape it into a tight laddoo.
- Let them cool and store in an airtight jar for about a week.
Recipe Video
Notes
- The consistency of the batter is very important to get perfect boondi.
- Do not fry the boondi for very long, it becomes crispy. The boondi should be soft.
- Adjust sugar to suit your taste...but, don't go below 3/4 cup for 1 cup of flour.
- You can also use ghee to fry boondi. It’s your choice but I prefer oil.
- Do not bring any water in contact while making ladoos, it will reduce the shelf life.
- The sugar syrup should be warm while adding the boondi.
- Make ladoos when it is lukewarm, else the sugar will be crystallised and ladoos can not be formed...in which case, use a little ghee or hot water to shape ladoos.
Hope you enjoyed this recipe!!
Check out other similar categories from blog:
Below are some popular sweets from blog:
And many more to come!!…..Stay Tuned!!
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Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2015 and has been updated with Video and replaced with better pictures for comprehensiveness and freshness.
Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma
