Dreamt of Laddoo but got Boondhi

So, it was our anniversary yesterday and as usual my husband wanted me to make his favorite Pound Cake but I wanted to try something different. I typically experiment with atleast one new sweet during Deepavali but last year since we didn't celebrate, the family was not subject to that tasty torture. It so happened that I saw this recipe few days ago and the laddus looked absolutely tempting (even though I'm not usually a fan of laddus). The recipe seemed simple enough that I started floating the idea of making 11 laddoos for our anniversary (no prizes for guessing how long I've been married :) ) My husband said that he preferred boondhis but I said 11 boondhis is nowhere exciting as 11 laddoos and vetoed this desire of his.

Next, I chose a quiet afternoon when my daughter was at class and son was napping to proceed with the laddoo making and everything seemed to be progressing well except at the last stage when the boondhis were added to the sugar syrup they showed no signs of sticking together. I tried to form laddoos at different stages of the sugar soaking process but no such luck... Eventually my husband got what he wanted - tasty boondhis :)  My daughter returned from class and exclaimed "Wow! amma you made so many mini laddoos!" and loved having them for snack.

BOONDHIS - makes about 3 cups


Ingredients

For Boondhi

Besan (Kadalai maavu) - 1 cup
Water - half to 3/4 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp + 2 tsp
Oil - to deep fry
Raisins - 1 tbsp
Cashew pcs - 1 tbsp


For Sugar Syrup:
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - half cup
Cardamom/Elaichi - 4 to 5 powdered



Method:
1) Combine sugar and water and heat on med-low flame until melted and begins to boil. Let it heat through until it thickens a bit for boondi (about half string to 1 string consistency). NExt time I try to make laddoos, I'll probably switch off as soon as sugar melts. Stir in the cardamom powder.

2) Heat 1 tbsp of the ghee and fry the raisins and cashews till golden (I didn't use any cashews since my daughter is allergic). Keep aside.

3) Meanwhile heat oil. Whisk together the besan, 2 tsp ghee and water until you form a paste with no lumps. It should be smooth. Add water as necessary to get a thick yet pouring consistency. You can adjust the water/besan content if you feel that the batter is too thick or thin.

4) I used my 'kannu karandi' - which is a perforated stainless steel ladle to form boondhis. Hold this slotted spoon over the hot oil and pour a ladleful of the besan batter and swirl it over the slotted spoon with the ladle. The batter will fall through the holes and form boondhis. I didn't care about the shape at that point since i figured they'll all be smushed into laddoos anyway.

5) No need to fry boondhis till crisp. In a couple of minutes the bubbles will subside and the boondhis can be removed from the oil and drained.  Keep them aside (Another thing I plan to change when making laddoos next time is to drop them in the sugar syrup at this stage instead of waiting for all batches to complete).

6) Finish all the batter in this manner. Warm up the sugar syrup on a low flame and mix in the fried boondhis along with the fried raisins and cashews. Mix well. It will taste like besan initially and seem wet with the syrup  but once cooled and after a few hours the boondhis will taste great. Enjoy.

Comments

  1. laddoos have to be held when the syrup -boondhi mix is fairly warm. Otherwise it is possible that they will crumble.
    Having said that, I must tell you the boondhi is really lovely and it is a wonderful sweet to have for the anniversary :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks akka.. I did try to form laddoos when quite warm but it refused to stick together. I think my sugar syrup is to blame.

      Delete
  2. Happy Anniversary Laavanya. Oh forget about the ladoos, the bhoondhis look delicious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much indo... yes was not too disappointed since the boondhi were tasty :)

      Delete
  3. Happy anniversary..i learnt to make ladoos frmmy grandmom this year...have to try on my own..however I love boondi and wouldn't really mind ending up with it..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sowmya.. Yes, I think watching someone make it would've been helpful...I haven't seen it so far. It was fun to make though.

      Delete
  4. Happy anniversary Lavanya...
    Glad that you liked the boondhis.
    When I tried first I got only boondhis that is because I heated the syrup to 1 string consistency.The following points may help
    1) The sugar syrup should be half string consitency (in Tamil it is called Ilam paagu)
    2) Also as Lata amma mentioned, the laddus should be made while it is still hot.Grease your palms with ample ghee so that you can hold it while it is warm
    3) My mom slightly mashes (slightly that the boondhis still have that shape) mix with ghee and tghen make the ladoos so that the laddos stick together well.(Again this is not the professional way but an easy method to make the shapes).Since it is mixed with ghee it tastes great too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Shylaja for the recipe... Yours was perfect but you are right... i think i may have boiled the syrup a bit more and you had warned that in your recipe as well... :) I couldn't mash my boondhis - they maintained their shape even after soaking in syrup... i guess i made strong boondis :)
      I'll try again.. I've always thought laddoos were too complex but your recipe made it doable.

      Delete
  5. Happy Anniversary, Laavanya! Laddoos are my favorites but the making of laddoos always intimidate me.. Your bhoondhi is looking awesome and tempting me to at least start with Bhoondhis, before I attempt laddoos..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sujatha. I have always been intimidated too but actually it was quite easy and worst case scenario - you get boondhis (like what happened to me) so really low risk in trying it out. Do give it a shot :)

      Delete
  6. Happy Anniversary... u have nice space.. ur boondhi looks yummy.. pls visit my space in ur free time.
    http://www.indiantastyfoodrecipes.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Rekha.. Will definitely check out your blog.

      Delete
  7. Happy Anniversary Laavanya !! The boondis look tempting. I know what you mean about laddoos, it has been on my to do list for a while but I get totally overwhelmed when I actually think of doing it so keep putting it off :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Belated wishes :) Boondhis are my favorite than laddoos. Wish I could have a fist full of boondhis from that picture :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Belated anniversary Wishes, congrats to both of you. I dont mind have to have my laddoos as boondhis.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is quite a project! Happy Anniversary.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you Usha, Maha, Raks, Priya and evolvingtastes :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi,

    happy anniversary to both of you. As far as ladoos or boondhis, it doesnt matter. all we need is sweetened boondhi balls...whether they are all fused together or not...no one really cares in my home!!! Sometimes even experienced cooks, have such problems. Looks awesome and yes you have thousands f mini ladoos!!!

    Shobha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Shobha :) I agree with you absolutely... as long as it tastes good, sometimes it's okay if we mess up - It;s always hard for me when there's a sugar syrup involved.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thank you for stopping by and providing your valuable feedback. NOTE: I have disabled Anonymous comments (since I was getting a lot of spam).

Popular Posts