Friday, October 22, 2010

Cheenachatti's Besan Laddus


Last year with Diwali approaching, the mind is on which sweets to make for the festival.
As always, I'm on the lookout for easy but tasty.
I don't know why I didn't publish this though I wrote it up before Diwali...the memory is not what it used to be but I'm glad to share this:  BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

A question from a friend triggered a memory...I had promised myself a while back, I would try besan laddus and Lan of Cheenachatti had dedicated her recipe for besan laddus to me.
I had procrastinated never thinking I was capable of turning out good besan laddus.
The part that scared me was the holding/shaping part...I've never been good at that.
Re-reading Lan's recipe I found one didn't have to shape them while hot and a discussion
with my friend resulted in another idea...I pressed the mix into an old ice cream scoop first, turned them out, waited for them to cool a bit and then shaped them with no problem at all.

They came out so good...thanks to Lan's accuracy for details. I love writers who can describe their recipes in so much detail, one doesn't have to guess at a single thing...and the outcome is exactly what it is supposed to be. If one can try out a recipe and the outcome is superior, not ordinary, then the credit goes to the writer/cook who shared it.
So now, thanks to Lan, I can add 'maker of besan laddus' to my cooking resume.
I had to post a picture to show you how the laddus turned out.

Here's the link to her recipe:
http://cheenachatti.blogspot.com/search/label/snacks
Scroll down the page to find the besan laddus.

The only thing I changed, (as I have eaten too many besan sweets where the taste is spoiled because the besan isn't fried properly) is that I fried the besan by itself, then the sooji, before adding ghee and sugar. Fry the besan slowly, keep stirring, to make sure you get the really good smell Lan mentions, without burning the besan.

Wait one hour before tasting as the flavors really improve with time...so I made mine at 7, tasted one at 8, and one at nine. After refrigerating them overnight, I tasted one in the morning. I liked the slightly hard texture refrigerating gave my laddus...and kept tasting!
The things I do in the name of research!!!

Thanks Lan for a GREAT keeper recipe.

2 comments:

lan said...

dear geets, this is exciting. i love all your additions! makes good sense. thank you for trying them out and finding them edible:-) you are a rather good researcher oh 'maker of besan laddus':-)

lan said...

Happy Diwali Geets!