Boondi Ladoo

Ladoo - the most popular Indian Sweet. Since all Indians are celebrating "Diwali" today - the most popular Indian Festival.

Ingredients

Gram Flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1.5 cups
Water - 1 cup (For Sugar Syrup)
Cardamom - few no's crushed (3 to 6 No's)
Any Dry fruits - few or one each for each Ladoo's (I used Raisins, May use Cashew nuts/Pistachios)
Oil - For Frying
Ghee - 2 to 4 Tsp (To rub your palm while shaping  Ladoo's )
Melon Seeds - 1 Tb Sp (Optional - I didn't use)

Important Utensil - A Ladle or Sieve with perforations - to make Boondi's. Droplets of batter when fried retains that small round shape called "Boondi " which in Hindi means Droplets.

Method

* Stir in little water (Little at a time) to the Gram flour, stir nicely to make the batter thick and Lump-free. Whisk this batter rigorously, Make it lightly pouring consistency. Keep Aside.

* Heat sugar with 1 cup water for the sugar syrup, boil till it reaches -one thread Consistency. (Little thick sugar syrup) - rub and try stretching a drop of syrup within your thump and forefinger to check if its one thread consistency, if not allow to boil for some more time then add crushed Cardamom, then keep the heat to low.

* Heat oil in an other pan ( before starting to fry, drop few drops of the batter to the oil , it should come up once dropped in to the oil if then Oil is ready) then reduce the heat to medium.

* Take the ladle with perforation hold it little up from the heated oil , using another spoon pour the batter over it , the batter should drop down from the holes of the ladle only when you slightly shake it up and down or else use another spoon to lightly spread to make its flow easy.
(Before directly frying it, make sure the batter is in right consistency - it shouldn't easily drop down from the holes of the ladle nor should they get blocked) adjust consistency accordingly.

* Fry the Boondi's till nicely cooked but not too crispy (Temperature is important , keep the heat to medium only) , drain and transfer these boondi's strait away to the sugar syrup. Then fry the next batch of Boondi's simultaneously, by that time the boondi's absorb the syrup and its ready to be drained.

* Drain again the first batch of boondi's from the Sugar syrup, transfer to a paper towel (use paper towel only if you think the boondi's are very soggy if not transfer and spread these boondi's to a flat plate)

*  Add the dry fruits and Melon seeds (If using) , apply little ghee to your palms and start shaping the Ladoo's (Size depending on your preference)  If more soggy use a paper towel to wipe the boondi's once and then mix little powdered sugar(About 1 Tbsp)  to help shape'em - though your ladoo's will turn super sweet ;)

* Shape all the Ladoo's accordingly .May skip your daily routine of "Yoga" for Patience ;)
   No wonder our ancestors took it light to have more than a dozen kids, making stuffs like these slowly helps built patience , I now know :P

 Sweet People should be fine spending some time for making sweets ;)

Notes

          : If the Laddo's look soggy , wipe the Boondi's once with a paper towel and then add few Tbsp's of Powdered sugar - this helps to shape'em easier.

          : If the Boondi's looks crispy and less soggy - mix few Tsp's of thick sugar syrup to the boondi's - it may help.

         : I added a pinch of Baking Powder to the batter ;) Hope those who are experts would forgive, as I felt the boondi's do fluff up nicely, making them nice and round shaped.

          :  If at all you are finding it difficult to shape the Ladoo's, please don't get disappointed as these are "Yummy" even if not in shape  :)

Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali !


Cheers
TN