MaaLaadu

       Planning for a healthier,easier and a simple evening snack for your kids.No worries,the snack we are going to prepare today satisfies the above said,healthier,easier and simpler.By simpler,we mean ,we needn't rush to our grocery shop to purchase  the required ingredients. We are going to use the  ingredients  within  our   kitchen boundary.The main ingredient is roasted gram,it has proteins,carohydrates,dietery fiber,potassium,sodium,calcium,iron,magnesium,riboflavin,niacin,phosphorus,thiamin and zinc.

        This is a very familiar recipe/evening snack of Tirunelveli ,region in southern Tamilnadu.They used to call it as Maa Laadu(,not as Ladoo).

Ingredients

Makes 10-12 balls

Roasted Gram - 1 Cup
Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Cardamom Pods - 1 or 2
Ghee - 1/3 Cup
Cashes - few(broken)

Method

• In a mixer add the roasted gram,cardamom pods and sugar ,grind it to smooth flour.Transfer the contents to a wide vessel.

• In a small pan add a teaspoon of ghee,heat it and add the broken cashews and fry till golden yellow color.Add the fried cashews to the grind flour..In the same pan,keeping in low flame,add the remaining ghee and let it heat.Let the solid ghee dissolve,and look like an oil like appearance. No need to overheat it beyond this level.Switch Off the stove.

• Add the heated ghee to the flour mixture little by little alternating with a gentle mix using a spatula or a spoon.Do not use your hands to mix the flour with hot ghee.

• When all the ghee is added to the mixture(reserve a 1-2 Tbsp ghee to ensure not to add over ghee to it).At this stage the flour may look like this pic in middle.Gently mix with your hands,ensure you can handle the temperature or not.Make small balls out of the dough.

• Store the balls/maa laadu in an air-tight container.

Tip

• In this recipe i have used whole roasted gram,it tastes better compared to broken roasted gram.So if you want to make a try ,my suggestion would be,to use the whole ones.
• Sugar Measurement i have given for this recipe is bit sweeter,next time i would try to reduce to 2 Tbsp of sugar amount,people with sweet-tooth can go ahead with the above mentioned measurement of sugar itself.