Boondi Laddu தை திருநாள் வாழ்த்துக்கள்

Boondi ladoo

Wish my dear Readers a Very Happy Pongal…May this Tamil New Year (Thai) brings you good health,wealth and luck. Last year I posted Adhirasam, Chola Paniyaram, Thinai Ladoo, Ragi Sevai and Pulisadham/Tamarind Rice from palaiya (leftover) rice during that special new year month. This Year /Today I will prepare Sarkarai pongal and Venn pongal with some vadas, this is my plan. I post those later but I specially prepared this South Indian popular sweet boondi ladoo last week to publish as special post for this Pongal festival, You may wonder how special it is, I am sharing few of my hometown (Village) pictures here with it 🙂 Yields – 20-22 Ladoos

Main Ingredients
Gram Flour/Kadala Maavu/Besan Flour – 2 Cups
Water – 1 Cup + 1-2 Tbsp
Oil – To Fry
Sugar – 2 Cups (To make Syrup, also refer Note)
Cardamom Powder – 2tsp

Fry Separately and add it to the boondi at last
Whole Cloves – 1/2 Tbsp
Broken Cashews – 1 and 1/2 Tbsp
Raisins – 1 Tbsp

Other Ingredients
Kalkandu/Rock Candy – 1 Tbsp
Edible Camphor – Pinch

Method

• Picture 3 below shows the ladle I used to make this boondi .
• Mix 1 cup of water to the flour, leave it aside for 5 mins (by this time it may have few lumps, nothing to worry).
• Meanwhile heat enough oil in the pan/kadai.
• Later mix the batter well with another couple of tbsps of water and make lump free batter and check the consistency as shown in picture 1.
• When you drop a spoonful of batter, it forms a mark and then slowly disappears/merges with remaining batter.
• Also the oil should be very hot and check it by adding a drop of batter, it should pop up immediately.
• Try to keep the hole/boondi ladle as high as possible over hot oil (Pic 2) and add the batter, tap soon the batter with the spatula you use (Pic 3).
• It should flow when you tap it, check tips section for more useful information.
• Don’t over load the pan, for this boondi, the boondi should pop and cook that’s it, don’t wait to turn golden brown or crisp, note this.
• Drain the excess oil using paper towel.
• Before starting the next batch wipe the front and back with damp cloth and repeat the above process till done with all gram flour batter.
• Once done with all the gram flour batter, fry cloves, raisins and cashew in the same oil and drain the excess oil. (You can separately fry in ghee too)

• Take 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water, boil in medium flame till all the sugar dissolves and changes color/clear syrup.
• Add cardamom powder, I usually grind it with sugar and also with it skin (Pic 4).
• When the sugar gets thick, say approx 8 minutes after it dissolved well in medium flame, check the consistency by taking a drop between your thumb and next finger (Pic 5).
• Slowly try to expand it should at least cross 1/2 string and up to 1 string (Pic 5).
• Now remove the syrup from flame, reserve 1/3 cup and add the boondi to this hot syrup.
• Leave it aside for 1 hour by covering the top and with on/off stirring for every 15 minutes once.
• During each stir if the boondis (Pic 6) need some syrup you can add tbsp of reserved syrup by this time.
• Also after an hour if you have too much syrup, filter it, add the fried cloves and other stuffs, pinch of edible camphor, kalkandu (Pic 7).
• Mix all evenly and press the mixture well with your fist to hold round balls (Pic 8).
• Repeat the same till you finish with all boondis and this can be in room temperature for almost a month, if handled properly.

1. The sugar in this ladoos are moderate, you can increase another 1/2 cup sugar if you wish.
2. You can add orange/red food color if you like in the batter.
3. Grind few syrup soaked boondis and mix together to make easy laddu/balls.

As Paddy is the most common cultivating crop in our place, sharing few pictures from our land…