Besan Ladoo
The Diwali sweet that fills the house with the smell of roasted gram flour and ghee. Patience is the recipe: the besan must roast slowly, low and dark, until it tastes nutty rather than raw. Sugar goes in once the mixture is properly cool; otherwise it melts and the ladoos won't hold.
Overview
Coarse besan toasted in ghee for a long, slow half-hour, until the colour deepens from pale yellow to a warm honey-brown and the smell turns from raw to roasted-cashew. Off the heat, cooled to barely-warm, then folded with powdered sugar, cardamom and slivered pistachios. Rolled into walnut-sized balls and left to set. The result is dense, fudgy, faintly grainy - the texture is part of the charm.
Ingredients
The base
- 250 g besan (gram flour, coarse "ladoo" grade if you can find it)
- 150 g ghee
- 200 g icing sugar (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- A small pinch of fine sea salt
To finish
- 2 tablespoons pistachios (slivered)
- 1 tablespoon almonds (slivered)
- A pinch of saffron threads (optional)
- 1 teaspoon warm milk (optional, to bloom the saffron)
Method
Stage 1 - Bloom the saffron
- If using saffron, crush the threads between your fingers into a small cup and pour over the warm milk. Leave to steep for 15 minutes while you start the besan.
Stage 2 - Roast the besan
- Melt the ghee in a heavy, wide pan (a kadai or deep frying pan) over a medium-low heat until it pools and just shimmers.
- Add the besan and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. The mixture will look like wet sand. Keep the heat low: this is a 25 minute job that you cannot rush.
- Stir continuously for the first 5 minutes to break up any lumps, then settle into a slower rhythm - every 30 seconds or so - for the next 20 minutes. The mixture will go through four colour stages: pale yellow, sandy beige, light gold, then warm honey-brown. It should never go to dark brown. The kitchen will smell strongly of roasted gram by the end.
- Pinch out a tiny piece, cool it on the back of a spoon, and taste: it should taste nutty and toasted, not raw. If it tastes raw, give it another 5 minutes.
- Tip the roasted besan onto a wide plate or shallow tray, drizzle in the saffron milk if using, and spread it out so it cools quickly. A film of ghee will rise to the surface - leave it.
Stage 3 - Mix and shape
- When the mixture is cool enough to touch comfortably (about 15 minutes), tip it into a wide mixing bowl. If you mix the sugar in while it's hot, the sugar melts and the ladoos won't hold their shape.
- Sift in the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time and rub it through the besan with your fingertips. Keep going until the mixture is uniform.
- Add the cardamom, salt, pistachios and almonds and rub through once more.
- Squeeze a small amount in your fist - it should hold together when pressed and crumble when prodded. If it crumbles when pressed, add another tablespoon of warm ghee.
- Take walnut-sized pieces and roll between your palms into firm balls. Press each one decisively so it holds; loose ladoos crack as they set.
- Arrange on a tray, leave uncovered for 30 minutes to firm up, then transfer to an airtight tin.
Notes
- Coarse besan ("ladoo besan") gives the granular bite that defines the sweet. Fine besan works too but the result is smoother, more like a barfi.
- A spoonful of grated jaggery rubbed in alongside the sugar gives a darker, deeper sweetness if you want a less-polished, country-style ladoo.
- The mixture firms up considerably overnight; ladoos made on Day 1 are softer than on Day 2. Both eat well.
Serving
On a brass or steel plate at the start of the festive meal, with chai. One per person is the polite serving; the box on the counter keeps disappearing through the evening.
Storage
Airtight tin at room temperature, up to 2 weeks. Don't refrigerate - the cold makes them seize and lose their tender crumble.
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