Besan Laddoo (Sweet Chickpea Flour Balls with Cashew and Raisins) Indian Sweet. Gluten Free, Soy Free and Vegan Recipe. Jump to Recipe
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi Everyone! This festival celebrates the birthday of Lord Ganesha, who is widely worshiped in India, as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.
The celebration consists of installing a Ganesh Idol at home or community, conducting worship ceremonies, making sweet items to offer to god and everyone around and so on. After 10 days, the idol is immersed in a river/sea/water body. Read more about the festival here.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh_Chaturthi
Depending on the region, different kinds of Indian sweets are made for this occasion. Modaks(Rice flour dumplings) are the most common in most parts of India, Different Laddoos(sweet flour balls), deep fried dough balls and more. Whether you believe in god or not, it is an occasion to meet and greet, exchange sweets, and celebrate life and good fortune.
Traditionally, the Ganesh icon was sculpted out of earth taken from nearby one’s home. After worshiping this earth icon, it was returned back to the Earth by immersing it in a nearby water body. Lets do the same and reduce the environmental impact of the toxic materials and colors used in the fancy modern idols!.
Besan Laddoo is tradionally made with chickpea flour(garbanzo bean flour), a good amount of ghee(clarified butter), sugar and some flavor like cardamom. My version.. ghee-free, has some quinoa in it and is very similar to the usual mom made ones!
Besan Laddoo (Sweet Chickpea Flour Balls With Cashews And Raisins) Indian Sweet, Vegan
Besan Laddoo (Sweet Chickpea Flour Balls with Cashew and Raisins) Indian Sweet. Gluten Free, Soy Free and Vegan Recipe.
Servings: 8 balls
Calories: 109kcal
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons gram/chickpea/garbanzo bean flour (besan)
- 1 teaspoon semolina flour (fine sooji, omit this for gluten free version)
- 2 teaspoons quinoa flour (optional, can be substituted with semolina flour)
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter (earth balance, soy free)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons raw sugar (more for sweeter balls, I like mine mildy sweet)
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoons (0.25 teaspoons) coarsely ground cardamom seeds (elaichi)
- 2 tablespoons of chopped cashews (small pieces. large pieces will make it difficult to form balls)
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- a tablespoon or 2 of water
Instructions
- Melt the vegan butter in a large pan on low heat.
- Cook the cashews and raisins in it for 2 minutes until golden and remove them leaving as much butter as possible in the pan. Alternatively, cook the cashews and raisins in about a teaspoon of butter separately.
- Add coconut oil and heat with butter.
- Add the besan (chickpea flour), semolina flour, quinoa flour and mix.
- Cook on medium heat and begin to roast the mixture, until it becomes light golden brown in color and gives out a sweet aroma. Stir the mixture continuously with a spatula to prevent burning. 7-10 minutes. The mixture should also start to form clumps.
- Cook the flour well, else it will taste raw, which is not fun.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool to a warm-hot temperature. (a minute)
- Meanwhile, Blend/grind the raw sugar into powder. or use powdered jaggery.
- Add in cardamom seeds, and sugar to the flour mixture and mix well.
- Add in the cashews and raisins and mix well with spoon or hand to make mixture more clumpy. (1 minute)
- To make the balls, take about 1.5-2 Tablespoons of warm flour mixture into your palm. Gently press the mixture between your palms to form a smooth, round ball. Of course if you are in a hurry, you can just eat the flour mix like a halwa :)(dense sweet dough dessert).
- If the mixture doesn't form balls easily, which might happen because I use butter as less as possible, add half a tablespoon of agave syrup and a few drops of warm water and mix. Keep adding drops of water and a few drops of agave till it becomes a big clump.
- All this should be done, while the mixture is still warm-hot to touch. (you can reheat the mixture in the pan to warm-hot if it has completely cooled down). Form balls and let cool completely before storing in airtight container for 1-2 weeks. Hope you all like these Indian Sweet Balls! Have an awesome day everyone!
Notes
- To increase the quantity, increase oil/wet ingredients to dry ingredients(besan flour) by 1:3 ratio and sugar to dry ingredients by 1:2 ratio, that is for every 1 Tbsp increase in dry ingredients, increase oil by 1/3 Tbps and sugar by a 1/2 Tbsp.
- Nutritional value is based on 1 serving
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Besan Laddoo (Sweet Chickpea Flour Balls With Cashews And Raisins) Indian Sweet, Vegan
Amount Per Serving
Calories 109 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Fat 5g8%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Sodium 27mg1%
Potassium 87mg2%
Carbohydrates 13g4%
Sugar 6g7%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 135IU3%
Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
Calcium 2mg0%
Iron 0.5mg3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
These balls are headed to Amee’s Fit and Fabulous Friday, Erin’s Friday Potluck and Hearth and Soul blog hop #63 And to Ricki’s Wellness Weekend!!!
[email protected] says
September 1, 2011 at 7:39 pmThis looks awesome. I should make this one
Sylvia says
September 1, 2011 at 7:40 pmi love falafel so i think i’m gonna love these too!!
Richa says
September 1, 2011 at 11:12 pmThank you Radhika and Sylvia!
Do let me know when u make them!!
Amy says
September 2, 2011 at 12:13 amThese sound so good! I love that you have made them vegan but still kept them delicious! Cashews are so good in desserts!
Gopika Ram says
September 2, 2011 at 2:32 amHappy Ganesh Chaturti to you.. 🙂 Love your Laddoo.. Looks so rich and am sure tastes yumm too 🙂
Soma says
September 2, 2011 at 2:40 amThis is a wonderful twist to the traditional laddoos.. You have made it healthier and guilt free.
ANU says
September 2, 2011 at 3:51 amvery nice idol….love the laddus….
Chk out my DIWALI Event
September – ALMONDS Event & GIVEAWAY‘
September – WWC – “Cornmeal for Breakfast”
Junia says
September 2, 2011 at 4:06 amwow, healthy dessert bites made with quinoa and chickpea flour!!! yay for #cleaneating and #healtheats!
escribble says
September 2, 2011 at 2:24 pmRicha,
I love besan ke ladoo. I had my first taste after marriage. Those looks scrumptious 🙂
http://kirantarun.com/food
Genevieve says
September 2, 2011 at 2:35 pmI loved besan laddoo when I tried it in India and I have been searching for an easy recipe to make them myself. Yours sound great! I’m just wondering how much cashews and raisins you used – I don’t see those in the ingredients list.
Richa says
September 2, 2011 at 5:02 pmThank you Amy, Gopika, Soma, Anu, junia, Kiran and Genevieve!! Thank you all for the lovely comments!
Genevieve, updated the recipe:) thanks for pointing it out. Do let me know how they turn out! i’d love to hear about it.. happy cooking!
Ranjini says
September 2, 2011 at 6:03 pmSaw this (again) at Fit & Fab Fridays. We’re eternal fans of Indian sweets, and these look smackalicious! 🙂
Kalyani's Platter says
September 2, 2011 at 6:26 pmlooks delicious and very tempting clicks ……….. happy to follow u ……..
Sunshine And Smile says
September 2, 2011 at 6:49 pmDelcious and perfectly shaped. I could eat that non stop 🙂
http://www.sunshineandsmile.com
Ricki says
September 2, 2011 at 7:58 pmWhat a lovely festival! These look wonderful. I hope they do bring lots of sweetness into your life! 🙂 Thanks for submitting this to WW this week. 🙂
bittersweetblog says
September 3, 2011 at 8:42 amI’m very curious, as I’ve never tasted anything quite like these! The use of chickpea flour is quite intriguing… There really is no end to that legume’s versatility. 🙂
Richa says
September 4, 2011 at 1:09 amThank you Kalyani, Ranjini, Kankana, Ricki and Hannah!!
Yes chickpeas are quite versatile!:)Do let me know if you try these! Have an amazing weekend everyone!
Amee says
September 5, 2011 at 4:58 pmThese sweet bites look amazing!! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful, healthy recipe on Fit and Fabulous Fridays! LOVE!
The 21st Century Housewife© says
September 5, 2011 at 6:53 pmWhat an interesting post, and what a delicious sounding recipe! Thank you so much for sharing it with us at the Hearth and Soul hop!
Genevieve says
September 13, 2011 at 8:42 pmHi Richa,
I just tried these today and they are great! Very sweet and they reminded me more of anjeer ka halwa that I tried in India.
I did burn my flour mixture slightly though, so I will learn from my mistake and make them even better next time!
Richa says
September 16, 2011 at 9:58 pmThank you Amee, 21st century housewife.
Thanks for trying the recipe Genevieve!
Vidya says
February 11, 2012 at 3:41 amRicha, can I just say I am absolutely thrilled to have found your blog! As a new vegan, I’ve already started planning ahead for the Hindu festival season and am so happy you seem to have done so much of my work for me! I don’t really have access to a good vegan margarine though – most ones around here are pretty gross, do you think this will be okay with 3 tbsp of coconut oil? Do you use virgin or refined coconut oil, by the way?
Richa says
February 11, 2012 at 3:54 amI am glad you found me ..:)i use virgin coconut oil. you can use virgin coconut oil for the sweets. With enough spices, you wont be able to taste it too.
or any other virgin and organic high fat oil, like rice bran, sunflower, sesame, almond or organic canola oils.
If the laddoos dont come together, add agave or maple or thick sugar syrup, few more drops of oil and water. hope this helps! let me know how it turns out and if u have any other questions:)
Richa says
February 11, 2012 at 3:56 amyou can find other sweets, laddoos, gulab jamuns, katli and more on the facebook album here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.219854958075504.54976.143274179066916&type=3
Anonymous says
April 1, 2014 at 9:42 pmRicha, I don’t have coconut oil handy, what can b used as substitute?
Richa says
April 1, 2014 at 9:52 pmuse more vegan butter or canola oil or kokum butter.
ANSHULA OHRI says
November 11, 2020 at 4:33 pmHello. I made your vegan besan laddoo recipe today. I was puzzled with the quantities- the 5 tablespoons of besan was so I added more besan using 12.5 tablespoons of besan to start with. So I was expecting to make more than 16 ladoos.
The ladoos turned out delicious. Thank you! However I had to roast for about about 40 minutes instead of the 10-15 in the recipe. Also in the end I got only 11 ladoos.
Would like to confirm the 5 tablespoons of besan in the recipe.
Thank you
Anshula
Richa says
November 13, 2020 at 9:34 pmI think this recipe got messed up when transferring to the widget, since the blog was on a different platform back in 2011. It also makes small Ladoos. Glad it worked out anyway.
Use my books version. 1 cup besan, 4-5 tbsp oil(mix of oil and vegan butter works best), 1/8 tsp salt and 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp more for sweeter. Same process. Roast the besan with oils until brown and fragrant. Take off heat Heat and mix sugar, the. Roll into balls
ANSHULA OHRI says
November 14, 2020 at 2:55 amThank you for your response. Your recipe is very good.. Making vegan besan laddoo is not easy because it’s hard to get the vegan laddoo to hold their shape. Some of the tips such as using a combination of vegan butter and oil are excellent and your recipe is the only place where I have seen this.
Please correct the recipe in the widget so that others can benefit from your otherwise excellent write up and recipe.
Thank you!
Richa says
November 14, 2020 at 11:01 amI’ll post a new recipe as the pictures on this one are with quinoa.
Pallavi Murali says
November 13, 2020 at 10:58 amMy mixture came out much too fluid to form laddoos 🙁 Salvaged it by adding almond meal until it was the right texture. Feels like there’s too much fat in the recipe for the amount of flour/ sugar?
Richa says
November 13, 2020 at 9:38 pmSorry about that. I think this recipe got messed up while transferring all recipes into the new widget a few years back. Glad you could work it out!
Try my books version. 1 cup besan, 4-5 tbsp oil(mix of oil and vegan butter works best), 1/8 tsp salt and 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp more for sweeter. Same process. Roast the besan with oils until brown and fragrant. Take off heat Heat and mix sugar, the. Roll into balls