This has to be my favourite dessert at the moment. Besan Laddu is made with Besan flour (black gram), ghee, rapadura, cardamom and pistachios. Besan is very nutritious and is high in folate, B6, iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium and selenium. It is also a good source of protein and did I mention gluten free! Oh and it's delicious!
Ingredients
- 2 cups besan laddu flour (black gram)
- 1/2 cup ghee
- 3/4 cup of sugar (rapadura or coconut sugar, choose unrefined sugar)
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 2 tbsp raw pistachios (no added salt)
Method
- Prepare the pistachios by coarsely chopping them and dry roasting for a few minutes to bring out there full flavour and oils. Set aside.
- Prepare the sugar by placing a small amount of the sugar in a blender with the cardamom pods and blending briefly to break up the pods and infuse them into the sugar. Next add the remaining sugar and blend further until a fine powder consistency. Set aside.
- Dry roast the besan in a frying pan or wok on low for 10 minutes. Make sure to stir continuously so that the besan is cooked evenly.
- Add melted ghee and continue to cook on low stirring for a further 10 minutes until mixture is a little darker than golden brown and a nutty fragrance starts to permeate the kitchen. Be careful not to over cook the besan at this point.
- Once you notice a strong nutty fragrance take the pan off the heat and continue to stir for a few minutes as the pan cools down.
- Add the powdered sugar mixture and pistachios and stir through well removing any lumps.
- Once the mixture is cool enough to handle make small besan laddus in the palm of your hand and place in air tight container to place in the fridge.
- The fridge will help solidify the ghee and help the laddu keep their shape.
Notes
If the mixture is too dry to form laddus add a little more ghee as required.
When eating laddu I suggest taking out of the fridge 15 minutes before consumption. This allows the laddu to soften slightly and to warm up making digestion easier.
Besan is cooling in nature as is ghee and cardamom. So making this a perfect snack for Summer. The sugar makes it anabolic, nourishing and grounding. Enjoy in moderation :) Easy said than done I know!
This recipe makes approximately 15 small laddu.
Left Image: Dry roasting besan flour.
Middle Image: Adding ghee to besan.
Right Image: Besan is finished cooking and taken off the heat.