What is boondi laddoo?
“A sphere of fine pearls of fried chickpea flour (besan) held together with thickened sugar syrup” – which we always get to eat on Independence day and Republic day. Yes, I am talking about Boondi Ladoo, also called Jodhpuri Ladoo.
The origin of laddoo dates back thousands of years. In fact it is believed that Sushruta, father of Indian surgery and medicine, invented laddus as an antiseptic medicine for treating his surgical patients when he would make a ball of ayurvedic medicines which could be eaten. Over the year, with addition of sweeter ingredients, laddoos have became an important part of all Indian festivals and almost synonymous with 15th August, India’s Independence day celebrations.
Why am I making the boondi laddoo recipe?
As the pandemic situation continues, our society is not hosting the usual Independence day function, hence no Boondi laddus from ceremony. I remember last year’s Independence day celebration at my school and the laddoos which were distributed after the flag hoisting ceremony. I almost felt the taste of those delicious yellow pearls in mouth and I decided to make it at home and sharing it with you all. What else can be the better way of celebrating our Independence day by becoming atmanirbhar and making the laddus at home 😉
Boondi Laddoo Recipe Card
Boondi Laddoo Recipe
Boondi laddoo is made with sweetened besan batter. They're called so because the besan batter is poured through a skimmer perforations while frying forming besan drops. These drops are literally called boond in hindi, hence the names.
Ingredients
For Boondi:
- Besan/Chickpea Flour - 2 bowls
- Water 1.5 bowl
- Yellow, red and green food colour (optional)
- Ghee - For frying 1/2kg
For Sugar Syrup:
- Sugar - 1 ¼ bowl
- Water - ½ bowl
- Saffron Strands - 5 -6
- Cardamom Powder - ½ tsp
- Finely chopped nuts of your choice (Almond, Cashew and Pistachio)
- Silver foil
Instructions
Preparing boondi
- Take two bowls of besan/chickpea flour in a mixing bowl. Slowly add water and whisk the mixture to prevent the formation of lumps in the batter. Use around 1.5 bowls of water to make the mix. Mix the batter for 5-6 minutes continuously till it becomes soft. Add a little yellow color to the batter at this stage.
- Heat ½ kg ghee in a kadai for frying boondi. Take half ladle of batter and pour it on a steel skimmer placed above the heated ghee. Drop boondis in the heated ghee with the help of a steel skimmer. Tap a little if required.
- Fry the boondis for a maximum of 15-20 seconds otherwise they will become crisp and will not bond together to form a shape of laddoo. If they become too crisp, then you can use it for raita.
- Take out the fried boondi it in a steel strainer so that excess ghee could be drained out from it. Fry the entire batter to form boondis.
Preparing sugar syrup for laddoos
- Take 1 ¼ bowl of sugar in a pan and add ½ bowl of water to it. Allow the mixture to boil, add a few saffron strands and cardamom powder to the sugar syrup. After sugar gets dissolved, cook it for another 2-3 minutes.
- Now we'll color the syrup to get a few colorful boondis in the mix. This step is optional, you can skip it if you want to. Divide the sugar syrup into three parts. Add some green colour to one bowl and some red colour to another bowl and rest to remain as it is. Add some fried boondis in green colour syrup, and 2-3 tsp in red colour syrup. Keep the remaining boondi in the colourless sugar syrup. Mix the boondis properly in their respective bowls and keep it aside with a lid for an hour.
- After an hour, mix all the plain and colored boondis together, add finely chopped nuts also to the mix now. Grease your hands with ghee and start binding the ladoo’s, giving them a round shape.
- You can garnish it with Silver Vark/foil too if you wish. Your tasty Jodhpuri Boondi Laddoos are ready!
Notes
- Be careful while frying boondis, if your boondis are becoming vertical instead of round it means your batter is thick, add some water to it.
- If your boondis are becoming flat it means that your batter is too thin, add some more chickpea flour to set the right consistency.
- Please note that, if you are unable to bind the laddoos may be because of over frying of boondis they may become crisp or any other reason too, add 2-3 tsp of tagar/powdered sugar/ bura chini to the mix. It will help in binding the laddoos.
Recommended Products
I recommend products that will help you make the recipe in the best way possible.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
15Amount Per Serving: Calories: 220
Step by step Boondi laddoo recipe with photos
Ingredients for Boondi Laddu
For Boondi:
- Besan/ Chickpea Flour – 2 bowls
- Water 1.5 bowl
- Yellow, red and green food colour (optional)
- Ghee – For frying 1/2kg
- Finely chopped nuts of your choice (Almond, Cashew and Pistachio)
- Silver foil
For Sugar Syrup:
- Sugar – 1 ¼ bowl
- Water – ½ bowl
- Saffron Strands – 5 -6
- Cardamom Powder – ½ tsp
Instructions for making boondi laddoo recipe
- Mix water and besan to get a uniform soft batter
2. Heat ½ kg ghee in a kadai for frying boondi. Take half ladle of batter and pour it on a steel skimmer placed above the heated ghee. Drop boondis in the heated ghee with the help of a steel skimmer. Tap a little if required.
- Fry the boondis for a maximum of 15-20 seconds otherwise they will become crisp and will not bond together to form a shape of laddoo. If they become too crisp, then you can use it for raita.
- Take out the fried boondi it in a steel strainer so that excess ghee could be drained out from it. Fry the entire batter to form boondis.
Making sugar syrup
- Take 1 ¼ bowl of sugar in a pan and add ½ bowl of water to it. Allow the mixture to boil, add a few saffron strands and cardamom powder to the sugar syrup. After sugar gets dissolved, cook it for another 2-3 minutes.
2. Now we’ll color the syrup to get a few colorful boondis in the mix. This step is optional, you can skip it if you want to. Divide the sugar syrup into three parts. Add some green colour to one bowl and some red colour to another bowl and rest to remain as it is. Add some fried boondis in green colour syrup, and 2-3 tsp in red colour syrup. Keep the remaining boondi in the colourless sugar syrup. Mix the boondis properly in their respective bowls and keep it aside with a lid for an hour.
3. After cooling it for about an hour, mix all the plain and colored boondis together, add finely chopped nuts also to the mix now. Grease your hands with ghee and start binding the ladoos, giving them a round shape.
4. You can garnish it with Silver Vark/foil too if you wish. Your tasty Jodhpuri Boondi Laddoos are ready!
I hope you enjoyed reading the Boondi laddu recipe, and make it on 15th August or for any other festival. This one is another addition to my growing list of desserts.
Do check out the some other desserts that I have shared on this blog on the following links
Exams are over! Gonna try these soon!🤩 Fabulously explained!
Let ke know how they turn out for you