I always thought making boondi laddu was like moving a mountain but one of my relatives made it sound so very easy. She said it would take just 2 cups of besan, sugar, and water each!! It sounded very easy, so we gave it a try!!
Ingredients
2 cups Besan (Gram flour)
2 cups sugar
4 cups water
1 tbsp cardamom
2 tbsp cashew nuts
2 tbsp raisins
a pinch of cooking camphor
2 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter)
oil for deep frying
Preparation
Sift the flour and add 2 cups of water to it. The batter should be of dosa batter consistency (not too watery).
Simultaneously, prepare the sugar syrup by adding 2 cups of water to 2 cups of sugar. On medium heat prepare sugar syrup. The syrup's consistency should be of a honey-like thickness (Single-string consistency).
In a pan heat ghee and fry the cashew nuts and raisins till golden brown. Add crushed cardamom powder and cooking camphor (mesmerizing aroma spreads throughout your house). Cover the syrup with a lid so that it does not crystallize.
In a deep-bottomed pan heat oil. The oil should be hot enough. When you drop a small drop of batter in the oil, it should immediately bubble up. The oil temperature is the most important aspect of making perfect boondis. If the temperature of the oil reduces the boondis will stick together. The boondis should cook and come up separately.
Hold the steel skimming ladle like the one shown below above the hot oil and pour a small amount of batter into it. Drops of batter fall into the oil and bubble up. Remove the boondis after 5-10 seconds and place them on a paper towel. To see if the boondis are perfectly cooked for laddus, press one boondi between your fingers. It should get squeezed in, instead of cracking and breaking into pieces. Transfer the boondis to the syrup while you are preparing the other lot of boondis. Yes, you will need some helping hands!!
The Boondis should completely take up the syrup. This is when you can start preparing laddus. Hold some boondis tightly in your hands and make a tight fist so the boondis can hold together. It surely needs practice :)
I truly enjoyed the whole episode and the best part was tasting your homemade laddus!!