Making a healthier luddo
Ladu aka Laddoo: Like most desi sweets, the commonly made variety isn’t spectacularly ‘healthy’, vast quantities of sugar, oil and so on (boondi ludoos). There is also lesser known laddo, made out of daal (pulses), this is a lot more spartan.
No fancy ingredients or elaborate and complicated techniques are required, and a desert that is’nt terribly bad for you to boot.
To make moong daal ladu, you’ll need:
- 1 kg Yellow Mung Daal
- 500 gms–750 gms. Cane Sugar(according to taste) or melted gurr
- 200 gms Ghee
- 2 tsps Cardamom Powder
- 100gms Almonds
- 100gms Pistachios
- 100gms Raisins
- 0.75tsp Nutmeg Powder
Pick and clean the Daal. Wash and dry overnight between the folds of a dry kitchen cloth. Next day afternoon gather the washed and dried Daal in a container. Dry roast the daal in a wok till golden brown and fragrant. Let cool and then grind to a powder.
Sliver the almonds and pistachios and remove any stems from the raisins. Mix together and keep aside.
METHOD
In a large mixing bowl keep the roasted daal Powder, slivered almonds and pistachios. Also add the raisins and the cardamom and nutmeg powders and mix thoroughly.
Beat the powdered sugar/gurr with melted ghee till light and fluffy. Gradually add the daal powder mix throughly so the ghee is fully absorbed. Bind together fistfuls of this Mix to form even sized balls.
If the mixture is too dry to form nice clumps, add a little more melted ghee to wet it and then bind to form balls. Cover with a muslin cloth and keep for 2-3 hours at room temperature to set. Store in an airtight container.
The laddus will stay fresh for a fortnight.