With Sankranti/Pongal coming up soon, I'm starting the new year on a sweet note with a recipe for a traditional Indian dessert. My fervent hope is that despite whatever is/has been going on in the world, our lives will be filled with sweetness this year! *fingers crossed*

If you know anything about me, you will know that I am not fond of Indian sweets (with a very few exceptions). Besan laddus (gram flour balls) do not figure in the limited spectrum of Indian sweets that I like. But I will admit that on the rare occasion that I have come across a well made, aromatic, melt-in-the-mouth besan laddu, I have been able to appreciate it. 

I realize that I have quite a few burfi recipes on my blog but hardly any laddu/laddoo recipes. I think I especially struggle with laddu recipes because I have had my fair share of disasters in the past. I have made Besan Laddus before but I've taken the microwave shortcut and the results were (unsurprisingly) underwhelming. 

Last year for Diwali I made besan laddus the traditional way on the stove-top and it finally dawned on me that good besan laddus are a labor of love and patience! It takes a lot of elbow grease but the effort is totally worth it. I ended up with a sore arm (and a small burn 😝) but I was mighty impressed with the laddus I had made. In the context of Indian sweets, believe me when I say that happens very rarely! 

These laddus have only 4 ingredients - gram flour (besan), ghee, sugar and cardamom. But when executed correctly, the combination of these 4 simple ingredients results in a divine aroma, texture and flavour. 

The key to making good besan laddus involves 3 aspects - 1. The quality of the ingredients. Using good-quality fresh besan (coarse or fine is up to your personal preference) and preferably homemade or a premium brand of ghee will give you the best results. 2 - Roasting the besan correctly. This step requires time and constant attention. Under roasting and over roasting the besan will result in raw and bitter laddus respectively, thereby compromising the taste so you need to know what you are doing! 3 - Using the correct ratio of flour to ghee is critical for the binding. 

I am slowly getting better at making Indian sweets so I am enthusiastically kickstarting this year's traditional Indian sweet quota with these delicious besan laddus. You can make these for Sankranti, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali or just like that as a treat for your family and friends. Please do not be intimidated by the procedure. Follow the recipe to the T and trust me, you will not be disappointed 😊