Recipe: Darshana Muzumdar
Makes 10 large lime sized laddus
Ingredients
- 1 cup ragi flour
- 150 gms (3/4 cups) jaggery
- ½ cup raw peanuts
- ½ cup grated coconut
- 6-7 cardamoms or ½ teaspoon of cardamom powder
- 2 tbsp broken pieces of cashew nut roasted in 1 tsp coconut oil (optional)
- 1-2 tbsp coconut oil (if necessary)
Method
- Roast the peanuts on medium to low heat. Transfer these to a plate to cool.
- Roast the ragi flour on low to medium heat till it releases a nutty flavour. Transfer this on to a plate to cool.
- If you want to keep the laddus for a week or ten days, roast the coconut on low heat till it has lost most of its moisture. Transfer it to the plate of peanuts. If you want to finish the laddus within a couple of days, there is no need to roast the coconut.
- Grind the cooled peanuts and coconut along with the peeled cardamom pods to a coarse but as fine a powder as possible and it just about starts releasing its fat content. Avoid grinding it too much though.
- Add the jaggery to the mixture and blend it once again till it becomes a homogenous mixture.
- If you are not roasting the coconut, there is no need to grind it. Simply grind the peanuts and peeled cardamom pods till it just about starts to release its fat content.
- Then add the jaggery to the mixture and mix it well with your hands.
- Whether you blend the coconut and peanuts or only the peanuts, add in the roasted ragi flour to the mixture.
- Mix it all well with your fingers. It will become a grainy mixture.
- Taste the mixture for sweetness. Add more jaggery if necessary and mix it well.
- Add the roasted cashew pieces if you are using them and mix it all well once more.
- Take a handful of this mixture and squeeze it into a ball. Add a teaspoon of coconut oil if it is not sticking together. Do not add any water.
For the Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB) version:
- 1 cup whole ragi
- 1 cup soft deseeded dates
- 1 cup freshly grated coconut
- 6-7 cardamoms
- Roast the ragi on medium to low heat till the colour changes and it releases a nutty flavour.
- Allow this to cool in a plate.
- Grind the ragi and cardamoms together into as fine a powder as you can.
- Transfer this to a bowl and add the coconut and dates.
- Mash the dates and coconut into the flour till it becomes a soft dough.
- Take a handful of the mixture and bind it together into a ball.
This version of the laddu is definitely more delicious and is much easier to make too.