CHURMA LADOO
HAPPY GANESH CHATURTHI !!!!! 22nd August 2020
Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayak Chaturthi marks the birth of Lord Ganesha. This auspicious festival is celebrated by installing Lord Ganesha clay idol at homes and in localities. The idol is beautifully decorated with flowers, garlands and the place around it with lights. The festival continues for 10 days. Everyone offers due respect , prayer and prasad to Lord Ganesha and seek his blessing.
It is believed that lord Ganesha is fond of modak and ladoo. Hence it is offered as prasad to Lord on this festive occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
The festival ends on 11 day with immersion of the Ganesha idol in near by lake, river or sea.
Today, I made churma ladoo as prasad to welcome Lord Ganesha at home. Churma ladoo is a famous Rajasthani sweet prepared by grinding and moulding the deep fried whole wheat muthiyas(dumplings) with sugar and nuts.
Why known as Churma Ladoo ?
Churma means crumbled, as in this recipe the deep fried whole wheat dumplings are crumbled to coarse mixture and then mixed with sugar, nuts, raisins, elachi powder before moulding it to ladoo. You can simply eat this churma mixture without moulding it to ladoo as served with Dal-Bati another authentic Rajasthani dish. Hence it gets the name Churma Ladoo.
What makes the ladoo aromatic ?
These ladoos are loaded with ghee, nuts, raisins, elachi powder and kesar. The aroma of ladoo is unforgettable. The ladoo recipe can further be enhanced by adding ajwain, saunth , methi dana powder in winters thus making it a winter special sweet that provides warmth to the body.
Is it easy to make ?
To be honest, the process is tedious but believe me it is all worth your time and effort !!! You will definitely make these delights next time too.
What's the correct combination of flours ? Sugar or jaggery ?
Different types of flours like semolina, besan are used along with wheat flour to make the ladoo. Again some use sugar while others use jaggery to sweeten the ladoo. Its all about what you like , no right or wrong combination !!!
I always have been using sugar, do not add any other flour and the ladoo turn out to be super delicious. Everyone at home gorge these delights right then !!!
So note down the recipe if you too are a LADOO LOVER..
Cuisine : Indian
Course : Dessert
Prep time : 60 minutes
Cooking time : 25 minutes
Serving : 15 in nos.
Ingredients
2 Cups whole wheat flour
4 Tbsp ghee + 1/4 Cup ghee
1/3 Cup water for kneading the dough
1 Cup powdered sugar / Bura shakkar
1/4 Cup chopped nuts and raisins
1 Tsp elachi powder
Few strands of saffron soaked in 2 Tbsp of milk
Instructions
1. Fry the chopped almonds, cashew and raisins in a tbsp of ghee and keep aside. Soak the saffron threads in 2 tbsp of warm milk and keep it aside.
2. Add 4 tbsp of warm ghee in whole wheat flour and mix nicely with your fingers.
3. Knead a tight dough using water and give rest for around 15 minutes. I required around 1/3 cup of water to knead the dough.
4. Knead the dough again for a minute and divide the dough into 7 pieces and shape it in form of muthiyas as shown in picture below.
5. Heat ghee in a pan and deep fry the muthiyas on low - medium heat till they are golden brown. It may take around 10 to 12 minutes for one batch.
6. Let the muthiyas cool down a little and then break them into small pieces with your hand and then let it cool down completely to room temperature.
7. Coarsely grind the muthiya pieces in the grinder and pass it through a sieve.
8. Dry roast this sieved coarse mixture in kadai on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes.
9. Transfer the mixture to a deep bowl and add reaming 1/4 cup of warm ghee, sugar, nuts and raisins, elachi powder and saffron soaked in milk. Mix it nicely and make ladoos.
10. Store the ladoos at room temperature in air tight container up to 4, 5 days.
Stays good in refrigerator for pretty long.
YOU JUST CAN'T HAVE IT ONE............
