Oil-free Wheat Laddoo/Laddu and Choorma - Sweet Wheat cardamom balls. Vegan recipe

Its that time of the year again, where Indians celebrate another festival(we have loads of them, half of which I dont necessarily know about). Rakhee or Rakshabandhan- which literally translates to a bond for protection, is on 2nd August. This festival celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. The ceremony involves the tying of a rakhi (sacred thread) by a sister on her brother's wrist. This symbolizes the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and the brother's lifelong vow to protect her.

It seems to have originated in the time of kings, when the queens or sisters needed help saving themselves or their kingdom from other kings/armies, they would call upon their dude bros to come by themselves or with their armies.

And as with all celebrations, the ceremony might vary from region to region, but there is always celebratory food in the form of Indian sweets, which usually are loaded with dairy(ghee, butter, cheese, cream).

If you are thinking about why not Ghee. Well, 1 pound of Ghee(clarified butter) comes out of about 28 pounds of milk! Now, lets see how the baby calf and the cow feels about that.

The usual recipe calls for ghee, half the amount of flour. I have made Laddoos before by swapping out the ghee with oil and they come out just fine. I did however want to try a refined oil/vegan butter free whole ingredient version. I used both home milled whole wheat flour and store bought, almond flour, maple syrup and no oil for these. The laddoo comes out extremely delicious, crumbly, and you seriously do not miss the oil! You can leave the mixture as is, if in a hurry and use as Choorma(Sweet crumble) or make balls. You have to try these and believe me, you wont need the ghee/oil or other refined fat at all.

You can make these gluten-free with Chickpea flour like my besan laddoos. Be sure to roast the flour well. What is your fave Indian sweet.

Lots of Vegan-ized Indian sweets/desserts here

Steps:

Wheat flour being roasted..

Roast roast more

Add sugar, almond, cardamom, roast a minute, then add maple

Mix Maple well, Switch of heat, spray 2-3 sprays of water and mix well. you can serve this as is once cool.

Choorma in natural light. It gets slightly lighter when it cools and dries. Form balls when still warm. Use another light spray of water to help form the balls if needed.

Crumbly, delicious choorma. Add roasted or raw chopped nuts and raisins to this and serve.

Whole Wheat Laddoo Balls and Choorma recipe

Oil, Dairy, egg, soy free

Ingredients: 8-10 balls, easily doubled

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 Tablespoons ground raw sugar(reduce to 1 if you dont like very sweet laddus), or powdered jaggery or sweetner of choice

2 Tablespoons ground raw almond

1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder

2 Tablespoons Maple syrup ( you can try agave or date syrup or any sticky sweet syrup)

few sprays of water

Method:

In a pan, dry roast the wheat flour on low heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes.

Once the wheat flour gets lightly browned and you can smell the roasted aroma, add in the ground sugar, cardamom and almond flour and mix well.

Roast for another minute.

Add in the maple syrup, mix well and take off heat.

Spray water on the mix 3-4 times mixing continuously with the spatula and pressing a little to see if a few lumps are formed.

Let it cool slightly till easy to handle, then knead it using you hands for a minute, so the nut oil and the maple incorporate well and help with the sticking.

You can serve this lumpy mix, similar to the wheat choorma as is, or make balls/laddoos out it.

You can add roasted or raw chopped nuts and raisins to the mix.(dont add too many if making balls)

Use a spray of water or 2 more to make balls if needed.

Garnish with chopped raw pistachios.

Consume same day or store in airtight container in refrigerator for a few days.

These Laddus and Choorma are being shared at Ricki's wellness weekend, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Slightly indulgent Tuesdays, Hearth and soul blog hop, Real food wednesdays, Ella's Olympics potluck, Healthy Vegan Fridays.

Infographic love. There are several reasons to adopt a whole or part plant based diet. Whether for compassion to other living beings, compassion to yourself and your health, or compassion towards our planet and the environment. See below to know your carbon footprint and how each one of us can make a difference.

Veganism by the numbers Infographic by CulinarySchools.org