My daughter came back from school, looked at these and said “you went to the park without me??”
The visible distress on her face, the sadness in her eyes, the trembling twitch of the nose, the telltale quiver of the lips, the accusation in her tone - all made me smile!
The temperature has been in the 40s all week and it has been raining most days. No one in their senses would venture out to the playground. But such logic does not mean anything to a 6 year old. She saw what she perceived as evidence on the table. She really thought that I had snuck out to the park and made some sand Ladoo without her.
No Siree! these little puppies here are the real McCoys! Not sand, but sand-like rava or semolina Ladoo. These happen to be my husband’s favorite sweet and this is his request for Diwali. My goodness, I have made my son’s favorite, my daughter’s favorite and now my husband’s favorite.
With each treat that I make for Diwali, my self-conferred halo is growing and glowing 
I don’t think I am going to be doing much cooking at all next week!
I have never made rava Ladoo before and this is my first attempt at making these. I had to make a quick call to my mom to get these recipes. She is the rava laddoo queen in the family. Her recipe makes plump, fragrant, melt-in-the-mouth Ladoo studded with crisp cashews and juicy raisins.
Here is her fail-proof method for making these delicious treats.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup rava (semolina)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup ghee (you can use less if you want, it is not critical to the recipe)
- 3 tbsps cashewnuts
- 3 tbsps golden raisins
- 1 tsp powdered cardamom powder
Method:
- Melt the ghee in a saucepan or wok.
- Fry cashew nuts till golden brown and remove with a slotted spoon.
- Fry the raisins in the same ghee and remove with a slotted spoon.
- Fry the rava/semolina gently till golden brown and fragrant. There should be very noticable change in color and aroma when compared with the raw semolina. Set aside.
- Mix the sugar and water in a pan.
- Heat gently to a rolling boil and keep stirring.
Check the sugar syrup for a 1-string consistency. This means that when you lift the spoon from the syrup and feel the syrup coating the back of the spoon, it should be very sticky. Blow on it a bit before you touch it - it will be hot!. Gently pinch and spread apart your forefinger and thumb. The sugar syrup should trail in a single strand between the two fingers. This is known as “one-string” sugar syrup.
- Slowly stir in the the semolina to avoid forming lumps.
- Stir in the cashews, raisins and cardamom powder.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
- When warm enough to handle, squeeze a handful of the mixture between your fingers and palm to form small balls.
Tips: My mixture became a bit powdery and I had to use a few drops of milk to form balls. This is A-OK!
I’m sending these over to lovely Vee of Past, Present and Me for her special edition JFI-Diwali Treats.
