Another month, another festival! Another occassion to whip up some Indian sweets. Ganesh Chaturthi…is the Hindu festival celebrated on the occasion of birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of travel.
In Hindu-ism, a large number of personal gods (Ishvaras) are worshipped as murtis/idols. There are several gods, human incarnations of gods and so on. Whenever I write something about any festival or practices, I realize how little I know about the religion.
Lately, my internal questions about the gods and their practices has led to a lot of conflict. I think a lot of us go through something similar when our known religious beliefs dont necessarily gel well with our practiced beliefs. in this case, trying to be vegan in all possible ways.
For example, Traditional stories tell us that Lord Ganesha was created by goddess Parvati. Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door while she bathed. Lord Shiva returned and, as Ganesha didn’t know him, Ganesha didn’t allow Lord Shiva to enter. Lord Shiva became enraged, severed the head of the child and entered his house. After realizing that he had beheaded his own son, Lord Shiva fixed the head of an elephant in place of Ganesha’s head. In this way, Lord Ganesha came to be depicted as the elephant-headed God.(This is just one of the stories among many)
Its confusing, isnt it. Why would a God be so enraged, then take a child’s life and then to bring the child back, take an elephants life. Dont ask me, I am as confused as can be. The answers might lie in the Hindu texts and scriptures, which I guess I will have to start reading.
Till my mind figures things out, everyone around us and we as a family, continue to celebrate the occassion. To celebrate being together, to celebrate the fortune and wisdom that has been bestowed upon us, to celebrate the goodness around. One of the sweets that makes an appearance during the celebration is a ghee laden Chickpea flour Laddoo. This one is dairy free. You can find my Chickpea flour and Semolina Laddoo from last years celebration here. This recipe is glutenfree and is lightly adapted from Dassana’s Besan Laddoos.
Steps:
1/4 cup chickpea flour ready to be roasted. Yes, i make small quantities, since between the 2 of us, we hardly ever finish any sweets, except probably chocolate 😉 I will make a larger batch on the weekend if we visit friends.
Roast for 5 minutes, then add cocoa butter and coconut flakes and mix.
Roast on and on until the chickpea flour darkens and leaves a nutty aroma.
Add ground sugar and spices and mix.
Add coconut milk and mix to form a lumpy mixture. Add less or more. Take off heat and cool for a minute.
Make balls when the mixture is cool enough to handle. The mixture does tend to get crumbly as it cools because of the low oil content. To make balls of a cool mixture, warm the mixture on stove a bit, add a bit of oil or maple/agave syrup and form balls.
You can make a fat-free(oil free) version like this Wheat laddoo recipe.
And for more vegan-ized Indian sweets, see the collection here.
Sweet deliciousness.
Besan Ladoo Vegan Recipe. Sweet chickpea flour balls with cardamom and nutmeg
Gluten, grain, dairy, soy, nut, corn free recipe can be nutfree
Cook time: 30 minutes . Makes 7-8 small balls, easily doubled.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 Tablespoon shredded coconut(dried small flakes , optional)
1 Tablespoon pure food grade softened cocoa butter( or 1-2 Tablespoons oil)
2.5 Tablespoons sugar(I used ground raw sugar)
1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder
generous pinch of nutmeg powder
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon coconut milk( or non dairy milk)
Method:
Add chickpea flour to a pan and Dry roast for 5 minutes on low heat. stir once or twice.
Add coconut flakes and cocoa butter, Mix well and roast for 15 minutes.
Press down and mix well every 3-4 minutes.
If making a large batch add enough cocoa butter or oil, so the mixture does not appear dry.
Add sugar, salt and spices and mix well. Roast on another 3 minutes.
Sprinkle coconut milk on the mixture and mix.
If the mixture doesnt comes together add a few drops more.
(You can add enough to make one big lump to make it easier to shape)
Take off heat. Let cool for a minute or so until warm to handle.
Make balls of the mixture. Press crushed cashew or pistachios or raisins on top.
Manali says
September 19, 2012 at 5:49 amLadoos look awesome! I never heard about cocco butter. Interesting substitute! Happy festival to you and your family Richa!
Richa says
September 19, 2012 at 6:06 amThanks Manali! Same to you all!:)
Richa says
September 19, 2012 at 6:06 amCocoa butter is edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean.
Harini says
September 19, 2012 at 6:31 amDid not think of cocoa butter and I have it! Will make some next weekend.:) Today is all about modaks. These look maha-delish.
I have maintained that the physical manifestation given to Hindu ‘Gods’ come from heroes of yore. Maybe over the generations we have added colourful tales to make them sound more heroic or to differentiate them from ordinary mortals. I chant simply because Sanskrit is an extremely beautiful, lyrical language and I like the sounds it can create through breathing exercises. That said, I do think our authors did a great job with reality and myth. We were pretty advanced technologically. People acutally flew across oceans and apparated with ease. I love the stories, and I can rejoice and cry with the incidents that happened, and am constantly inspired.:D
A rather long comment!!
Richa says
September 19, 2012 at 6:40 amThanks for dropping by Harini. yes do give cocoa butter a try 🙂 Modaks never made an appearance at our place, though i would snag a few from the neighbors:)
We definitely were advanced if things are to be believed true.. We cloned 100 kauravas!:)
I love the stories and the chants too. The deeper meaning in so many of the verses. I miss speaking to our family panditji who always had modern day explanations for so many things.
Wish you and your family a happy Ganesh chturthi!
sumati krishnan says
September 21, 2012 at 5:29 pmTo Harini,
If i don’t revel and rejoice in Hindu mythology, I have suffered a tragic loss of innocence. If I don’t practice the religion ( perhaps due to a teenage rebellion against kanya puja or slaving in the kitchen,or both!), I miss out on joyous, soul and spirit uplifting celebrations of of life and community. If I don’t espouse the core philosophical tenets, then perhaps Hinduism is not for me. Would you agree?
To Richa, I defer.
Sumati
danielle rouse says
September 19, 2012 at 10:35 amThese looks so good Richa! Thank you for the visual on how to make them! loved that. Do they hold up well or delicate? I am wondering if I could send them in the kids lunches?
Richa says
September 19, 2012 at 3:57 pmyes they do. once you make the balls and they cool down, they dont break easily.. shake away in the lunch boxes 🙂
You can add a bit more cocoa butter and coconut milk to make one large lump to make it easy to shape into balls. Let me know when you try them:)
Gabby @ the veggie nook says
September 19, 2012 at 11:54 amYummy yummy 🙂
lysa jordan says
September 19, 2012 at 2:37 pmYou always have amazing recipes ! This looks so delicious ! Beautiful photos also..
Richa says
September 19, 2012 at 3:58 pmThanks Lysa!
Nupur says
September 19, 2012 at 3:14 pmI can totally grab one and pop in my mouth immediately.. Love the cliks…
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Richa says
September 19, 2012 at 3:58 pmThanks Nupur!
tadkapasta says
September 19, 2012 at 4:37 pmCoconut milk in besan laddus, great idea, R! Never tried using cocoa butter though. We learn so much from you!
Richa says
September 20, 2012 at 10:04 pmThanks TP. try it!
ANU says
September 19, 2012 at 5:15 pmvery nice and yummy ladoos!
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VeganFling says
September 19, 2012 at 6:44 pmI’ve totally had these before, several years ago, and they were so delicious! I love your updated vegan version of course. Thank you for sharing!
Richa says
September 20, 2012 at 10:05 pmthe usual ones have the same amount of clarified butter as flour:) all that sweet and fat is going to taste good:) these taste almost the same!
Srimathi says
September 19, 2012 at 11:26 pmBesan ladoo, way to go.I love the ones sold at the local Indian store.I enjoy the vegan version of it.
Richa says
September 20, 2012 at 10:05 pmThanks Srimathi.
Anonymous says
September 20, 2012 at 8:24 amthere are no gods … your mind tells you this, no so?
Veena Theagarajan says
September 20, 2012 at 9:29 amprefect laddoo..looks sooo delicious
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Hannah says
September 20, 2012 at 9:02 pmI’m feeling so inspired by these unique sweets… I wonder if I could substitute green pea flour for the garbanzo? I still have a ton of it left, so it’s definitely worth a try!
Richa says
September 20, 2012 at 10:07 pmgive it a try:) i think it should work out. just a different pea:). for all the flour sweets, the key is a good roast, else they end up tasting like flour. let me know when you do!:)
Kristy says
September 20, 2012 at 9:15 pmThese look awfully yummy! I loved this post and story behind the one god. So interesting! Thank you so much for sharing with us!
Richa says
September 20, 2012 at 10:07 pmThanks Kristy! since you are stepping into some curry cooking, some sweets will soon follow:)
Cindy DG says
September 21, 2012 at 12:58 amLove it, these look amazing! I’d like to invite you to link it up at our Gluten Free Fridays recipe party that is going on right now! 🙂 Hope you can join us!
Cindy
http://vegetarianmamma.com/glutenfreefridays-recipe-party-6/
Cindy DG says
September 24, 2012 at 11:13 amThanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! We had some fabulous entries this week! Our gluten free blogger directory is growing too! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 See you next Friday! Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
Sihi says
September 21, 2012 at 5:55 pmBeautiful clicks and an awesome recipe. Love the laddoos. Thanks for sharing.
Best,
Sihi
April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
September 21, 2012 at 8:55 pmThese sound delicious but they are also a very wholesome treat. Thank you for sharing the recipe with us at Hearth and Soul.
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
September 22, 2012 at 2:40 amSo delicious! In fact I almost made besan ka halwa today, but instead opted for suji. Hope you had a wonderful celebration 🙂
dassana says
September 22, 2012 at 2:21 pmyour ladoos are looking better than mine. adding coco butter is a healthy option. hope the celebrations are going on well there with you & family.
Anamika | madcookingfusions says
September 23, 2012 at 8:35 amLovely Lodoos Richa, have a great celebration!
Anonymous says
September 17, 2013 at 12:27 amI made this last night and subbed cocoa butter for coconut oil. They were a hit at my potluck. Thanks!
Animesh Gupta says
July 16, 2014 at 11:37 amNice Recipe!!!!
Can I use Raw cream butter instead of cocoa butter for storing Laddoos for short span of time?
Richa says
July 16, 2014 at 5:37 pmcoconut oil or coconut butter would work better. I have not used dairy butter for years now to know how it will hold up.
Erin says
October 22, 2014 at 9:55 pmI made these last night in preparation of my first Diwali with my fiance’s family tonight… oh… my… god. These are amazing, and so easy to make. They taste like some kind of awesome peanut butter cookie with flecks of toffee through it (not sure if the toffee thing is supposed to happen, but they’re there and they’re awesome). Thank you so much for the recipe 🙂
Monique Rijks-Surette says
December 4, 2016 at 5:27 amHi Richa,
I followed this recipe to the letter but the mix was quite runny so I had to add about 1/3 cup of coconut flakes to solidify the mix. Has anyone had a similar problem?
Richa says
December 4, 2016 at 11:29 amI am not sure what happened. Did you use cocoa butter? you can add more chickpea flour. Roast some chickpea flour on a dry skillet over medium heat (stir frequently) until fragrant and add a tbsp at a time into t hemix until it is like cookie dough, then roll it into balls.
Monique Rijks-Surette says
December 5, 2016 at 6:11 amI’ll try that next time. Thanks, Richa! (ps – I did use cocoa butter).
D says
June 4, 2017 at 8:48 amWow! I made this yesterday ……… and today ! So Good!
Mādrī devi dasi says
November 17, 2017 at 1:26 pmOh I, if you want to know about what ‘hinduism’really his, just ask a Hare Krishna, we sort of know more about the Lord then most. Also, Ganesh always have an elephant head. And yes, Shiva does get angry, he is not a ‘God’ but a servant of the supreme personality of Godhead.
I will try the recipe.
Hare Krishna, Haribolo.
Lu says
August 26, 2019 at 5:48 pm15 min roasting is too long, and it actually turned the ladoos dark chocolate brown. It should be 5-7 minutes at most.
Richa says
September 23, 2019 at 3:47 pmon low heat it takes a long time for the besan to roast. Your stove must be heating a bit higher heat
Meraki says
September 14, 2019 at 6:59 pmCHICKPEA FLOUR AND CAOCO BUTTER DON’T EXACTLY TASTE INDIAN
Richa says
September 23, 2019 at 3:35 pmcocoa butter flavor gets hidden after the roasting and cardamom
Satin says
November 27, 2020 at 2:14 amDear Richa, just checking that a quarter of a cup of chickpea flour is correct. It seems a very small amount for 7-8 ladoos, albeit small ones. Thank you 🙏🏼