Gond ke Ladoos are Indian winter famous sweet balls made with a mixture of ghee fried edible gum, toasted flour, sweetener, dry fruits, nuts or seeds.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr5 minutesmins
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Indian, North Indian
Servings: 20balls
Author: Famidha Ashraf
INGREDIENTS
1cupsugar(see notes)
¼cupsesame seeds
¼cupdesiccated coconut
¾cupghee(see notes)
⅓cupgondedible acacia gum
¼cupalmonds
¼cupwhole cashews
¼cuppistachios
½cupwhole wheat flour(atta)
⅓cupfinger millet flour(ragi)
½teaspooncardamom powder
½teaspoonground ginger
2tablespoonsdried rose petalsoptional
INSTRUCTIONS
Powder the sugar
Use a mixie grinder or food processor to powder the sugar. If using jaggery blocks, use the grater to grate.
1 cup sugar
Dry roast seeds
Heat a heavy-bottomed kadai (iron or steel) on a low to medium flame and dry roast the sesame seeds until light golden. Remove and keep aside. Next dry roast the coconut until light golden and remove them from the pan. You may skip coconut or use more seeds.
¼ cup sesame seeds, ¼ cup desiccated coconut
Check the oil temp
Wipe the pan and add a few tablespoons of ghee. It is crucial to fry the Gond pieces at the right temperature. Add one piece of Gond to the hot ghee to test the ghee temperature. If the Gond piece sizzles up to the surface and puffs up to almost double the size, then the oil is ready for action. If the Gond settles down in the oil, that means the oil temp is low so increase the heat. If the Gond comes up as soon as you drop it, that means the oil is too hot, so reduce it. Throughout the frying process, you will need to adjust the heat.
Fry the gond in batches
Fry in batches because they double in size. Add ghee as and when needed. I had fried ⅓ cup Gond in 5 to 8 batches! Make sure to stir each batch of Gond constantly until they fry evenly and puff up. Remove the puffed-up Gond using a slotted spoon and keep them aside on a plate. Add more ghee if required to fry the nuts.
¾ cup ghee, ⅓ cup gond
Fry the nuts
Add some ghee and fry the almonds stirring often until the skin colour starts to darken. Remove using a slotted spoon and keep them aside. Add more ghee if required and fry the cashews and pistachios until aromatic. Remove and keep them aside. Add more ghee to toast the flour.
¼ cup almonds, ¼ cup whole cashews, ¼ cup pistachios
Toast the flour
Reduce the flame to low. Add both the flour and keep stirring until the aroma gets nutty and the colour changes to darker shade. Keep stirring until the flour is roasted evenly. Don't be tempted to increase the flame, you may burn the flour. You will know the flour is toasted when it doesn't taste raw. Once done, remove the toasted flour from the pan to prevent gettng burnt.
½ cup whole wheat flour, ⅓ cup finger millet flour
Crush the fried Gond
You can easily crush them using back of small bowl, rolling pin, or mortar and pestle.
Crush the fried nuts
Add the fried nuts into the same grinder of powdered sugar and pulse it to coarse. Add the seeds and cococut and pulse a few times.
Make Gond ke ladoos
After you finish crushing the fried Gond and nuts, check if the flour mix is still warm. If it is not, then reheat it on low flame stirring for a few minutes until the flour is warm to the touch. Switch off and stir in the powdered sugar, jaggery, crushed nuts, crushed Gond, cardamom powder and dried rose petals.
½ teaspoon cardamom powder, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, 2 tablespoons dried rose petals
Mix with a spoon and start making ladoos while still warm by grabbing a handful of the mixture and squeezing it tight first and then shaping them into balls inside your palm. The mixture will seem to be dry but it will hold together. If it fails, then drizzle more ghee and try again.
Now, if you are the only person working on this, then the mixture will lose its warmth before you can finish making the balls. The weather can be the cause too. If this happens, take a small portion of the mix and add it to the kadai and reheat just to make it warm. Remove and mix it with the rest of the mixture and continue to make the balls. Repeat the process of lightly reheating a small portion to be able to make the balls.
Store
Let the Gond ladoos cool completely and you can store them in an airtight container. Serve as a mid-day breakie or evening snack with chai.
Notes
Sugar: You can replace sugar with 100 to 150g jaggery (approx 2 to 3 blocks). Use the box grater to grate the jaggery.Ghee: The recipe calls for ¾ cup but keep at least a cup of melted ghee as you may have to add in the end to bring the mixture together.