Looking for a quick way to wow your guests? Celebrate your delicious style even in a pinch with this quick recipe. A quick fix for your sweet tooth. The water chestnut packs a significant nutritional punch, while the brown sugar provides that smooth, easy flavor that makes laddu so irresistible. Make sure to use fresh ghee to significantly enhance the aroma and flavor. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, each of my laddus contains a different super-ingredient, and this one is chestnut time to shine. Chestnut has a plethora of health benefits, from lowering cardiac risks, significantly improving skin, hair health, with heightened minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients and fiber content to keep you strong physically and mentally. This festive season, enjoy low-carb and low-sugar Indian food without sacrificing genuine Indian taste. Those looking for low-carb, low-sugar recipes will find a haven here. Whether it is Diwali, Navratri, Dasara, Sankranthi or Rakhi, this sensational laddu will impress everyone.
Laddu can be compared to bliss balls, truffles in the western world. To be more precise, no-bake, no chocolate bliss balls or no-bake, no chocolate truffles. Chestnut laddu is all-natural and high-quality dessert you can ever have. It is perishable. Will stay fresh for 3-4 weeks. Freshness can be extended by refrigerating. I am a huge fan of traditional boondi laddus, but not so keen on trying to enjoy them while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Anything deep-fried and then dipped in white sugar syrup is obviously going to be high in calories, none of them doing a whole lot for you. I knew there was a better way, so I started making laddus with healthier ingredients that don’t compromise on taste. In India, chestnuts are called singhada, shingada, or singoda. The chestnut tree is called shaahabaloot in Hindi. Some call chestnuts shaahabaloot ke phal.
If you are concerned about your ravenous sweet tooth and looking for ways to satisfy with healthy low-carb, low sugar diet? Then you are at right place. As an all-natural food blogger, I can help you. Satisfying your sweet tooth with halva made of raw fruits is a great way to keep yourself on clean, healthy low-carb, low-sugar and low-calorie diet. Flour, white sugar in baking goods are #1 culprit of high carbohydrates and calories. Your body will appreciate you keeping yourself away from flour, chemically filled white sugar.
For observant Hindus, this recipe is fully compatible with your Navaratri fast, as it contains no rice, wheat or chickpea flour.
WHAT IS LADDU/LADDOO?
Laddu is ball-shaped sweet, very popular sweet in the India. Laddus are the main attraction in weddings, parties, offered to god on festivals and offered to guests in special occasions. The common variety of laddu is boondi laddu and motichur laddu. They are made of deep-fried batter mixed in sugar syrup then pressed into a ball in hand. Though traditional laddus are made of Bengal gram lentils flour batter, they can be made of a variety of ingredients, flavored with many different spices. Few complimentary condiments added are green cardamom, nuts, raisins, and saffron.
With so much popularity of boondi laddus, they are made and served at every special occasion. They are juicy, and the sweetness melts right in the mouth. I remember in my childhood, for weddings, family members get-together, make huge quantities of laddus. They are offered to guests in every meal. Part of the reason they are offered in every occasion is laddus are economical and perishable. Temperatures in South India can raise up to 115ºf/45ºc in summers. Even in those temperature’s laddus stay fresh for many days. Back in olden days’ where there is no concept of catering food, family members used to a get-together, help each other. They make as many snacks, sweets themselves. For lunch, dinner entrée’s cooks are hired and cooked on site. It needs Bengal gram lentil flour (aka besan cousin of chick-pea), sugar and condiments. Besan is available for a very low price.
Nowadays, boondi laddus are available in all Indian sweet stores in a variety of colors, sizes, and textures. They are available beautifully decorated with cashews, pistachios, saffron etc. Other types of laddu’s are not made for all occasions but made at few occasions. Sesame laddus are made for Sankranthi festival which falls in January. It is believed sesame gives heat to body to cope in winters. So a variety of hots and sweets with sesame became a norm. Other types of laddus we come across are besan laddu (this version is not deep-fried), rava laddu, coconut laddu, cashew laddu, dates and dry fruits laddu.
- 1 cup ground chestnut flour (Singoda flour).
- ¼th tsp - fresh ground cardamom
- ¾ cup - brown sugar or grated jaggery. If using jaggery, use ½ cup only
- ¼ cup or less - fresh ghee. Using homemade ghee gives laddu's a mouth-watering aroma
- Few cashews to garnish
- Roast chestnut flour on medium-low heat until raw smell is gone. Stir occasionally.
- Remove into a mixing bowl. Let it cool.
- Add brown sugar, cardamom. Slowly add room temperature ghee to the roasted mixture. Keep mixing as you add. This ensures just enough ghee needed. Adding more ghee makes mixture slimy. Try forming balls as you add ghee. When you think you can make balls, don't add any more ghee.
- Add cashews to this mixture. Make balls by pressing in your hand and fingers.
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