Boondhi Laddu Recipe

     Boondhi laddu is one of the sweets that we usually make with ease for Diwali. I had been looking forward to try this sweet on my own. Had taken the final pics one day and the step wise pics the other time, as making the sweet + taking the pics makes it very tiresome !!! Apart from shaping the sweetened boondhis as laddus, we also have a practice of filling them in metallic cones which is traditionally called Parupu Thengai, finding its place in TamBrahm marriages and other auspicious functions. Though the Paruppu thengai is popular with sweet boondhi, it can also be made with many other fillings like, sweetened cashews, jaggery coated groundnuts, manoharam (jaggery coated thenkuzhal) etc.

     My mom is an expert in making laddus. She made big laddus in 3 batces for my engagement :) (I helped her a little in holding the laddle firmly, measuring the raw materials etc :P and then gobbling 2 or 3 laddus at every stage in return for my help !!)

     Also one special mention about these laddus is that they are adorning my blog as the 50th post in the completion of a 6 month old blogging journey !!! 

Prep Time: 20 mins || Cook Time: 50 mins + 20 mins for shaping laddus || Yields: 35 to 40 laddus || Category: Sweet

Ingredients:

1. Gram flour (Besan flour) - 3 cups

2. Sugar - 3 cups

3. Cooking soda (Sodium Bi-carbonate) - a pinch

4. Salt - a pinch

5. Food colour (red) - a pinch

6. Oil - as required to fry

7. Ghee - 4tbsp

8. Cardamom powder - 2 tsp

9. Sugar candy (diamond kalkandu) - 3 tbsp

10. Cashews - 10 to 15

11. Cloves - 8 to 10

Method:

1. Measure equal parts of besan flour and sugar separately and keep aside. For sugar syrup, dissolve the measured sugar in water (just needed for immersing the sugar in) and then switch on the stove. 

Add a pinch of sodium bi carbonate and a pinch of salt to the measured besan flour and mix well. Slowly add water and make a batter of slightly thick consistency. 

 2. Allow the sugar syrup to boil and reach a single string consistency. Switch off the flame. After 2-3 mins, add food colour and mix well. (I added a few drops of water to a pinch of food colour and mixed well and then transferred it slowly to the sugar syrup with constant stirring). Parallely heat required amount of oil in a kadai for making boondhi.

 3. Check the hotness of oil by dropping a little amount of the batter. If the batter rises and comes to the surface, the hotness of the oil is sufficient. Take a boondhi laddle and pour some batter on it and spread with a laddle quickly. Once the boondhis have occupied the space in the kadai, stop spreading with the laddle and clear the batter from the boondhi laddle into the batter container.

 4. Stir and turn the boondhis to their other side, to ensure uniform heat during the cooking process. After 2-3 mins, take the boondhi using a perforated laddle and transfer to the hot sugar syrup.

 5. Repeat the above process until all the batter is over. Finally, fry the cashews in ghee, cloves in oil (the cloves will splutter, so make sure to stand away from the hot oil) and add to the boonhis added to the sugar syrup. Also add cardamom powder and sugar candy and hot ghee and mix well. When it is warm enough to handle, make small rounds and set them aside for cooling.

Suggestions:

•  If the batter is made to rest for a while, it slightly ferments. So, the batter for boondhi,  sugar syrup should be made parallely. As the sugar syrup gets done, say about 75% done, oil should be heated parallely for frying the boondhis. 
• While making the sugar syrup, do not switch on the flame, until all the sugar has dissolved completely in normal water. If the sugar solution is heated, even before the sugar dissolves, it will lead to a brown syrup with caramelised sugar.
• After adding the fried boondhis to the sugar syrup, if the stickiness of sugar is found to be less, then heat ghee and add to the boondhi in syrup which will make the sugar syrup become loose in the hotness of the ghee.
• Also, boondhis can be added from hot oil directly into the sugar syrup, which will retain the sticky nature of the sugar syrup making it easy to shape them into laddus.

Yummy home-made boondhi laddus are ready !! They stay good for 8-10 days unrefrigerated.

Badhusha Recipe

     I have not been a very big fan of Badhusha from anytime back. It is just that I get curious about its name everytime :P After coming to USA, deprived of good readymade sweets and savouries from sweet shops, I started to try each sweet and so I landed in here, with the making of Badhusha. The toughest part is standing patiently near hot oil, gazing dreamily at the badhushas to get ready soon, while they have just started to cook :P 

Prep Time: 15 mins || Cook Time: 35 mins || Yields: 12 || Category: Sweet

Ingredients:

1. Maida - 1 & 3/4 cups
2. Cooking oil - sufficient to fry
3. Melted butter - 1/4 cup + 2tbsp
4. Salt - a pinch
5. Curd - 1 tbsp
6. Sodium bi-carbonate (cooking soda) - 1 tsp
7. Sugar - 2 cups
8. Cardamom powder - 2 tsp
9. Saffron - few strands (optional)
10. Water - as required
11. Lemon - 1

Method:
1. Mix melted butter, 1 tbsp of cooking oil, cookign soda, curd, a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp of sugar (if desired) into a smooth paste.

2. To this add maida and mix to form a crumbly mixture initially and then add water little by little to knead into a smooth non sitcky dough.

3. Divide the dough into equal sized rounds and shape them into traditional badhushas or the ones with swirls. For the normal badhushas, take a round and press it gently and make a dent in the center. For the swirl rimmed badhushas, press the round gently, pull the rim outwards, pinching it slightly fold it inwards and repeat the process till the entire rim has been made.

4. For making sugar syrup, in a container add sugar and pour water just sufficient to immerse it and keep stirring in medium flame. When bubbles arise and the syrup thickens, check for one string consistency (the syrup when taken in between two fingers should leave a fine string which should last without getting cut). At this stage, add cardamom powder, saffron and switch off the flame. Add lemon juice and stir well to avoid crystallization of the syrup.

5. Meantime heat oil and test the hotness by dropping a pinch of the dough, which should immediately rise above. At this stage, swtich off the flame and add the badushas one by one with enough distance between them. Let them get cooked for a min. Then flip the badushas and continue cooking until the bubbles and the noise subside.

6. Switch on the flame (after the bubbles and noise subside) keeping it in medium, cook all the badushas with intermediate stirring and flipping to ensure uniform light brown colour and drain them in a tissue.

7. Transfer the badushas to the sugar syrup. If the syrup is cool, just warm it up a little so that the syrup will be absorbed into the badushas well. Rest for about 10-15 mins so that the sugar syrup gets thickened on the badhushas.

Suggestions:

• Can also add a cashew/badam or any nut into the dough balls before shaping them.
• If desired, can add rose essence or any fruit essence for flavour.
• Adding saffron is optional.
• It is better to cook the badhushas soon after they are shaped. Other wise they get dry and form cracks.
• If there are many cracks in the shaped badhusha, they might tend to break when frying in oil.
• In the swirl shaped badhushas, the outer rim will be slightly crisp and the inner part will be soft, unlike the normal badhusha which will be soft throughout.
• Tastes soft and yummy after a day, absorbing all the flavours. 
• Need not refrigerate.