Besan Ladoo or Besan Ke Laddu recipe is one of the most popular Indian desserts made using besan (aka gram flour/chickpea flour), sugar, and ghee. It's prepared during festivals and special occasions at home.
Every time I see Besan Ladoo (Besan Unde, as we call it in Kannada), it brings back lots and lots of fond memories from my childhood days. My Mom always makes these for Panchami and Gowri/Ganesh Festival as a tradition.
Every time, my Mom packed me a box of Besan Ladoo and Chiroti (Dessert) while I was returning to Bangalore from my native place, and this tradition has continued even now when she ships me packages to the US. Those are the most delicious besan laddus ever.
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What is Besan Ladoo?
Besan Ladoo, also known as Besan Ke Laddu or Gram flour laddoo, is an aromatic, delicious, melt-in-the-mouth round-shaped Indian dessert/sweet made from besan (gram flour), sugar, ghee, and some nuts. Besan is the Hindi name for Gram flour, and Ladoo typically means round-shaped sweet.
They are usually prepared during festivals and special occasions. Besan laddoo recipe is prepared by slowly roasting gram flour in ghee until golden brown in color, is cooled, and then combining it with sugar and nuts to make round-shaped balls.
In India, some other popular laddoos are motichur laddoo, coconut ladoo, Rava laddoo, moong dal laddoo, peanut laddoo, and dry fruits laddoo.
Ingredients to Make Besan Ladoo Recipe
You need four key ingredients to make this Besan ke laddu recipe.
- Besan (Gram Flour) - Use fresh, good-quality besan. There are two varieties of besan flour available in the Indian Grocery store. Fine and Coarse Besan (also labeled as Ladoo Besan) variety. I use fine besan for making besan laddus. If Besan is old, make sure to taste it before preparation, as it can taste bitter.
- Ghee - Good quality pure ghee adds the best flavor to the ladoos. You can use homemade ghee or store-bought. Homemade ghee is the best.
- Sugar - Always use powdered sugar for this recipe. If you have granulated sugar, blend it in a blender to make a fine powder, or use fine caster sugar. You can use any variety of sugar in this recipe.
- Cardamom - I have used green cardamom. It adds a nice aroma and flavor to the ladoos. You can also add saffron strands along for the flavor.
- Nuts - I have used chopped almonds and pistachios. You may also use roasted cashews and raisins for this ladoo.
How to Make Besan Ladoo
Before you start making besan ladoo, it's important to measure the quantity, else ladoos may not bind and ruin.
Add sugar and green cardamom into the blender or grinder and blend them to make a fine powder. Keep it aside.
Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan on a low flame, and once it melts, add besan to it. Combine everything well and break the lumps. Ignore the small lumps.
Keep stirring continuously with a spatula on low flame for 8-10 minutes or until besan slightly changes its color and is aromatic.
Note: It took about 25-30 minutes in total to roast the besan ghee mixture.
After about 10 minutes, the besan mixture will start to loosen up (see the pic for reference) and turn light golden brown.
Keep roasting continuously for another 15-20 minutes on low flame until the mixture turns a golden color, and by now, the kitchen is filled with a sweet aroma.
Once the besan starts to release ghee, the besan laddoo mixture is ready.
Transfer the laddoo mixture to a bowl or a plate. This will help to avoid overcooking. Allow it to cool.
Once the besan and ghee mixture has completely cooled (in about 10-15 minutes), add powdered sugar, nuts, and cardamom powder to it. Don't add the sugar to the hot besan mixture else. It will melt, and it won't be easy to bind the laddoos.
Mix everything with your hands to incorporate sugar and nuts with the besan and ghee mixture.
Grease your palm with some ghee. Then take some mixture in your hand and make round balls. You will get around 15-16 medium ladoos.
You can garnish the ladoos with pistachios or slivered almonds.
How to Serve Besan Laddu?
Besan Ladoo is a classic Indian sweet often served as a dessert or snack during festivals and special occasions.
You can serve besan ke ladoo as a dessert after a meal along with other desserts like Carrot halwa, Kheer, or Gulab jamun.
Besan Ladoo pairs well with a hot cup of Masala Chai, along with Poha chivda for evening snack time.
You can also pack them in beautiful boxes or jars and give your family and friends as gifts on special occasions.
Storage Suggestions
Room Temperature: You can store besan ladoos in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.
Refrigerator: You can also refrigerate for longer shelf life. Place the ladoos in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
Freezer: If you want to store the ladoos for an even longer period, you can freeze them. Place the ladoos in an airtight container or a freezer-safe Ziploc bag and freeze them for up to 2 months
To thaw the frozen Besan Ladoos, remove them from the freezer and let them sit at room temperature for a few hours until they come to room temperature. This will help to prevent any condensation from forming on the ladoos.
Tips to Make Best Besan Laddu
- Use fresh besan: Use fresh and good quality besan (gram flour) to make the best laddos. The older gram flour tends to get bitter after a few months of milling. So taste it before making ladoos.
- Roasting the besan: Roasting the besan properly on low heat is the key to getting delicious besan laddoo. You need to stir continuously on low heat for about 20-25 minutes for uniform roasting. This helps to remove the raw taste of the besan and gives a nutty flavor. It's a lot of handwork, so be patient. If the heat is high, then besan will turn brown while still being raw and even may burn.
- Cool the mixture a bit: Always cool down the roasted besan mixture for at least 15 minutes before adding the sugar. If it's too hot, it's difficult to shape the laddoos.
- Dont skim on ghee: Use pure ghee for a rich and authentic flavor. Use the right amount of ghee to get the best besan ke laddoos.
- Using powdered sugar: use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar for a melt-in-mouth texture.
- Shaping the ladoos: Always grease your hands with little ghee before shaping the laddus. It prevents the mixture from sticking to the hands and makes it easier.
Variations
- Adding Nuts: You can add any kind of chopped nuts like almonds, pistachios, cashews, and raisins to the ladoo mixture. If you are allergic to nuts, then skip them.
- Flavoring: You can add flavoring agents like cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, ground cinnamon, or saffron strands to make them delicious and aromatic.
- Coconut Besan Ladoo: Add desiccated coconut to the besan ladoo mixture to give it a nutty flavor and chewy texture.
- Chocolate Besan Ladoo: Add cocoa powder to the besan ladoo mixture to give a chocolatey twist. Your kids will love it.
- Besan Ladoo with Jaggery: You can substitute regular sugar with jaggery to make the besan ladoos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Generally, it takes about 20-25 minutes to roast 1 cup of besan and 30-35 minutes to roast 2 cups of besan. The aroma and golden color of roasted besan are what you should be looking for.
Fine and coarse gram flour varieties are available in Indian grocery stores. I use fine variety as it gives a melt-in-the-mouth texture.
However, if you use coarse besan (aka Ladoo Besan), ladoos will have a slight crunch.
You may also add two tablespoons of fine semolina (rava/sooji) to 1 cup of besan flour to get a little crunch to the laddus.
Generally, when powdered sugar is added to a hot roasted besan mixture, it melts, and binding ladoos are difficult. So cool down completely before adding powdered sugar.
If you cannot make the balls, refrigerate the mixture for about 10-15 minutes or add some almond flour and try. You could also roast some additional besan, add it to the mixture, and try again to make ladoos.
Besan ladoo is a healthy dessert, as it is made with gram flour (besan) which is rich in protein, folic acid, dietary fiber, and carbs.
It also contains sugar and ghee, which are high in calories and fat. So it is recommended to consume the ladoo in moderation for a healthy diet.
To make vegan besan ladoo, substitute ghee with coconut oil or any neutral flavor vegetable oil.
You can use jaggery or coconut sugar instead of regular sugar. However, the flavor and texture may slightly differ from the traditional one.
More Indian Dessert Recipes
- Instant Coconut Ladoo
- Badam Halwa using Almond Flour
- Milk Powder Burfi
- Rice Kheer (Rice Pudding)
- Carrot Almond Kheer
- Coconut Jaggery Burfi
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Besan Ladoo Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups besan sifted
- ½ cup ghee
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3-4 green cardamom
- 2 tablespoons pistachios chopped
- 2 tablespoons almonds chopped
Instructions
- Before you start making besan ladoo it's important to measure the quantity else ladoos may not bind and ruin.
- Add sugar and green cardamom into the blender or grinder and blend them to make a fine powder. Keep it aside.
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan on a low flame, and once it melts add besan to it. Combine everything well and break the lumps. Ignore the small lumps.
- Keep stirring continuously with a spatula on low flame for 8-10 minutes or until besan slightly changes its color and is aromatic.
- After about 10 minutes, the besan mixture will start to loosen up (see the pic for reference) and turn light golden brown.
- Keep roasting continuously for another 15-20 minutes on low flame until the mixture turns golden color and by now the kitchen is filled with a sweet aroma.
- Once the besan starts to release ghee, besan ladoo mixture is ready.Note: It took about 25-30 minutes in total to roast the besan ghee mixture.
- Transfer the ladoo mixture to a bowl or a plate. This will help to avoid overcooking. Allow it to cool.
- Once besan and ghee mixture has completely cooled (in about 10-15 minutes), add powdered sugar, nuts, and cardamom powder to it. Don’t add the sugar to the hot besan mixture else it will melt and it will be difficult to bind the laddos.
- Mix everything together with your hands to incorporate sugar and nuts with the besan and ghee mixture.
- Grease your palm with some ghee. Then take some mixture in your hand and make round balls. You will get around 15-16 medium ladoos.
- You can garnish the ladoos with pistachios or slivered almonds.
Notes
Tips to Make Best Besan Laddu
- Use fresh besan: Use fresh and good quality besan (gram flour) to make the best laddos. The older gram flour tends to get bitter after a few months of milling. So taste it before making ladoos.
- Roasting the besan: Roasting the besan properly on low heat is the key to getting delicious besan laddoo. You need to stir continuously on low heat for about 20-25 minutes for uniform roasting. This helps to remove the raw taste of the besan and gives a nutty flavor. It's a lot of handwork, so be patient. If the heat is high, then besan will turn brown while still being raw and even may burn.
- Cool the mixture a bit: Always cool down the roasted besan mixture for at least 15 minutes before adding the sugar. If it's too hot, it's difficult to shape the laddoos.
- Dont skim on ghee: Use pure ghee for a rich and authentic flavor. Use the right amount of ghee to get the best besan laddoos.
- Using powdered sugar: use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar for a melt-in-mouth texture.
- Shaping the ladoos: Always grease your hands with little ghee before shaping the laddus. It prevents the mixture from sticking to the hands and makes it easier.
Variations
- Adding Nuts: You can add any kind of chopped nuts like almonds, pistachios, cashews, and raisins to the ladoo mixture. If you are allergic to nuts, then skip them.
- Flavoring: You can add flavoring agents like cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, ground cinnamon, or saffron strands to make them delicious and aromatic.
- Coconut Besan Ladoo: Add desiccated coconut to the besan ladoo mixture to give it a nutty flavor and chewy texture.
- Chocolate Besan Ladoo: Add cocoa powder to the besan ladoo mixture to give a chocolatey twist. Your kids will love it.
- Besan Ladoo with Jaggery: You can substitute regular sugar with jaggery to make the besan ladoos.
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