Rava Ladoo (Suji Ladoo)
Rava Ladoo is an Indian sweet and famous during the festival seasons like Diwali and Ganesh Chaturthi. These melt-in-the-mouth sweet balls are made with only three core ingredients and flavored with cardamom and nuts!
Ingredients
For Roasting The Rava
- 1 cup (190g) fine rava (suji or semolina)
- 1 tablespoon (15g) ghee
For Making The Ladoo
- Roasted rava
- ½ cup (100g) cane or granulated sugar (or add to taste)
- 3 tablespoon (45g) ghee
- 3 tablespoon chopped nuts (I have added almonds and cashews)
- 1 tablespoon golden raisins
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
Instructions
Roasting The Rava
- Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a heavy bottom pan or Kadai. Once the ghee is melted, lower the heat and add rava.
- Mix well, roast the rava until fragrant, change the color, and become lighter. Roasting the rava will take around 10-12 minutes on low heat. The rava should not brown, so ensure to roast the rava on low-medium heat and stir continuously.
- Turn off the heat, transfer the rava to the plate or bowl, and allow it to cool down.
Blending The Rava+Sugar Mixture
- When the rava is cooled down, add sugar to the blender. Grind the sugar into a fine powder.
- To the powdered sugar in the jar, add rava and pulse a few times to blend. The idea is to get a semi-fine or fine texture of the mixture.
- Do not grind the sugar + rava mixture for long; we do not want a floury or powdery texture. Keep the jar aside.
Frying The Nuts and Raisins
- In the same pan or kadai in which you roast the rava, heat 3 tablespoon of ghee on low-medium heat.
- Add chopped almonds and cashews and fry until golden, stirring often. Then add raisins and fry until they plump, stirring often.
- Turn off the heat and transfer the pan to the kitchen counter.
Making The Rava Ladoo
- Immediately add the rava + sugar mixture to the hot ghee in the pan.
- Add ground cardamom and mix everything well using a spoon or spatula. The mixture will be hot at this point, so let it cool down until you can handle it with your hands.
- Shape a small portion of the mixture in your palm into a round ball. If unable to form Ladoos from the mixture, add 1-2 tablespoon of melted or softened ghee, a little at a time, mix, and roll into balls.
- Store the Rava Ladoo in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
- Rava: Use only a fine variety of semolina for this recipe. Also, for the best taste, make sure to use fresh Sooji, and it should not be rancid.
- Roasting The Rava Properly: It is an essential part of the recipe. Rava should be roasted well on low-medium heat to remove the rawness. If you do not roast it long enough, the Ladoo will taste raw and not good for digestion. Also, do not roast Rava on high flame; otherwise, it will burn and become brown. And that will also ruin the taste of Ladoos. So, for roasting the Rava, use a heavy-bottomed pan and stir the Rava continuously. Roast it until the semolina becomes aromatic and lighter, for about 10-12 minutes on low-medium heat.
- Ladoo Texture: When you grind the Rava and sugar into a grinder, you can keep the fine or semi-fine texture depending on how you would like your Ladoo texture. But do not grind it into a fine powder, as these Ladoos should have a lightly crunchy texture.
- Ghee: Ghee provides flavor and helps to bind the Ladoos. I highly recommend not to use less ghee. But if you want to cut on ghee, you can replace some of the ghee with milk. After mixing the Rava mixture with ghee, add 2-3 teaspoon of milk, very little at a time, until you get the right consistency to shape the Rava Ladoos. However, please note the taste will be slightly different, and the shelf life will also be reduced.
- Sugar: I have added ½ cup (100g) of cane sugar, making the Ladoos moderately sweet. But you can add more or less sugar according to your taste preference.
- Shaping The Ladoo: If you are unable to shape the Ladoo, add more melted or softened ghee, a little at a time. You may need to add 1-2 tablespoon ghee. If your Ladoos are flattening from the bottom while shaping them, do not worry. Once the Rava Ladoos are completely cooled down, you can reshape them, and they will be perfectly round in shape.
- Scaling: You can easily scale up the recipe as you require.
Nutrition (Approximate Values)
Calories : 150kcalCarbohydrates : 21gProtein : 2gFat : 7gSaturated Fat : 3gPolyunsaturated Fat : 1gMonounsaturated Fat : 2gCholesterol : 13mgSodium : 0.5mgPotassium : 53mgFiber : 1gSugar : 9gVitamin A : 1IUVitamin C : 0.1mgCalcium : 6mgIron : 1mg
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