Besan Undo/ Besan Laddo is actually a Maharastrian dish. But we Konkani’s also prepare this dish and has become a part of our festival and functions. It is one of the item’s that you get in the packet after a weeding or upanayanam feast. It has also taken its place in ‘Pumsavanam’ (or Baby shower) ceremony and also we distribute it our neighbours and friends whenever there is a happy occasion like birthday’s.
Preparation of besan undo/laddo requires only a very few ingredients but yo should be very patient in preparing this dish as well as you should have strong hands to keep on stirring the besan continuously. Usually Besan undo in Konkani homes will be prepared using ½ kg or 1 kg besan. But I have used only 1 cup besan in my recipe and I got around 10 to 12 medium size ladoos. The other ingredients like sugar and ghee that you are adding will have a slight variation from the quantity I have used here. This is because the quality of Besan that you get in the market varies each time. So only by practise you will get the exact quantity you require. Still I am writing the ingredients so that you will come to know approximately how much of each ingredient is required.
Ingredients
You need
- 1 cup besan /gram flour
- one cup of powdered sugar
- 1 1/4th cup ghee (I have used home made ghee. Some recipes use dalda but I prefer ghee which is more tasty and aromatic. The quantity of ghee may vary if you are using the market brought one).
- 15 to 20 number of elaichi/cardamom (Powder and use)
- 10 to 20 number of raisins (Ghee roast them and keep aside)
Method
Powder sugar and cardamom in a mixer and keep aside. Ghee roast raisins and keep aside (Optional).
Heat 1/4th cup of ghee in a thick bottam kadai (If you are using the market ghee then melt all the ghee together retain around ¼th cup of ghee in the kadai and transfer the rest of the ghee to a clean and dry container and keep aside).
Add besan to the kadai and stir well so as to coat the bean with ghee uniformly (You can even switch off the flame and mix besan and ghee with your hands. This will help in removal of lumps also).
Once this is done again switch on the flame. Always use low flame or your besan will get burnt very fast. Now keep on stirring the besan on low flame (Photo A). You will see that after sometime the besan has strated to change colour and also giving a sweet aromatic smell (Photo B) (You can taste and see the besan you will get a raw flavour of besan showing it has not fully roasted yet). Now is the time to add and give ghee. Add the rest of ghee only little by little (In Photo B I have added a bit more of the ghee that is why it is looking like that. But it is always better to add ghee little by little). See that you do not stop stirring the besan in between. Keep on adding the ghee little by little until the besan begins to turn a golden colour and a sweet aroma of the roasted besan fills your house (You can taste and see the besan there will not be any raw taste of besan once it is fully roasted).
After a few minutes ghee will begin to ooze out from the roasted besan. The consistency of the besan ghee mix changes. The quantity of ghee that comes out depend on the besan. In some cases the besan changes to semi solid stage as you can see in my photo below. (When I prepared ladoos another time with a different besan I did not get a semi solid stage like this and not much ghee did not ooze out since the besan got roasted and became aromatic I switched off the flame and continued with the process. I got ladoos that were not very firm).
Switch off at this stage and remove from flame. See that even after you remove from flame you keep on stirring the besan for 3 to 5 minutes because your kadai will be hot and that temperature is sufficient to burn your besan.
Once the besan ghee mixture has cooled down add raisins, elaichi powder and powdered sugar and mix uniformly (Do not add sugar to hot besan).
Now after mixing the besan ghee mixture will look somewhat greasy and not powdery (Check for sweetness at this stage and you can add powdered sugar again if you need to).
Now grease your hands with a little ghee and start preparing ladoos.
Your Besan Undo/ Besan Laddo are ready.
Shelf life: 2 to 3 weeks
Tips
Use fresh besan as besan will start giving an odd taste after storing for 1 month.
Roasting the besan up to the required consistency and continuous stirring the besan are important. Always use low flame for roasting the besan.
You can even add ghee roasted cashew nuts and badam to increase the richness of your ladoos.
