A quick and simple sweet - Besan ladoo with roasted cashews and almonds

Sorry, Deepavali sweet making is visiting this blog a little late. Hope you all had a great Deepavali celebration and Wishing you a Very Happy Festival Season.

Thinking that Deepavali was over the weekend like it usually happens here in the US, I was reminded at work that it was Friday and not Saturday. During lunch time while we were discussing what sweets were to be made I got a great tip for making the sweet I had on mind.

I was thinking of besan ladoo (had a big pack of besan that needed to be finished). I was glad I was'nt the only one who had postponed Deepavali sweet making to the weekend after Deepvali. Anyways as we were discussing how to make besan ladoo one of my lunch mates mentioned about coarsely powdered nuts to the besan rather than chopped roasted pieces. The powdered nuts were the best part of the sweet.

If you have a pack of besan sitting in the back of the fridge this is a good opportunity to get them out and make a quick and tasty sweet.

RC's had these beautiful looking besan ladoos , the very few ingredients and the besan languishing in my fridge were big motivations for giving this a try.

The addition of nuts made them taste like a sweet my friend's mom made for her and packed a box for the DDs when we went to visit. She had used whole wheat flour, a bit of cream of wheat, nuts and raisins.

My friend came over for an impromptu Deepavali sweet and savory making session. I will post what we made in the next post.

Makes about 40 ladoos
Besan ladoo with roasted cashews and almonds
Ingredients
1. 3 cups of besan
2. 1 cup of roasted and coarsely powdered almonds and cashews
3. 1 1/2 cups of ghee
4. 2 tsp of powdered of cardamom
5. 2 cups of sugar ( I used super fine regular sugar)
6. 2 -3 tbsp of raisins (optional, I forgot to add them)

Method
1. Heat a wide mouthed pan, add about 1/4 of the ghee and the besan and in medium heat roast the besan till it is golden and besan smell has completely disappeared. Mine took about 40 minutes
2. Add the ghee in between in small quantities and continue roasting. Do not leave it unattended they tend to char pretty quickly. Almost towards the end add the cardamom powder.
3. Meanwhile roast the cashews and almonds. I used the toasted the almonds for 8 minutes and cashews for about 5 minutes. Cool and powder coarsely.
Also if using raisins roast them in ghee and set aside.
4. Towards the end of the besan roasting add the powdered nuts and raisins. Let cool.
5. Mix in the sugar and the remaining ghee.
6. Take about a tbsp or 1 1/2 tbsp of the powder and using your hands shape them into smooth rounds.

Note:
If you do not want to add the full amount of ghee add half of the amount and use a spoon to eat them as they won't hold their shape.

This post will be an entry for Nupur's, Blog Bites 9 - The Holiday Buffet.