Boondi Ladoo Recipe | How to make boondi ladoo [Step by Step picture Recipe] | Diwali Recipes 2013

Boondi Ladoo is one of our favourite sweets and it instantly reminds me of Diwali. Deepavali or Diwali, is a very grand festival of lights celebrated with huge pomp and show throughout India and it has two important events associated with it - One being the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and the other is the killing of Demon Narakasura. When Rama returned to Ayodhya, the people of that place celebrated this occassion by lighting the entire city with lamps which is what is celebrated as Diwali now. Diwali usually falls on the 18th day after Dusshera.

It is a season of enthusiasm and happiness. Lamps decorate all Indian homes in this season and a huge effort goes into preparation of yummy sweets and savories in large quantities. Extensive use of  fireworks, sparklers and lights color the sky that evening. It is also a time for families to visit their near and dear ones and share all the happiness and of-course the sweets too. Words can do no justice to the way Diwali is celebrated in India, you have to be there to feel the joy in the country during this day.

Deepavali brings out the child in me. There is some kind of special energy that comes from nowhere at the thought of this festival and it is my most favorite festival. So usually I attempt tough recipes during this period and  Diwali brings in that lucky charm where even the really difficult recipes turn out alright :). So What better occasion for the boondi ladoos to be made than this day? :)


Ingredients

Serves - Makes 30 small ladoos
Prep and Cook time - 2-3 hrs


Besan flour/Kadalai Maavu - 2 1/2 cups
Baking soda - a pinch
Salt - a pinch
Lemon yell food color - 2-3 drops
Water - as need to make besan batter
Ghee Roasted Cashews - 10 [roughly broken]
Golden Raisins - 10
Elachi Powder - 1 Tsp
Oil - for deep frying the boondis

Sugar Syrup

Sugar - 2 cups
Water - as much needed to make sugar syrup

How do you do it

1. Prepare the besan batter by first mixing the flour, baking soda, salt. Mix well and sieve it once. Keep aside.

2. Add water to this slowly and make a batter of flowing consistency - like dosa batter. See picture below. Whisk well without lumps. Add lemon food yellow color to this. Meanwhile heat oil for frying the boondis

3. The consistency of the boondi batter is important. If the batter is too thick, the batter will form tails and not flow out of the boondi ladle, if the batter is thin, the boondis will fall flat into the oil. So make sure you have the right consistency of the besan batter. To check if the consistency is right, dip the tail end of the spoon into the batter and hold it on top of the heated oil, if it drops a nice small round ball, you are good. Otherwise adjust batter consistency accordingly.

4. Collect all your boondi-making quipments. The boondi [huge perforated] ladle for pouring the batter on. One [medium perforated] ladle to take the boondis from the oil. And one deep ladle to scoop the besan batter and put it on the boondi ladle.

5. Once the oil is heated, pour the batter on to the boondi ladle and draw circle on the boondi ladle with the deep ladle until all the boondis fall in. Do this quickly, you do not want to over-cook the boondis. Now strain the boondis from the oil and put it into a paper towel lined bowl. See pics below for reference.  The boondis get cooked quickly, about 20-30 seconds is all it takes. The boondis should be soft and not crisp for making ladoos.

6. I washed the boondi ladle each time and did the step 4 again until all the batter was over.

7. Now on to the making of sugar syrup. Take sugar in a pan and add water to it until the water is one inch above the sugar. Keep this pan on the stove, in medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Then let the sugar syrup boil until a "single string consistency" is formed. This takes a while, about 20 minutes i would say in medium heat. Once the sugar syrup starts boiling and bubbles are formed, its time to start paying attention to the syrup. After this stage the syrup becomes sticky at one point. Use a ladle and dip it into the sugar syrup. Touch the syrup on the ladle with your index finger. Now use your thumb finger too and bring the index finger in contact with the thumb and release slowly to see if a single string is formed. At the initial stage, you will find a string form but it will go off immediately - this is "half thread consistency". Once this happens within few more minutes of boiling the sugar syrup, you will get a single string which will hold when you use your index and thumb finger to test again. At this stage switch off the flame immediately, add elachi powder to it and pour the syrup into the boondi bowl.

5. Now add the raisins and cashews to the boondi bowl and give it a good mix.

6. When the mixture is warm enough that you can handle, add 2 tsp of ghee mix well, and make balls. Take a little in your palm and use the sugar syrup in the boondis to bind the boondis together and press them into a round ball. If you let the mixture cool completely the suagr syrup will crystallize and you will not be able to shape the ladoos. I used a glove to shape ladoos and it worked pretty well. If at all sugar crystallization happens, reheat the boondi mixture in a pan until it warms a little and try shaping them again.

I tried making ladoos with "two string consistency" of sugar syrup initially and realized that sugar syrup was getting crystallized very soon and shaping them was very difficult. For the second trial I used " one string consistency" and they worked perfectly well.

Also when you shape ladoos, once they stick together like a ball, dont stop, give a few more tight presses to make them really bind them well. I did that mistake of stopping to give pressure on the ladoos as soon as they bound together for a few pieces and those pieces after some time, once they set completely looked like they weren't pressed well properly, its like the boondis will pop out any minute look ;).

Hope I have explained as much as possible on how to make this daunting Indian sweet. Its quite a huge task I admit, Oh! but the happiness of making boondi ladoos which turn out well - Awesome I must say :)

Wish you readers a very happy and safe Diwali 2013. Have loads of fun with friends and family and may God shower all his blessing this season.