Diwali Is Approaching

Next saturday is Diwali, but there are no signs of it. There are no advertisements with  Sneha dancing inside  Saravana Stores (as rightly called ‘Indian Walmart’ by vinod ) .There is no shopping list in my hand bag to keep me wander in the busy streets of Ranganathan street. There are no  kids in my street  bursting crackers. There are no film previews about the Diwali releases.

Still, there are ways to encourage our kids to  anticipate the upcoming festival. I thot of  making a homemade sweet my daughter  likes the most. Though , I learnt it at late from my friend, I  was confident to try myself and it turned  out a real success. Here is the recipe.

 To make  20 medium sized laddus:

Ingredients:

Sugar – 1 and 1/2  cups

water- 1 and 1/2 cups

Gram flour- approx 2 cups

rice flour- 2 tsps

Orange food color- a pinch

warm milk- 1 tsp

saffron – 2 pinch

cardomom- 7-8 nos

cloves- 3 nos

Nutmeg- 1/8 th the ball

Edible camphor/ pacha karpooram- 3 pinches

Cashews & Raisins – to taste

How to make laddu:

Sieve the gram flour .

Mix the saffron in the warm milk.

Boil the sugar and water in a non stick   pan. Bring it to 1 string consistency.

Add food color and the saffron.

Heat good amount oil in a kadai.

Mix the gram flour and rice flour with water without any crumbles. The consistency should be like that of  a bajji mix. When the oil is real hot, pour the mix via a laddu laddle and take it when it is cooked 3/4th. Damp out the extra oil  with a paper  towel and soak it in the sugar syrup. Continue this without break until all the syrup is absorped well. Note: It is important that the mix to be in correct consistency. If it is watery, it will get burnt , else if it is too thick , the boondis will not have a round shape.

Let the boondis get soaked for 1-2 hours.

Powder cardomom, nutmeg, cloves and  camphor in a coffee grinder. Now add this to the boondis and run them in a food processor/ wet grinder coarsely for few seconds.

Roast the raisins and cashews in ghee and add to boondi mix.

Make balls of uniform size and enjoy eating

Laddu

Wish you all a happy diwali!

Food for thot: ‘Diwali in Sivakasi’ – A poem by Srinivasan.

As suggested by Indira, I am happy to submit this entry for JFI.

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20 thoughts on “Diwali Is Approaching”

  1. Indira says:

    Hi Lakhsmi Ammal,

    Laddus look delicious. So colorful and so festive, perfect sweet for Diwali and for Jihva ~ Diwali treats edition.

    You have mentioned pachha kurpuram(edible camphor) in your recipe in ingredients list. Where did you buy it? Did you bring it from India or did you buy here in Indian grocery shops. I’ve been searching for it here to buy but in vain. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

  2. Nandita says:

    Hi Lakshmi,
    Landed here from your comment on Sailu’s blog…My first time here, another yummy foodblog to add to my ever growing list…
    Laddu nalla irukku – you’ve put in a lot of effort…
    Wishing you a happy festive season.
    Warm regards
    N

  3. lakshmiammal says:

    Hi Indira,
    Iam happy to get an appreciation from the legend like you. A friend of mine got the pachakarpooram from India. But I believe that it is available in Devon street ,here in Chicago.Thanks again.

  4. Vee says:

    Looks good, Lakshmi Ammal.
    Thank you for participating.

  5. lakshmiammal says:

    Hi Nandita and Vee,
    Thanks for the good words !

  6. Subha says:

    Ladoos are mouth watering. I was really looking for step by step instructions and in time you have posted the same. I will try this for diwali. Thank you for the great recipe.

  7. Priya S&S says:

    Hi Lakshmi,

    This is my first visit to your blog and what a sweet treat !!

    Amma makes ladoos just like this with Pacha Karpooram. But nutemg and cloves sounds interesting !!

  8. Latha says:

    Hi Lakshmi Ammal,

    Tracked my way back here from my referrals. Laddoo looks yummy!
    I read all your posts! Its amazing how little things our kids do make us feel proud! I have a 4.5 year old and a 2.5 year old. Any little thing they do makes me feel so proud and i try to store all their crazy but cute artwork!
    And you are such a sweet friend. Very nice of you to make your friend that yummy lookign pizza!
    Cheers
    Latha

  9. MenuToday says:

    Hi Lakshmi Ammal,
    Unga Laddu romba nalla vanthurukku. Happy Diwali.

  10. lakshmiammal says:

    Thank you,Subha, kindly let me know if you try them.

    Hi Priya,
    Nutmeg and cloves give a spicy kick to the ladoos.Thanks for stopping by.

    Hi Latha,
    Ya,you are true.Kids rule the house.My girl was so happy to see the post in my blog and her smile was so rewarding to me than anything else.Thanks for the appreciation.

    Hi Menutoday,
    Iam feel so good to be in this blogging world.It gives me an identity and great friends like you. Thank you

  11. Saffron Hut says:

    Hi LA,

    First time on your blog today. Looks very nice! I like your choice to template. The laddoos look very yummy! I’ve always been scared to try and make boondi laddoo. I can get to making the boondis and then end up eating them plain 🙂

    cheers!

  12. lakshmiammal says:

    Hi Latha,
    Taking the boondis before they get crispy is the key there.Of course, we learn from our mistakes. Practice makes perfection.Thanks for stopping by.

  13. Vee says:

    Lakshmi,

    Mail the link and your photograph to me , so that I can include this in the round up

  14. Vee says:

    By your photograph, I mean , photograpn of your recipe 🙂

  15. lakshmiammal says:

    Hi Vee,
    I have sent the picture in mail. Hope you received it.

  16. rp says:

    Coming from vee’s roundup page.
    I love these laddus, but have attempted only once. It was too difficult and I made a big mess making boondis. I would love to try it again. 🙂

  17. Ayesha says:

    hi

    I tried to make the boondis but got stuck at the park of making them into balls with laddle. it all drops into the oil together as lumps. Have had no luck. Please advise me.

  18. lakshmiammal says:

    Hi Ayesha,
    I guess your oil was not hot enough.It also depends on the consistency of the batter. It takes few trials to catch on the correct consistency. Good luck to you.

  19. prem says:

    I guess your oil was not hot enough.It also depends on the consistency of the batter. It takes few trials to catch on the correct consistency. Good luck to you.

  20. Rama says:

    The laddu looks so so tempting. And, grinding the soaked boondis, something interesting and have seen in many Andhra people’s laddus, some binding mixture whereas in Tamil nadu, it will be just like boondis. Could be your trick, will try and let you know..

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