Maavu Laddu (Pottu Kadalai Laddu)

   Maavu laddu is a sweet delicacy mostly popular with the people of southern Tamil Nadu. It is made from Pottu kadalai or Pori Kadalai which is the south Indian name for split gram dal, which in turn is chutney dal. Or more specifically the gram dal used to make coconut chutney. Pottu kadalai being a very rich source of protein, these laddus are usually made in many households with little children. It is called Maavu laddu, since all the ingredients are in powdered form ('Maavu' in Tamil means powder) and 'laddu' is any sweet in the form of a sphere.I recently came to know that these laddus can also be made from Pasi paruppu or whole moong dal and are called Pasi paruppu laddus. I haven't tried making them with moong dal yet, but I may give that a shot in future. I have seen these maavu laddus in quite a few sweet shops selling traditional sweets, but never bothered to buy them or even taste them as they never appealed to me. I had my first taste of this laddu after my marriage at my in-laws home. My co-sister makes these very often for her kids and I found the taste of the laddus to my liking, albeit I always felt there was something missing in the laddu. I eventually got to make these laddus myself when I found a nice way to get my son to eat ghee...apparently, he doesn't enjoy the taste of ghee with his rice and curry :) And ghee (clarified butter) being essential for a child's growth, these laddus are very handy. Its another story that a calorie conscious me can never eat these laddus. But I really enjoy making them. And what I found was missing in my co-sister's laddus was the fact that she always made these laddus the traditional way. That is, just grinding the pottu kadalai with the sugar, adding ghee and making laddus. She never roasted the split gram dal. Well, I found that roasting the dal, cooling and then grinding it makes a lot of difference in the taste of these laddus. You should try doing the same. Ahem, I think I'll go and take a dig at just one laddu from my kitchen.

Maavu Laddu

Ingredients:

Split gram dal (Pottu Kadalai) - 1 and 1/2 tea cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/3 cup or 1/2 cup (depending on how rich you want it)
Cardamom - few grains or 1 pod ( as per individual taste)
Cashew nuts - 1 tsp or 1 tbsp (finely broken)
Raisins - (optional)

Method:

1) First you need to make a trip to the Indian store to buy 'Chana Dalia', as that's the name under which pottu kadalai/ split gram dal is sold in the Patel store. Next, heat a kadai or heavy bottomed saucepan on high. When it is hot enough, reduce flame to medium and quickly dry roast the gram dal till it is a slightly golden color. Stir continuously so as not to burn the dal. This should take few minutes. Most people usually just grind the gram dal along with sugar to make the laddus. As the raw smell disappears, you will find that this dry roasting really enhances the taste of the laddus. 

2) Transfer the dal to a plate and allow to cool completely. On cooling, grind it to a fine powder along with sugar. In case you use fine powdered sugar, like we do in the US, you don't have to grind it along with the dal. Mix the roasted gram flour and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.

Sugar mixed with powdered gram dal

3) Warm the 1/3 or 1/2 cup ghee in a microwave. Use a little of this ghee to stir fry the cashew and raisins, in case you desire to add them to the laddus. I usually don't add either as my little son does not like biting into them while eating his favorite laddu :) 

4) Powder the cardamom and add it to the gram flour mixture. Mix well. Now, pour the warmed ghee little by little into the mixture. Using a spoon or ladle, constantly stir the ghee into the mixture. Actually, using your hand would be better as you will know just when to stop adding any more ghee. The mixture should have just about enough ghee, so as to easily shape it into laddus. No problems if you use up all the ghee to make the laddus....just make sure you workout more in the gym afterwards ;)

Mixture after adding few tbsps of ghee

Mixture ready to make laddus after adding more ghee

Note: 
This recipe will make approx. 25 - 27 small ladoos. Since the protein in the dal and the oodles of ghee added make this sweet a little heavy on the stomach, you may want to limit the quantity consumed by very small kids, say in the age group of 2-5 yrs. Agreed that they play a lot and burn all the calories, but it is better to be cautious :) Also, I have used a measuring cup to measure out the ghee, but you can add as much as your heart desires. Just know that it is the ghee which actually brings out the taste in this delectable sweet.

Badam Burfi

   Burfi is a traditional sweet made for almost all Indian festivals, especially Diwali.The name has its origin in the Persian word 'Barf' (snow) as most burfis are similar in appearance to ice or snow.Plain burfi is usually made with mava (khoya) or condensed milk and sugar with almonds and pistachios for decoration. Nowadays you will find burfi's in all colors, flavors and shapes.... most loved shapes being diamond, squares or rectangles.My friend Isvarya gave me the original recipe from a cook book she had referred to.I looked it up online and found one using lesser sugar.I must admit though that the burfi I made was way less in ghee and different in texture than the badam and kaju burfi's made by my mother-in- law.MIL is an expert in making these...so much so that I usually call her kaju burfi, 'ghee' burfi as she uses tonnes of ghee to lovingly make them :) This recipe is so easy to make....its almost a cinch! The badam burfi I made were really delicious...hmmm, never thought I would be able to make such delightful burfi. And this is a good way to get picky toddlers to eat  nuts, if they are not allergic to them, that is!

Badam Burfi

Ingredients:

Badam(Almonds) - 3/4 cup

Cashew nuts- 1/4 cup (I used cashew nuts as I did not have enough badam)

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 2 tbsps

Cardamom - 1 pod (grind to fine powder)

Method:

1) Soak the badam in water for more than an hour, to remove the skin.I soaked the cashew with the badam as I was not too sure if I was to powder them separately.You could microwave the soaked badam for a minute to speed up the process.Peel the skin off and grind the badam and cashew to a fine paste in the blender.I added the 1/2 cup milk to this paste as it was very sticky and ground it some more.This way I could get the fine paste to come out of the blender.You could maybe try grinding the badam, milk and sugar all together, like my friend did.Just use a large jar while grinding, keeping in mind the quantity of paste you will get. 

2) Grease a flat plate or thali with little ghee to pour the burfi into.Set aside.

3) Put the badam and milk paste into a kadai or heavy bottomed saucepan.Add sugar to this and stir continuously on slightly medium to low heat.After about 5 minutes add the 2 tablespoons of ghee and continue stirring on low heat, till the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan.This entire process takes about 15  to 20 minutes.You will know when to switch off the gas as the mixture would have changed to a slightly creamish color by then. Take care not to burn the burfi mixture. I do wish there was a way to avoid the stirring as my arm did slightly ache as it was my first time.But entirely worth the effort!

4) Remove from the stove.Add the cardamom powder and mix well. Transfer to the greased plate and flatten the mixture with a flat spoon or ladle.Allow it to cool sometime and cut into diamond shaped burfi. You can add a pinch of saffron while adding the cardamom powder.Garnish with silver foil (varki) if you like.

Note: This recipe will make about 30 burfi.

Rava Ladoo

  Rava ladoo or sooji (semolina) ka ladoo is one of the easiest and quickest sweets to make for any occasion.You can find this ladoo in many sweet shops in South India, but you can seldom make out rava in it.... so fine is its texture, I sometimes feel they actually grind the rava before using it. My husband refers to the store bought version of this ladoo as 'Concrete'.....so hard it is! As a kid, I have had the not so good fortune of having tasted this ladoo made in numerous friends home on Diwali day...and they were very hard to bite into, so much so, we tried to avoid eating these ladoos outside. Well, the ones my mother made would melt in the mouth. Don't really know where she got the recipe from, but here it is....

Rava Ladoos

Ingredients:

Rava (Semolina) - 1 cup (dry roasted)

Sugar - 1 cup

Coconut - 1 cup (grated)

Cardamom - 2 pods (finely ground)

Milk - few tablespoons (tbsps)

Cashew nuts - 1 tbsp (broken in small pieces)

Raisins - 1 tbsp

Ghee - 1 and 1/2 tbsp

Method:

1) Preheat a kadai (wok) or saucepan and then dry roast the rava till the raw smell disappears. Do this on low heat so as not to burn the rava. Once done, remove and cool the rava on a plate. Use upma rava for this as it is easier to make ladoos with it.

2) Place the cooled rava in a large vessel and add the sugar, grated fresh coconut and ground cardamom. Mix all the ingredients nicely. I prefer fresh coconut as it is tastier than the dried version. Either grate a fresh coconut or buy the already grated fresh coconut from the freezer section in the Indian store. You can also halve the amount of coconut, if you don't like your ladoos to contain too much of it. I usually use just 1/2 cup these days as my hubby is not a great fan of coconut.Do remember not to pack the coconut in the cup while measuring, else you may end up with coconut ladoos instead ;)

3)Now heat a small pan and place the ghee together with the broken cashews and raisins.Fry them on low heat stirring continuously till the raisins puff up and the cashews turn a golden brown. Be careful so as not to burn them. Add these to the rava, coconut mixture and mix well. 

4)Next sprinkle few tablespoons of cooled, boiled milk to the mixture,so as to bind it and make ladoos.Immediately mix well,so that the entire rava is coated with milk.I prefer to microwave the milk first, cool it and then use it to avoid the raw smell of milk. But there have also been days when I have used cold milk directly from the fridge, without bothering to boil it. Didn't make much of a difference in taste though or even smell for that matter. A friend once made these ladoos with evaporated milk and they came out quite tasty. She however did not fry the raisins in ghee, but added them as is.Do try it and let me know :)

5) You should now have a wet, sand like consistency of a mixture.Take a handful of the mixture and form small or medium sized ladoos. If you are unable to shape them into ladoos, sprinkle more cold milk and mix again until you get a consistency that can be shaped into a round ladoo. Make ladoos and store them in an airtight container in the fridge, especially in hot summers. They will go bad if left out as they contain fresh coconut. In winters you can keep them outside for a day or two, then refrigerate.These ladoos should stay good upto a week if you can resist eating them, that is!

Note: This recipe will make about 30 small sized ladoos.