25 Oct 2011

Iniya Deepavali Vazhthukkal with Bhoondhi Laddoo

First of all I wish all my friends, readers and visitors to this page ...

"Iniya Deepavali Vaazhthukkal" - "A Very Happy Deepavali" 


Finally I am home after a 8 day trip to Scotland with my family and friends. We had such a fun time that no one even noticed how fast those 7 days went. We were a gang of 11 along with 5 kids ranging from 4 yrs to 5 months of age.

This post is specially for my two wonderful friends, Karthik and Christy who hosted the trip. They made this trip very special and a memorable one to everyone of us... Thanks guys, U rock..:)


For me it was even more special as my mom who had come from India joined the trip as well. She enjoyed immensely more than me and it was so lovely to see her smiling. My newly wed sister joined the gang along with her hubby. So I had my immediate precious family with me for the entire time..:)


The highlight of the trip was that we got to celebrate 3 birthdays in a row, one after the other. My friend's daughters, Maya and Meera's birthdays were on 20th and 23rd and my daughter's b'day was on 21st. It was so lovely to see the kids enjoy the balloons, party hats, cake and music with such zeal that even we adults got into the party mood.

I really didn't want to come back to reality but you can't escape for a long time, can you?

I didn't want to miss posting something before Deepavali. How can I ? Deepavali , "The Festival of Lights" holds so much meaning for anyone who is from India. That doesn't mean the festival must not be celebrated by others, everyone is welcome to join the celebration.


The festival reminds so much of our childhood days - the early morning oil bath, wearing new clothes, doing poojai for the deities, bursting crackers and gobbling on all the sweets and savouries. Now times have changed and more than half the celebration day is occupied by television ...:)

I am thinking of my childhood days and how it will sound on the day before Deepavali, ear drums will be constantly bombarded with the sound of crackers but today, here in the UK, I am surrounded by a calm silence of dawn. Not that I don't enjoy silent mornings but today I yearn to be disturbed by bursting cracker sounds .... sometimes the most simplest of things reminds so much of home ..:)


So to fill my "missing home mood", here comes this sweet treat for this festival...

Bhoondhi laddoo is a very simple sweet. All you need is a little patience to make them. During my last visit to India, one of my aunts mentioned that adding rice flour to the kadalai maavu makes the boondhi hold its shape more firmly.

This is my second attempt to make them , so you see some imperfections in the laddoos as the boondhis are of various sizes.


Utensils required:
Bhoondhi karandi or laddle : 1
Heavy bottomed wide mouthed vessel [preferably stainless steel without copper bottom] : 2
Large stainless steel vessel [to collect the bhoondhis]: 1
Small laddle [to pour the liquid mix on to the bhoondhi karandi]: 1
Large laddle [to collect the fried bhoondhis from the oil]: 1
Kitchen towel/tissue: 1 roll.
Small plate / laddle / tablespoon : 1 each [optional and additional].

For the bhoondhi:
Kadalai maavu [besan flour]: 2 cups
Rice flour: 2 tbsp.
Cardamon powder: 1 large pinch.
Bicarbonate of soda: 1 large pinch.
Ghee: 2 tbsp.
Salt: 1 pinch.
Whole milk: 1 cup.
Water: 1 cup.
Oil: 1 litre or more [enough to fry the bhoondhis]


1.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed - wide mouthed vessel.
2.Mix all the above ingredients except the milk and water.
3.First add the milk and mix well. Next add the water little by little until you get "drip consistency" [see notes].
4. Check wether the oil is hot enough [see notes].
5.Hold the boondhi karandi right above the oil with your left hand. With your right hand pour a small ladle of the above mixture on the bhoondhi karandi.
6. Gently tap the bhoondhi karandi with the smaller laddle which is in your right hand, all the time moving you left hand in a circular motion over the oil [see notes].
7.Scoop the fried bhoondhis with another clean laddle and collect in a vessel lined with kitchen towel. 
8.Continue the process until all the maavu is used up.


For the syrup:
Caster sugar: 2 cups.
Water: 1- 1/2 cups.
Milk: 2 tbsp.
Pachai karpooram [optional]: 1 small pinch.
Food colour [optional]: 1 large pinch

1.Place a heavy bottom wide mouthed vessel on medium flame and add the sugar and water.
2.Stir gently until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk. You will see the scum and dirt  [if any] float on top of the sugar mix.
3.Remove this with a spoon and continue to simmer the sugar syrup until thick and sticky.
4.Add the pachai karpooram and food colour. Mix well. Remove from flame and keep warm.


For assembling the laddoos:
Cashews / raisins / pistachios:each 2 tbsp.
Ghee: 2 tbsp.

1.Fry the cashews, raisins and pistachios in ghee, add to the fried bhoondhis and mix well.
2.Pour 2-3 ladles of the sugar syrup to the bhoondhis and mix gently until all the bhoondhis are coated with sugar syrup. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
3.Again pour 2-3 ladles of the syrup and mix gently. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
4.Check the bhoondhis, they should be soft. When you press the bhoondhis in-between your finger tips, a little syrup should come from the bhoondhis but they should hold their shape and not disintergrate. This is the right consistency.
5.If they are a little dry , add 1-2 laddles of syrup and wait for 5 minutes. Test the bhoondhis as above.
6.If the consistency is right, proceed to make laddoos.
7.Take a small amount of the sugar soaked bhoondhis in your hand and make keep rolling to form a soft round ball.
8.Place all the laddoos in large tray and keep the tray in a airy place for a couple of hours.


Once the laddoos have dried and firmed up, store in air tight containers. This tastes best when eaten within a couple of days but you can store the laddoos in the refrigerator for longer.

Notes: Be very careful when adding the syrup. It is always better to add small amounts slowly and check for the right consistency. If you have some syrup left over, store it in air tight container. You can use the same syrup for preparing jeera poori, badhushas etc. Just reheat the syrup gently and use as given in the recipe.

"Drip Consistency" - pour some of the liquid mix on the bhoondhi karandhi, if the mix drips freely in the form of tiny droplets when you tap, then the consistency is right. If too thick, add a little water and check consistency. If too watery and thin, add 2-3 tbsp of kadalai maavu [besan flour].

"Temperature of Oil": Drop a tiny droplet of the mix into the oil. If it comes to the surface immediately without becoming too dark, then the temperature is right. If the droplet stays at the bottom of the oil, then the oil is low in temperature. If the droplet becomes too dark quickly, then the oil is very hot. Reduce the flame for some time. Check the temperature before frying the bhoondhis.


"Circular motion for frying bhoondhis": Move the bhoondhi karandhi over the oil in a circular motion as you would when making a dosa - smooth circular motion. This helps the bhoondhis to fall all over the oil and fry evenly and quickly. Other wise they will fall in the same place and clump together.

You can add melon seeds to the laddoo at the end stage of assembling them. Do not fry the seeds. I have used bhoondhi karandi with large perforations. To make motichoor use laddle with very tiny perforations. You can decorate the laddoos with edible silver or gold paper to give a rich royal feel to the sweet treats...:)

A gentle reminder to all  - please kindly link all your entries for "CWS- Rice" by October 31. It can be anything from sweets/desserts/fried snacks/mains etc....

Sending this to:

Cooking Concept : Festive Food by Sravani.


Serve it : Festive Potluck by Denny and Krithi


Diwali Sweet Recipes by Sameena


Only-Sweets and Desserts by  Pari    guest hosted by Gayathri


My Diwali-My Way by Khushi



Diwali-Festival of Lights by Anu



Enjoy....


Scribbled by Reva





42 comments:

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Ladoos look stupendously delightful and mouthwatering.
A Very Happy Diwali to you and your dear ones.

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Unknown said...

Ladoos simply looks divine, very beautifully presented...

Happy Diwali to you!

Muskaan

Padhu Sankar said...

Laddus look fabulous .Happy Diwali to u and ur family

Lifewithspices said...

Awesome no words to these perfectly made ladoos.. Happy Diwali ..

Lavanya Selvaraj said...

Looks absolutely delicious.
What a coincidence... I just posted a boondhi ladoo recipe and here I am seeing another wonderful recipe from you... Wonderful clicks....
Wishing you and your family a very happy diwali..

-Lavanya
My Recent Post: Boondhi Ladoo

My Recent Post: Kaara Boondhi

Soundspicy said...

Ladoos looks awesome..Happy Diwali..

Unknown said...

Wow awesome presentation and yummy looking ladoos....perfect

MyKitchen Flavors-BonAppetit!. said...

Laddu luks yum yum and vibrantly delicious.Nice to hear that U have one more Christy there as friend.
Dear Blogger Friend,Wish U a Warm and Happy Diwali.Enjoy the Festivities with taste-filled delights,Safe and Delicious Moments - Regards, Christy Gerald

Sumee said...

Boondi Ladoo is my altime fav, though have never tried it myself to create.. Lovely family picture of urs. Happy Diwali!

LaMagicaZucca said...

Nice recipe!!

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

awesome clicks Reva. great that you all are having fun together.wish you a very happy diwali.

Suja Manoj said...

Looks awesome..makes me drool
Happy Diwali!

Sangeetha M said...

awesome reva...looks so perfect n delicious...wonderful presentation...wish you a very happy diwali !!!

Asiya Omar said...

HAPPY DIWALI..SUPER LADOO.

Panchamrutham said...

Perfectly tempting laddus n a beautiful treats for the eyes....Happy Diwali to u n family

http://www.panchamrutham.blogspot.com/

Santosh Bangar said...

delightful ladoos
happy diwali to u

Unknown said...

Awesome laddus and colourful presentation. Happy Diwali to you and your family.

Cheers,
Uma

Neha said...

A very happy diwali to and your family dear...Ladoos looks superb...Want to gobble a few...

Nalini's Kitchen said...

Ladoo looks delicious,Wish u and ur family a happy and joyful Diwali.

Kalyani said...

wow looks delicious and yummy laddos....

Gayathri Kumar said...

Happy Diwali Reva. Laddus are awesome and thanks for sending..

zareena.b said...

Mind blowing pics dear. Amazing colour of laddoos. I loved the cute flowers in between. BTW a very happy Diwali.

Urmi said...

Wish you and your family a very happy and prosperous Diwali.
Laddoos looks fabulous, yummy and tempting.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

lovely boondis! Happy Diwali!

Unknown said...

Wishing you and your family to Very Happy Diwali. Very lovely presentation.

Swathi said...

Laddu looks delicious, glad to hear that you had fun visiting Scotland. Wishing you and family a happy and prosperous Diwali.

Prathibha Sreejith said...

Ladoo luks fab and lovely presentation. Wish I could pick and gobble one :) Wish you and family a very Happy Diwali...

Niru said...

ohh boy!!!! wat a laddo...jus simply love it..looks awesome..

Amila said...

yummy!!
& Wish you a Happy Diwali!!!!

Cham said...

Ladoos are looking gorgeous & super moist. Happy Deepavali to u and ur family!

Tina said...

beautiful and perfect ladoo...lovely clicks and presentation..

Suchitra Vaidyaram said...

Hey reva, hope you had a great diwali and the ladoos rock! pics are so goooooooood!

Priya Suresh said...

Woww seems u had a great time Reva, am jealous dear, laddoos looks fantastic and cute.

abraham said...

delicious! delicious! delicious! regards Susan Team - Chackos Kitchen

aipi said...

They look more than perfect ~ round n moist n super scrummy! Great work my dear!
USMasala

Priya dharshini said...

U deserve such escapes...Luv the ladoos with floral notice...Hope u had wonderful diwali with ur family..

chitraj.hegde said...

wow......i wish i could grab that plate..its looking so so yummyyy...My fav sweet..I tried once could not make it...but i need to try once again now..book marked....Happy Diwali....

Mahi said...

Hi Reva,superb laddoos! Got too tempted and tried making them for the 1st time. Came out very well!

Thanks for the motivation! ;) Hope you had a nice Diwali too!

Hema said...

wow... beautiful pics and delicious looking laddooos..

This is my first visit to your space Reva and I absolutely love it.. Your photography is superb :)

Anonymous said...

hi

your ladoo look so inviting, my 2 yrs son love motichoor ladoo, i have been tying to make this with my ordinary laddle which we use for taking out fried item.

I wanted to ask you that, what stage the sugar syrup must be? and do we have to take boondi from oil half done or crisp, pls reply

Reva said...

Hello Anonymous - Sorry I don't know your name.

Usually the sugar syrup is boiled until it attains "one string" consistency - that is when you touch the syrup with your index finger and press against your thumb and seperate the two fingers, you will see a string being formed.

For this recipe I made the syrup sticky and thick - simmering the syrup for 10 minutes or so. You can have the syrup just thick or boil it to one string consistency.


For the bhoondhi - Once they fall into the oil they would pop up and sizzles for a couple of seconds. Remove them once the sizzling subsides. Even if they are a little crisp, it doesn't matter. The important thing is the temperature of the oil should be right. If it is too hot , then the bhoondhis will become dark brown and will not taste good. If it is cold, then the bhoondhis will not fry quickly.They will soak up a lot of oil and will be soggy.

Enjoy making laddoos.. Do let me know how they turned out....:))

It will be very nice to know your name..

Reva

Anonymous said...

Hi reva,

thanks a lot for your immediate reply, I tried it today but result was not so happy, i think the boondi didn't soak up the sugar syrup all the way. Anyway i will try again let u know. My name is bindu from sydney, basically from bangalore.

thanks once again

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