Rava Ladoo (Indian Semolina Dessert Balls)

RAVA LADOO – a popular Indian sweet/dessert ball, delicious, slightly crunchy and easy to make in a jiffy with just semolina, sugar and ghee.

We Indians love our sweets and desserts and any occasion or religious function/event warrants some kind of homemade or store bought sweet or dessert to celebrate with family and friends.

It could be juicy gulab jamuns, mouthwatering burfis, heavenly payasams/kheers or delight-in-a-bite ladoos.

NOW WHAT ARE LADOOS?

Ladoos/laddus are one of the most popular Indian sweets which we all crave for, especially the traditional varieties! They are small sweet spherical shaped balls made using flour or semolina, peanuts, sesame seeds, puffed rice etc. and a sweetener like sugar and/or jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) along with  ghee/clarified butter.

They are easy to make; just roast the ingredients, mix with sugar/jaggery (or in syrup form) with some aromatic ingredients like cardamom powder and form spherical shapes called ladoos.

They are absolutely delicious, so versatile and have a good shelf life that they are always in demand during festivals, events like weddings and birthday parties and for any special occasion to distribute and enjoy!

RAVA/SEMOLINA LADDOS:

As the name suggests, these are made with semolina/rava/cream of wheat as the main ingredient.

Semolina is roasted in some ghee until aromatic and slightly changes color. This is then cooled a bit and blitzed to a finer powder (or blitzed and then roasted); less coarse than regular semolina. At this stage, you can add a dash of coconut to enhance the flavor and texture.

Sweetener of choice is mostly sugar which is either mixed in powdered form or made into a thick syrup and then mixed into the roasted semolina.

I prefer the easier method; just powder sugar and add to blitzed and roasted semolina (along with coconut if using), add some ghee roasted nuts and raisins and green cardamom powder for flavor and aroma.

Thoroughly mix well adding  more melted ghee as needed and maybe some milk to bind the whole mixture into spherical shapes to form laddus!

Sound easy and looks delicious doesn’t it?

Once made into ladoos, enjoy right away or store in airtight containers for up to 3 days at room temperature or refrigerate to enjoy it for a longer time. If you avoid using milk, it has a better shelf life.

Hope you get to try this soon, and if so, do share your creation on Instagram using hashtag #curryandvanilla16 or on my Facebook page.

Do not forget to rate and comment in the box below; I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy foodies and Happy Cooking!

Here are some more Indian sweets to make for your family:

• Besan Burfi
• Saat –a Mangalorean sweet pastry
• Suji Manpasand – Semolina-Coconut Fudge
• Horlicks Milk Powder Burfi

Step-wise Instructions to make Rava/Semolina Ladoo:

Deseeds 6-8 green cardamoms and discard the skin (you can use it to flavor tea or coffee)

Blend 3/4 cup granulated sugar with cardamom seeds to a fine powder in a blender; transfer this to a large bowl.

Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a deep saucepan and once warm, stir in 2 tbsp cashew nuts. Roast/fry on medium heat, stirring until starting to brown.

Add the 2 tbsp raisins, give it a good stir and remove nuts and raisins using a slotted spoon.

In the same pan, roast 1 cup semolina/rava on medium low heat (adding more ghee if needed), stirring often until it releases a wonderful aroma; about 5 to 7 minutes. Do not let it brown too much; just a dash of change of color.

Cool this a bit and then blitz in a blender to an almost smooth powder; leave it a bit coarse; better texture in the ladoo!

(You can also blitz or powder the rava; if too coarse, and then roast it in ghee too)

Transfer into the bowl with sugar (when warm and not hot) and mix well using your hands.

Heat some ghee (about ¼ cup) and then add a tablespoon at a time to this mixture, mixing well every time. When you gather the mixture, it should hold clump together.

Now, add milk a tablespoon at a time, mix well and make ladoos or small, smooth and tight balls; add more milk as needed. This will need some practice. Try and scrape your palms in between with a butter knife to help in making ladoos.

I used about 3 tablespoons of milk; you may need more or less. Repeat until the mixture is over.

This quantity makes about 12 to 15 ladoos depending upon the size.

Store leftover ladoos in an airtight container; stays good for about a week. To maintain freshness, store in refrigerator.

75th INDEPENDENCE DAY OF INDIA (Updated August 15, 2022):

Wanted to make something special for this and rava ladoo popped up in my mind!

My hubby's favorite too, so had to make it. (He was the first to taste it and his comment was," Better than the one we get from our usual store". That says it all for this delicious sweet for me.

Just a small variation - added 1/2 cup of desiccated unsweetened coconut to it. After roasting the semolina/rava, stir in coconut powder and sauté or fry a couple of more minutes.

Rest of the recipe is the same.

Enjoy foodies and Happy Cooking!

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