Do you remember the scene from Coolie in which Amitabh Bachchan tries to prepare French omelette using a recipe shared on the radio? There is much mashing up between the recipe and yogasans, courtesy the tied and hilariously vengeful Rathi Agnihotri. He ends up twisted into a knot, one egg hatched and the others lying untouched alongside. My debut besan ke laddoo making experience, though not as amusing as that, was just as adventurous on all counts. 😛
Besan ke laddoo are sweet balls made using three main ingredients; gram flour, ghee and sugar. Cardamom powder is also usually added to enhance their taste. Although they can be made anytime throughout the year they’re commonly associated with Diwali festivities. Indulgent and sinful, they can be made and stored in an airtight container easily for 10-15 days.
I’ve always tried to cut down on unnecessary calories in my diet even though the sumptuous Marwari cuisine makes it increasingly difficult. After I realised that I couldn’t make a career being an incorrigible gourmand I learned to successfully experiment with healthier options. My Mom though never believed in compromising on taste and texture to healthify any dish. Our back and forth arguments over it were gold for onlookers, read Dad and my brother.
Incidentally, A had a hankering for besan ke laddoo on our first Diwali after marriage. Keen to please my new husband, I rolled up my sleeves and entered the kitchen with gusto. The only catch was, I didn’t know how to make them! After all, they’re high in calories. Why bother, I had assumed. My SOS call to Mom was shocking for her (“Laddoo and you?” She had said) to say the least. However, she patiently explained the recipe to me and asked me to promptly call her when need be.
Excitedly, I took besan and ghee in a pan and started roasting them together on low flame. The mixture remained dry and hardly gave out the famous aroma even after few minutes though. Some of the besan had stubbornly lodged itself on the sides of the pan and turned a shade of brown. The colour was perfect but this wasn’t the laddoo mixture I knew of! I called Mom.
Me: *urgently* Mamma… 🙁
Mom: *calmly* I know, just tell me how much ghee you added.
Me: *offended* Why are you asking this? Listen to me first.
Mom: *now having fun* Darling, I know you. You added half the quantity of ghee than I asked you to, didn’t you? 😀
Me: *speechless* Umm…err… :-/
Mom: *sweetly* A wants to have besan ke laddoo which need both ghee and sugar in copious quantities. Please follow the recipe and make them properly. By the way, eating one won’t hurt you either. You like them too, don’t you? 🙂
I followed her directions to the T after that. Needless to say, her recipe was superb! I earned some brownie (oh, another sweet dish 😉 ) points from A and he lauded my effort generously. Surprisingly, I took one and loved it. Fruit of my labour, after all. 😛 Sometimes we have to give in to temptation and enjoy some guilt-free nirvana moments too, don’t we?
This post is written for #BlogchatterA2Z and #AtoZChallenge for April 2019
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B for Best!!
Thanks Prashant. 🙂
haha… this sounds like it would have been fun… but then I think it worked out great in the end if it tasted good 🙂
Besan ka ladoo isnt something we get commonly here..
Godyears.net
It was quite an adventure but they did turn out well. 🙂 I like homemade laddoos better.
Yummm twist with Besan laddoos, my kiddos all time favourite.
Thank you! 🙂
Enjoyed thoroughly reading your adventurous journey of making sumptuous Besan Laddoos.
Thank you Samira. 🙂
What a beautiful memory. It really made me smile. I am a sucker for Besan Ladoos too, calories be damned!:)
I’m following your recipe and making them soon, M. May have to collect 3-4 cheat days and indulge once but these I won’t give up! 🙂
I love besan ke laddoo! Have always preferred them to the boondi version. This was such a fun, delicious post! 😀
Oh Deb, I like them better than the boondi ones too. Their granular texture is simply too good to resist.
I have a sweet tooth and those in your post images made me drool. And as you are probably aware from my posts I have diabetes and cannot afford to indulge my palette. I am sitting in office right now and your narrative made me want to make a quick dash to the nearby eatery and try out a laddoo or two. But then it wouldn’t be homemade and I would have to pay the price later. So I desisted. Enjoyed reading this.
Quite an impressive self-control you have for loving but also avoiding sweets. May be I’ll make some and give you when we meet, Jai. Be assured I’ll keep then healthy and tasty for you. 🙂
I love besan ke laddoo, calorie or no calorie. More calorie the better. Keep sharing more such recipies.
Now that’s a good way to look at it. Thanks for reading. 🙂
I love besan ke ladoo too and I am craving for one now after reading your post. Lovely memory of mom and daughter.
Thank you Deepa. 🙂
Hahaha… loved your recipe of diet-laddoos?
But Mom knows the best ??
Absolutely, Mom knows best. My diet laddoos can go dry and be tasteless. 😛
Besan ke laddoo are my absolute weakness!! I find the taste irresistible. Loved your story almost as much as I love besan ke laddoo 🙂
Now that’s a lovely compliment, Noor. Thank you so much! 🙂
Besan ka laddoo is one of my favourite dishes. I like it, like your recipe, without babool gum.
You’ve a way of story telling. Great narration, Varsha 🙂
Thank you so much, Ravish! 🙂
Post marraige on my first Diwali me and my fil decided to make this fab dish as a surprise for the family. It looked delicious only the ghee content went up and besan was not completely roasted. So it was redone again. But it tasted the best ?
Ah, now that’s one fun tale and makes me feel good that I’m not the only one. 😉 How sweet is it that your fil joined you in making them!
How precious these memories are, they always bring a smile on our face?. I love both making and eating these ladoos, to lessen the calorie consumption I make them small in size ?
That’s a good idea, Roma. May be I’ll do that next time. 🙂
Cute story… Hope now you are an ezpert at it. I love besan ladoo.
Reasonably good, I will say. Expert tag is too difficult to carry. 😛
Do you Besan laddoo are my favorite, so much so that I even hide them from Kavya. No, seriously. I am madly in love with besan ladoo and can never compromise if they are in front my eyes. Its just me and them then 🙂
I love besan ke laddoo too Dips, but you know how particular I’ve become about my diet. 🙁
After writing this post I’m really tempted to make a batch, if only a small one. 😉
Fun reading Varsh….although I was looking for a recipe too 🙂 I ma not fond of mithai but Besan ke laddoo are a class apart.
Thank you. 🙂 These are tales hence avoided the recipe. Will share one sometime later. Hope you read it then. 🙂
Haha this was fun. Besan k laddoo are my and my kids favorite too but the sad part is I cant mould them in laddoo form.
Oh, mine aren’t perfect either but the good thing is that they’re easier to handle when they’re cool.
Loved the narration. It is so innocent and heartfelt. It felt like I was visualizing the entire scene. I love Besan ke laddoo but my 3.5 yr is obsessed with the laddoos. I showed him the pics. Now he’s told me to make laddoos like Varsha aunty. He’s already your fan.
Aww, tell the little Prince that I’m his fan too! Will surely treat him with them if we meet but till then please do the needful for my cutest fan. Eeesh, feels strange saying it really. 😛 Thanks for reading, Sonia. 🙂
Home made besan ladoos have an aroma that tingles my fingers to pick one. Cute post Varsha 🙂
This was a lovely post .Now I want the besan ka ladoo recipe!
The story crafted was full of fun I must say..and yes we all need some guilt free moments for sweets like besan laddu.
I have a sweet tooth ans besan ke ladoo is my family favorite..