Sesame Seed - Peanut Laddu

(This was originally published on 12/25/2012.)

From an Indian perspective, the word 'sweets' stand for all culinary things that are obviously sweet and are from the subcontinent. In a traditional sense, none of the baked goods or the western desserts usually fall under the category and they are never a part of a religious feast. 

Laddus, kheer, halwa and burfis make up a significant portion of the myriad varieties of Indian sweets. They entice me the most and so I thought of posting a nutritious and super quick laddu today. These laddus are made with just four ingredients - peanuts, white sesame seeds, dried coconut and jaggery. This is again a 5 minutes recipe if you have toasted and skinned peanuts handy. One minute to toast sesame seeds, under two minutes to blend the mixture and about two minutes to shape the laddus. These are vegan, gluten-free, no bake and a quick fix treat that satiates the sweet tooth.

Peanuts obviously are a good source of protein while sesame seeds are a source of good fats and have a rich iron content. Jaggery is the sweetener used here which is more nutritious than sugar. Adjust the quantity as needed since the sweetness of jaggery varies each time one buys a batch. There is no need of any binding agent to make these laddus. Toasted peanuts and sesame seeds are used here which when ground release oil which help to bind the laddus. Made with healthy ingredients, these protein rich laddus provide a quick boost of energy besides being yummy and easy ones to prepare.

Ingredients: (Make 10 laddus)
1/2 cup roasted, skinned peanuts
1/4 cup white sesame seeds
1/4 cup grated dried coconut /copra
3/4 to 1 cup jaggery powder (depending upon the sweetness of jaggery)

Method:
* Toast sesame seeds on medium flame, continuously stirring until they start to slightly brown and start to sputter. It takes about a minute to toast them. Turn off the stove and transfer them onto a plate. Let them cool.

* Add all ingredients to a food processor / blender and coarsely grind them.

* Transfer the mixture onto a plate. Fist a portion of the mixture and shape it into a ball. Repeat the step of making balls with the remaining mixture. (It took me about 2 minutes for this quantity.)

* Store the laddus in an airtight container. The container can be left over the counter and needs to be refrigerated only if need to be stored longer. 

This post is an entry for Blogging Marathon under the theme 'Protein rich dishes'. Check the link to find out what other marathoners are cooking.

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Flax Seeds - Sesame Seeds Laddu

My mother had given me a few laddu recipes to try a while ago. The tempting protein laddus I posted a few months earlier was one of them. These healthy flax seed laddus are one more from the bunch that are simple and easy to prepare. The original recipe was called flax seed laddu as it used equal quantities of flax and sesame seeds. I have increased sesame seeds quantity when I made these laddus. Also the recipe had about 1/4 tsp. of ground cinnamon which I omitted favoring cardamom. 

Sesame seeds play an important role in some of the regions during Sankranthi festival. These laddus make a great choice if one needs to make a dish using sesame seeds. Or if one has some leftover 'ellu-bella' mix, transform it to some nutritious laddus which everyone can enjoy. These quick fix laddus can also make an opt choice for a 'mithai' platter or when one needs to make more sweets for festivals like Diwali and such.  

Ingredients:
1/4 cup flax seeds
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup dates (More than 24 pitted dates)
1 /4  tsp. ground cardamom

Directions:
* Toast sesame seeds on medium flame until they start to lightly brown, continuously stirring all the while. Don't let them burn.

 * Toast flax seeds until they start to crackle and fly around. It takes about a minute or less to toast them.

* Let the toasted seeds cool down.

* Finely grind the toasted flax seeds in a blender and transfer it a bowl. (I saved a few seeds without grinding and added to laddus which I don't recommend.) Next finely grind the sesame seeds as well and add it to the bowl. 
* Lightly pulse the dates in a food processor or a blender until they appear coarsely ground. Next add the ground sesame and flax seeds, cardamom and cinnamon if using and run the food processor on pulse mode until the mixture comes together.  

* Transfer the contents to a bowl and shape into laddus. 

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Protein laddu

My parents used to subscribe a variety number of magazines while we were growing up. The subscription also extended to some of the kids' classics like chandamama and balamithra in Telugu versions  which were exclusively for me. Remember this was way before the kids started to glue on to television sets and I was content with my books and the neighborhood friends. Probably in guise, my parents were trying to see if I can pick up reading and writing skills in Telugu which eventually I did though I have never lived In Andhra and besides ended up being a bookworm. Meanwhile, my young and energetic mother would try the recipes from those magazines which caught her attention. Nowadays she sticks mostly to tedious, tried and tested traditional kind of snacks / sweets when it comes to festivals which I don't even dare to try. 

Nowadays she has this habit of noting down making my father note down any interesting and easy recipes that she come across on cooking shows or any magazines. It is done, keeping me in my mind as she knows that I like to try new dishes as long as they are easy and quick ones. This laddu recipe was one among the bunch that came from her a while ago. I tried a couple and this laddu was surely a winner in terms of taste and nutrition though they look rustic. They faintly reminded me of sunnundalu which are dear to me. I don't need to go on singing the virtues of these laddus as the ingredients speak for themselves. My daughter who doesn't like sweets in general had liked these and that is surely a winner recipe to me. As far I go, I am unable to stop myself from popping one into my mouth every time I am near the laddu container. 😋 Try these easy, yummy laddus for this Diwali and I promise that you wouldn't be disappointed.

I tried a small portion of the recipe and still got about 16 standard size laddus. The new peanut packet was misplaced and had only a handful in the bottle which filled up to 3/4th of a 1/4 cup measuring cup. I therefore measured my ingredients based on that but interchanging quantities slightly shouldn't affect the final product. If one is confused with the measurements I have provided, just use one measure each of lentils, peanuts and nuts and double the flours' measurements. Use jaggrey and ghee accordingly.  Also I need to mention that the jaggery I used was a sweeter variety and the laddus were sweeter with the amount of jaggery I used. One may need to adjust the jaggery quantity since the amount of jaggery used in the recipe depends upon the sweetness of the jaggery being used and the preferred sweetness of laddus. 

Ingredients: (Yield - 16 laddus)
3 tbsp. moong lentils (yellow moong dal) 
3 tbsp. black lentils (urad dal with husk)  
3 tbsp. peanuts 
3 tbsp. almonds
3 tbsp. cashews (I replaced half with pistachios.)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. wheat flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. finger millet flour / ragi flour
1 and 1/4 cup powdered jaggery
4 - 5 tbsp. melted ghee
Directions:
* Toast lentils in a pan individually on low flame until moong starts to turn slightly reddish and the black lentils start to change their color as well. Transfer them onto a plate.
* Next toast almonds and cashews individually. Transfer them to the lentils' plate.  
* Next add peanuts and toast on low flame until done. Let them cool and rub between your palms to remove the skin. Or for a quicker version, toast them in a microwave as I did. It takes around 3 to 4 minutes in a microwave to roast this small quantity but giving one or two intermittent breaks is recommended to avoid them from burning. This step can be avoided if using toasted and skinned peanuts.
* Toast flours individually on low flame until they start to change color slightly. I toasted them without adding any ghee but if preferred, it can be done so. 

* Let all the toasted ingredients come to room temperature.
* First the lentils need to be ground since they take longer than the rest of the ingredients. We like to keep our sunnundalu a tiny bit coarser and so I opted to do the same here as well. They can be ground very fine if one chooses to do so. It depends upon one's preference how the texture of these laddus should be. (I did use my blender for this part and continued the next steps in my food processor.)
* Next finely grind peanuts and the other nuts that are being used. Add the flours at the end and just pulse to combine.
* Finally add the ground jaggery and run the blender / food processor until the mixture is combined well.

* Transfer the mixture to a wide plate and run your hand through the mixture and break any lumps if present.

* Add ghee in increments to the mixture and keep working it into the dough. 

* Mix well so that ghee uniformly coats the mixture. Stop adding ghee when a small portion of the mixture can be easily shaped into a ball without breaking. (Initially about 3 tbsp. of ghee can be added and then the rest in increments and as needed. Mostly 1/4 cup should be enough.) 
* Make lemon sized balls out of the mixture and store in an airtight container. 

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Hurigadale Unde / Maa Laddu / Malaadu / Pappula Laddu

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi for those celebrating!

There are going to be Indian sweets and snacks' themed recipes posted this month at my space, as part of the mega marathon I am participating in. There are no recipes posted on Sundays and so there are going to be 26 recipes posted in total. The first week is about sweets and I chose to go with recipes which doesn't need any expertise to try and contains 3 to 5 ingredients at most. Most of them are commonly prepared in my mother's kitchen but I have been too lazy to post them so far. I wanted to utilize this opportunity to record them instead of trying some new or fancy ones. These are tried and tested recipes by family and mostly associated with the south Indian festive season.

The first one are laddus made with fried gram / hurigadale / pappulu - the ones commonly used to make chutneys to go along with south Indian breakfasts like idlis and dosas. These are made in some parts of southern India and are called malaadu in Tamilnadu and hurigadale unde in Karnataka. I had no idea that these were made in Andhra as well until my husband mentioned that his mother used to make them on one of the days during Dasara / Navratri festival. These make a great substitute for besan laddus if you are looking for something similar sans the stirring workout. I would however suggest to stick to besan laddus if you are a great fan of those. These melt in mouth kind laddus are quick and easy to prepare and a perfect recipe for novice cooks. There is nothing to mess up and makes a great Dasara or Diwali treat. Go ahead and try these delicious laddus for the upcoming festivals and you wouldn't be disappointed.

Ingredients: (Yield 14 laddus)
1 cup roasted gram (chutney dal)
1/2 cup (2 tbsp. extra sugar can be added if sweeter laddus are preferred.)
3 cardamom pods
5 tbsp. ghee
1 tbsp. cashew pieces
1 tbsp. raisins (optional)

Directions:
* Finely grind the roasted gram dal and sieve it into a mixing bowl. Grind finely again any coarser dal particles left in the sieve and add it to the bowl.

 * Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods. Grind sugar and cardamom seeds together finely. Add this to the bowl with the ground dal and mix well.

* Heat a tbsp. of ghee (just until hot but not to the smoking point) in a small pan and add cashews and raisins if using. Toast until cashews turn golden brown and raisins turn plump. Turn off the heat and add them along with the ghee to the bowl.
 
* Melt the remaining ghee and add it to the bowl and mix everything well with a spoon.
* Shape the mixture into laddus / small sized balls using your fist. Make sure that each laddu has raisins and cashew pieces in it. 
* Store the laddus in a tight fitting container.



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Jowar Flour Laddu / Sorghum Flour - Nut Laddus

When I recently was discussing about travel food with my daughter, she gave me a list of foods that she would prefer to eat on a trip. It occurred to me that those are our family favorites I pack when we take long road trips and I realized with surprise that unknowingly I have created a tradition of our own. My kids one day probably would get nostalgic about our trips and reminisce about how their mom would stuff any vacant space in the car with food and other paraphernalia while dad is watching with dismay. 😇. 

Anyway while we were at it, the girl requested me to make some laddus. My daughter is not big on desserts but prefers a few selected ones like these peanut laddus for instance. I carry a load of homemade spicy snacks, energy bars and other sweets to munch on, especially if we are going to be on the road for a week or two and those laddus are a must for her. She got these energy balls to try this time which we all enjoyed. These laddus are loaded with healthy ingredients like jowar flour, raisins, a medley of nuts and jaggery which all contribute equally to make these laddus delicious and rich. The laddus do not need any ghee and the moisture from the ingredients used is enough to shape them. The laddus are firm though they look moist in the images. Try these easy and quick laddus on a festival day or as a after school treat for little ones. 

Ingredients: (Yield 12 laddus)
3/4 cup jowar ka atta / sorghum flour / jonna pindi
1/2 cup mixed nuts - I used skinned peanuts, almonds, cashews and walnuts
1/2 cup grated, dry coconut
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup powdered jaggery
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom

Directions:
* Roast jowar flour stirring continuously, on low flame until you notice aroma, about 7 -8 minutes.
* Toast nuts on low flame for about a minute or so. (I just toasted them in a microwave.)
* Let the flour and nuts cool down.
* Pulse the nuts finely in a food processor until they start to clump if possible and transfer to a mixing bowl. Then add jowar flour, coconut and raisins to the food processor and grind them fine. Now add back the ground nuts, jaggery and cardamon to the food processor. Pulse a few times until all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly and finely ground.
* Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and make lemon sized balls from the mixture.
* Store them in an airtight container. Freeze them if wishing to save longer and thaw them before serving.

This post is an entry for Blogging Marathon #97 and BM - 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Renu this month with 'Travel Food' theme.



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Cashew - Walnut Laddu

 Happy Birthday, Srivalli.

Any one who follows my blog might have noticed that I participate in a monthly event called blogging marathon without a miss. Srivalli, a dear blogger buddy who blogs at 'Cooking 4 all Seasons' and 'Spice your Life' is the brain behind that inspiring event. She is a remarkable woman considering that she is a wife & a mother of three, has a full time job, writes two blogs besides being a motivation / sounding board behind the marathon event, that has been successfully running for over five years. She is celebrating her birthday today and some of us who are regular participants of the marathon have thought to surprise her virtually by cooking something from her blog today. Wish you a very happy birthday, Valli and many many happy returns of the day. God bless you and may all your wishes come true.

Some how I have come to associate chocolate bakes, rotis and dals with her blogs even though she really has a good collection of recipes. I spent a good hour going through her recipes but finally decided to go with something sweet to celebrate. It turned out that the preparation and clicking of the dish took a fraction of time that I spent browsing through her blogs. I prepared these easy breezy laddus based on her cashew and almond laddu which took about 5 minutes from start to finish as I used pre-roasted nuts. Even my husband who stays away from sweet dishes tasted one without any prompting and loved it. The laddus were yum but I thought the milk powder flavor is dominant in the dish. If one prefers to change it, the quantity of the nuts in the dish can be increased and sugar quantity needs to be adjusted accordingly.

Ingredients: (Yield 6 laddus)
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup milk powder
3 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
2 tbsp. ghee

Method:
* Toast cashews and walnuts individually, until they start to change their color. If using toasted nuts, skip the step. Let the nuts cool before proceeding.
* Add all the ingredients to a food processor / blender and grind finely or slight coarsely.
* Transfer the contents onto a plate. Fist about a lime sized portion and shape it into a ball. Repeat the step with the remaining ground mixture.


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Til Ke Laddu / Sesame Seeds Laddu / Nuvvundalu

 

Here is one more simple and easy recipe for the Sankranti festival, which is just around the corner. The combination of sesame seeds and jaggery, redolent with cardamom flavor yield a yummy treat.

Ingredients:
1 cup white sesame seeds
Scant 1 cup jaggery 
1 tbsp. ghee
2 to 3 tbsp. water 
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder

Method:
* Dry toast sesame seeds in a wide pan until they start to splutter, about 2 -3 minutes, stirring continuously. Transfer the sesame seeds onto a plate and keep it aside. 
* Keep a small plate with cold water ready by the stove to test the consistency of the jaggery syrup. Add jaggery, ghee and water to a big, sturdy, thick-bottomed vessel or a non-stick pan and keep stirring on low flame. Soon the jaggery starts to melt and concentrate.  Boil this syrup till it reaches a rollable hard ball consistency. To test, add few drops of jaggery syrup to the cold water and roll the syrup with your fingers to form a ball. It should keep its shape without melting in spite of tilting the plate.
*  Add the sesame seeds and cardamom quickly and stir well. Turn off the stove. Set aside the mixture for few minutes and shape into small balls. Store the laddus in an airtight container.

This goes to Blogging marathon #60 under the theme 'Festival of the Month'. Check the link to see what other marathoners are cooking.

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Flax Seed Laddu

I happened to see these flax seeds based laddus on a Telugu cook show a couple of days ago, when I was leisurely browsing the television. The laddus made with a medley of healthy ingredients sounded and looked so tempting that I had to prepare them immediately. The original recipe used about 2 cups flax seeds and 1/4 cup each of whole black gram / urad dal and roasted chickpeas aka the chutney dal. I didn't bother to toast and grind the flax seeds as I had a big bottle of flax meal sitting in my pantry and so used it instead. I reduced the flax meal quantity and added some peanuts. Even though urad dal is added in small quantity, these laddus tasted almost similar to sunnundalu, earthy and delicious. Another reason for me to fall in love with these laddus as sunnundalu are a favorite of mine.
 
Ingredients: (Yield 16 - 18)
1 cup flax seeds / flax meal
1/4 cup skinned whole urad dal / black gram
1/4 cup roasted chickpeas / chutney dal
1/2 cup toasted and skinned peanuts
3/4 to 1 cup powdered jaggery
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tbsp. ghee
1 tbsp. cashews
Lukewarm milk as needed

Method:
* Toast the cashews in ghee until golden brown and keep it aside.
* If using flax seeds, toast them in a pan on low flame until they start to splutter. Transfer them onto a wide plate to let cool.
* To the same pan add urad dal and toast, stirring constantly on medium flame until they change lightly brown or until you start to feel the aroma. Let the toasted ingredients cool down.
* Grind urad dal slightly coarse and transfer to a wide bowl.
* Next grind flax seeds, chutney dal and peanuts together finely and add the powder to the urad dal flour bowl. Add jaggery, cardamom and toasted cashews along with the ghee used to toast, to the bowl and combine the mixture well using hand.
* Add milk, starting with a tbsp. or so to the mixture and combine to see whether the mixture holds together to shape. If not, add milk in 1 tsp. increments until the desired consistency is reached.
* Fist a lime sized portion of the mixture and shape into a smooth ball using your dominant hand. Repeat the step with the remaining mixture.  

Note:
1.  The laddus can be made without using milk and by increasing the ghee quantity to shape them. Using milk will reduce their shelf life and need to be refrigerated.
2. If by any chance the mixture becomes too wet, add some ground chutney dal or peanut powder so that laddus can be shaped.
 
This goes to blogging marathon #57 under the theme 'Bookmarked Posts' and check here to find out what other marathoners are cooking today.

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Sabudana Laddu

 
I chose to cook with sabudana this week just because I had around 5 to 6 pounds of sabudana lying in my pantry and as far as I remember I haven't posted a single sabudana recipe so far. Growing up I saw my mother using sabudana / saggubiyyam basically in two recipes - a payasam (that was less preferred over the vermicelli one) and the saggubiyyam vadiyalu or the vadi. Later on came the sabudana dosa, sabudana vada and the khichdi to my life when I had my own home and hearth. For today's post it was decided that I would do a dessert and kheer seemed like an easy way out. I have grown a penchant towards the sago kheer over the years and besides, my son loves it too. However change in plan happened because of Ugadi. I thought of preparing something with sabudana for the neivedyam and this laddu came to the rescue. The laddus were so yum and appealing that even my sweet-phobic husband ate a couple of them without any coaxing from me. They looked so tempting to him that he wanted to taste a bit of it and couldn't stop himself from tasting more. That means a lot coming from a person who wouldn't even glance the sweet dishes.

Ingredients:(Yield 15 - 16 laddus)
1 cup sabudana / sago / tapioca pearls
1 cup powdered sugar (or adjust the quantity)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp. ghee
1 Tbsp. raisins
1 Tbsp. cashews
Extra ghee / milk to shape the laddus

Method:
* Dry toast sabudana on low flame, continuously stirring until they turn slightly brownish. It would take around 15 - 20 minutes to toast sabudana this way. The hard sabudana would have attained a crunchy texture by the time toasting is done. Transfer the sabudana to a wide plate and let it cool.

* Heat 2 tbsp. ghee in a small pan and add raisins and cashews. Stir and toast them for few seconds until the raisins turn plump and cashews turn golden brown. Turn off the stove and keep the pan aside.
* Grind the toasted sabudana to a fine powder. This step can be done in batches. Grind the mixture and sieve it if it appears coarse. Collect the fine powder and again grind the coarse powder left in the sieve and repeat the process until you are left with finely ground sabudana.
* Combine the ground sabudana, sugar powder, ground cardamom and the toasted cashew-raisin mixture along with the ghee in which they were toasted in a mixing bowl. Add extra melted ghee / milk to the mixture until you are able to hold it together. 
* Shape lemon sized balls out of the mixture by rolling between your palms.
* Store them in an airtight container.

Notes:
1. In case, one doesn't prefer to use that much of ghee in the recipe, warm milk can be substituted instead to shape the laddus. 3 to 4 tbsp. milk should suffice to make laddus. Please note to add ghee / milk in small increments instead of dumping it all into the mixture at once. If it becomes too wet, you need extra sabudana powder to fix it and extra sugar to balance the flavor and so add milk/ghee in little quantities, combine the mixture and check whether the laddus can be made or not. 
2. If milk is used to make laddus, they would turn harder after a few hours. They just need to be warmed in the microwave for few seconds before consuming them. I used milk to make these laddus and didn't refrigerate them. We ate them in about four days and they stayed fresh for that long.

This goes to Blogging Marathon #50, under the theme of "One ingredient - Three different dishes", Sabudana / Sago / Tapioca pearls being my chosen ingredient. Check out the link to find out what other marathoners are cooking.

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