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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Thokkudu Laddu / Bandar Laddu


My sister Siri has been blessed with a lovely, little angel last night (it was 26th morning in India) and that calls for a celebration. Though I could be not present there personally, my blessings and wishes are with them. Now I am passing over a virtual platter of laddus on this joyous occasion. J
Sticking to my "Andhra Special" theme, here are thokkudu laddu / Bandar laddu, one more delicacy from the long list of Andhra pindivantalu (traditional festive foods). They are said to be originated in the port city of Bandar / Machalipatnam and hence the name. Even if you haven't heard these names, probably you have read about this town as Masulipatam in your history classes (at least in South Indian schools).
Though these laddus are made with besan, they are way apart in flavor department compared to the regular besan laddus. A little superior in taste I should say. The way these are made makes all the difference. These laddus involve extra steps instead of frying besan as in the besan laddu preparation but once you taste them you feel that the extra efforts you put in was worth.

Ingredients:
1 cup besan / chickpea flour
A pinch of salt
1 cup jaggery
1/4 cup ghee
1 tsp cardamom powder
Oil to fry

Making Chaklis:
* Combine besan and salt in a mixing bowl. Add enough water to make soft dough that can be passed through a chakli press.
* Mean while heat oil in a frying pan. Drop a pea sized dough into the oil to check the readiness of the oil. If the dough sizzles and comes to surface then the oil is ready to fry.
* Fill a chakli press with a small portion of the prepared dough. I used a three star disc. Press the mould over the hot oil making a circular motion so that the coils of dough dropping into the oil make a circle shape. You can make as big chaklis as you can fit in the pan. Fry on low flame until golden brown and crisp. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat the steps with the remaining dough.
* Cool the chaklis, break them into pieces and grind very finely.


Making jaggery syrup:
After chakli powder is prepared, start to make jaggery syrup. Add a cup of powdered jaggery and 1/2 cup water to a pan and start heating on low - medium flame. When the syrup reaches one thread consistency (theega pakam), add cardamom powder and ghee to it. Then add the chakli powder and mix well. Turn off the stove.

Making laddus:
Grease your palms with ghee and shape the mixture into laddus (lime sized balls) while the mixture is still warm. Don't worry if the mixture appears a little wet. It will dry as it cools. 

Notes:
1. It is very important to remember that the laddus should be made when the mixture is still warm. The mixture turns powdery after cooling and hence it is impossible to shape them into laddus.
Adding some milk while shaping may salvage the situation but laddus need to be refrigerated since the shelf life is going to be less.
2. The chakli should be ground to very fine powder. I could grind only coarsely because of my blender and so my laddu texture appears different. Also I took the pictures as soon as I made them so they appear to be moist.
3. Sugar can be substituted instead of jaggery. Some Cashews may be added for extra crunch.
4. Coming to the pronunciation of Bandar, "Ban" pronounced as "bun" and "da" as 'th' in they.

Now let's check what the other marathoners are cooking today, during this Blogging Marathon #6.

Comments

22 comments:

Aarthi said...

all yummies

harini-jaya said...

Congratulations again..Surely the right sweet to celebrate the birth of your niece!! Chala bagunnai laddus. Mamooluga sugar syrup use chestaremo ani anukunnanu. Jaggery definitely imparts a distinct flavor.

chef and her kitchen said...

My in-laws r originated 4m this place...so now I know most of d specials from this place..laddus look yumm

Priya Suresh said...

My hearty wishes to ur sis and her new born baby gal, may god bless..

Laddu looks simply inviting, quite interesting and cute, wat a fabulous way to celebrate this joyous occasion..

Mélange said...

Congrats for the newly born ! Hey,congrats for all of you there..
And I am taking one of those beautiful laddoos..Came out amazingly well for you dear..

Unknown said...

Congrats to your sis. Lovely dishes to celebrate!

jayasree said...

Interesting laddu recipe...I could not guess the ingredient from the name.

Congrats to your sister.

Jayashree said...

Congratulations to your sister and you. The laddus look wonderful - an apt way to share your happiness.

Lifewithspices said...

Suma,

Hv never heard about this sweet it calls for so much of work n the result is fabulous!! n Congrats to ur fmly n sis!!

Unknown said...

Wow looks so so tempting

Usha said...

I have heard a lot about these laddu but never tasted it. I am not a big fan of laddu and hence never ended up tasting it.

Congratulations to your sister, your family and to peddamma(you)!

Pavani said...

Congrats to your sister on the new addition.
Bandar laddus look fabulous. One of my favorite Andhra goodies. My mom uses sugar instead of jaggery.

Vardhini said...

Congrats to your sister. I have heard of ladoos made from chakli. This is new and looks so tempting :)

Vardhini
Event: Dish it Out - Spinach and Garlic
Event: Healthy Lunchbox Ideas - Broccoli

Sravs said...

Congrats to ur sister !! wow those ladoos looks so inviting and perfectly done !! loved them !!

AJ said...

Many congratulations to your sister!! And best wishes to the LO. Laddoos of course look amazing!!

Nitha said...

Congrats to your sis...The laddoos look amazing.. perfect treat..

Unknown said...

Congrats to Suma pinni (or is it dodda). The laddoos look awesome, I have had them, but had no clue how to make them. Love the recipe :)

Shanavi said...

Congrats Congrats... What a way to celebrate the occasion ?? Love everything U put in there

Anonymous said...

Hello suma garu,

I am regular follower of your site and really relished the andhra recipes and the ragi recipes.

This particular recipe, my favourite, my mother and we (me and my sis) used to make together in our child hood. I would like to add some more points to it.

What i see a difference is, after the powder is made, you need to filter it many a times till u get that fine powder, thats not enough, after you add to the sugar/jaggery syrup also my mother used to use hand mortar at that time to further soften it. She used to take batch by batch (while its hot) and put it in hand morter (rolu) and further processes it. then smooth laddus (as we see in sweet shops) will come.

thanks for your recipes.

-rupa

Srivalli said...

This is fabulous Suma, I always wanted to read up on bandar laddu, finally got a chance to know..we somehow never made this at home. Will have to ask Amma if she knows. The process surely appeals so much!

Congratulations to your family on the new addition! The occasion surely calls in for such sweets!

Unknown said...

One of my all time favorite sweet.This is must in house in special days like festivels.ma amma chla baga chestundi tokkudu laddu original bandarladdu is made with jaggery only not with sugar your recipe sound yummmm.

Degchi said...

Congrats for the arrival of bundle of joy in your family.Hope mother and daughter are doing well.
Nice way to celebrate your niece birth by making this authentic delicacy.