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Laddu or laddoo are sphere-shaped sweets originated in the Indian subcontinent and Nepal. Laddus are made of flour, ghee/butter/oil and sugar, with other ingredients that vary by recipe, like chopped nuts or dried raisins. They are often served at festive or religious occasions.

Common flours used for laddu include gram flour (chickpea flour), wheat semolina and ground coconut. These are combined with sugar and other flavourings, cooked in ghee and moulded into a ball shape.

Some laddu recipes are prepared using Ayurvedic medicinal ingredients, including methi laddu, multigrain and resin laddu. Nuts such as pistachios and almonds are commonly stuffed into laddus.

Besan laddu is a popular Indian sweet dish made of chickpea flour (also known as besan or gram flour), sugar and ghee. Besan is roasted in ghee till golden brown appearance with nutty fragrance. Then sugar is added to it. Pistachio pieces are also mixed in this mixture optionally. Sweet balls are then made from this mixture. It has a long shelf life. It is often served at festivals, family events and religious occasions in India.

Laddu is often prepared for festivals or family events such as weddings and births, or given as a prasadam (religious offering of food) at Hindu temples, especially at Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, it is famous with the name Tirupati Laddu. Laddu is considered a traditional Eid dessert in some Muslim communities.

In Maharashtrian cuisine, there are traditional recipes for laddu intended as travel provisions.

Besan Laddoo is my husband's favourite Indian sweet. I prepared it firstly to give him a surprise on his birthday and he was so happy on seeing his favourite besan laddoos. He liked both the surprise and the besan laddoo. And he told me that he wanted to have them since long but he could not found it here. I was so happy on seeing him happy.

Since then we used to make besan laddoos at home.

Ingredients

Preparation

• Melt ghee in a non-stick kadai or a wok. Now add the gram flour (besan) into it. Roast the gram flour (besan) on a low-medium flame for 10 - 12 minutes till it starts giving a sweet aroma. The color of the besan will also change to light golden brown.

• Keep on stirring continuously from the beginning so that the besan will not burn and it gets even brown colour.

• Once the besan (gram flour) gets roasted, switch off the flame and allow it to cool down a bit. It takes  around 5-6 minutes.

• After 5-6 minutes, the besan would cool down a bit, but remember you still want it to be warm and it should not be hot.

• Now add powdered sugar, coarsely powdered almonds and green cardamom powder and mix well by rubbing it with your open palm against the base of the bowl. Rub till it gets a crumbly texture.

• Take a small portion of the laddoo mixture in your palm and press it with your fingers to make a round laddoo or a round ball.

• Repeat this same process with the remaining gram flour (besan) mixture and make 15 laddoos out of it. Note to use the entire mixture to form ladoos while the mixture is still warm.

• You may garnish the besan laddoos with almonds or pistachio slivers.

• Delicious besan laddoos are ready to serve.

• You may store these yummy laddoos for almost 4-6 weeks in an air tight jar and can enjoy for long time.