Iniya Deepavali Vazhthukkal with Bhoondhi Laddoo

First of all I wish all my friends, readers and visitors to this page ...

"Iniya Deepavali Vaazhthukkal" - "A Very Happy Deepavali" 

Finally I am home after a 8 day trip to Scotland with my family and friends. We had such a fun time that no one even noticed how fast those 7 days went. We were a gang of 11 along with 5 kids ranging from 4 yrs to 5 months of age.

This post is specially for my two wonderful friends, Karthik and Christy who hosted the trip. They made this trip very special and a memorable one to everyone of us... Thanks guys, U rock..:)

For me it was even more special as my mom who had come from India joined the trip as well. She enjoyed immensely more than me and it was so lovely to see her smiling. My newly wed sister joined the gang along with her hubby. So I had my immediate precious family with me for the entire time..:)

The highlight of the trip was that we got to celebrate 3 birthdays in a row, one after the other. My friend's daughters, Maya and Meera's birthdays were on 20th and 23rd and my daughter's b'day was on 21st. It was so lovely to see the kids enjoy the balloons, party hats, cake and music with such zeal that even we adults got into the party mood.

I really didn't want to come back to reality but you can't escape for a long time, can you?

I didn't want to miss posting something before Deepavali. How can I ? Deepavali , "The Festival of Lights" holds so much meaning for anyone who is from India. That doesn't mean the festival must not be celebrated by others, everyone is welcome to join the celebration.

The festival reminds so much of our childhood days - the early morning oil bath, wearing new clothes, doing poojai for the deities, bursting crackers and gobbling on all the sweets and savouries. Now times have changed and more than half the celebration day is occupied by television ...:)

I am thinking of my childhood days and how it will sound on the day before Deepavali, ear drums will be constantly bombarded with the sound of crackers but today, here in the UK, I am surrounded by a calm silence of dawn. Not that I don't enjoy silent mornings but today I yearn to be disturbed by bursting cracker sounds .... sometimes the most simplest of things reminds so much of home ..:)

So to fill my "missing home mood", here comes this sweet treat for this festival...

Bhoondhi laddoo is a very simple sweet. All you need is a little patience to make them. During my last visit to India, one of my aunts mentioned that adding rice flour to the kadalai maavu makes the boondhi hold its shape more firmly.

This is my second attempt to make them , so you see some imperfections in the laddoos as the boondhis are of various sizes.

Utensils required:
Bhoondhi karandi or laddle : 1
Heavy bottomed wide mouthed vessel [preferably stainless steel without copper bottom] : 2
Large stainless steel vessel [to collect the bhoondhis]: 1
Small laddle [to pour the liquid mix on to the bhoondhi karandi]: 1
Large laddle [to collect the fried bhoondhis from the oil]: 1
Kitchen towel/tissue: 1 roll.
Small plate / laddle / tablespoon : 1 each [optional and additional].

For the bhoondhi:
Kadalai maavu [besan flour]: 2 cups
Rice flour: 2 tbsp.
Cardamon powder: 1 large pinch.
Bicarbonate of soda: 1 large pinch.
Ghee: 2 tbsp.
Salt: 1 pinch.
Whole milk: 1 cup.
Water: 1 cup.
Oil: 1 litre or more [enough to fry the bhoondhis]

1.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed - wide mouthed vessel.
2.Mix all the above ingredients except the milk and water.
3.First add the milk and mix well. Next add the water little by little until you get "drip consistency" [see notes].
4. Check wether the oil is hot enough [see notes].
5.Hold the boondhi karandi right above the oil with your left hand. With your right hand pour a small ladle of the above mixture on the bhoondhi karandi.
6. Gently tap the bhoondhi karandi with the smaller laddle which is in your right hand, all the time moving you left hand in a circular motion over the oil [see notes].
7.Scoop the fried bhoondhis with another clean laddle and collect in a vessel lined with kitchen towel. 
8.Continue the process until all the maavu is used up.

For the syrup:
Caster sugar: 2 cups.
Water: 1- 1/2 cups.
Milk: 2 tbsp.
Pachai karpooram [optional]: 1 small pinch.
Food colour [optional]: 1 large pinch

1.Place a heavy bottom wide mouthed vessel on medium flame and add the sugar and water.
2.Stir gently until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk. You will see the scum and dirt  [if any] float on top of the sugar mix.
3.Remove this with a spoon and continue to simmer the sugar syrup until thick and sticky.
4.Add the pachai karpooram and food colour. Mix well. Remove from flame and keep warm.

For assembling the laddoos:
Cashews / raisins / pistachios:each 2 tbsp.
Ghee: 2 tbsp.

1.Fry the cashews, raisins and pistachios in ghee, add to the fried bhoondhis and mix well.
2.Pour 2-3 ladles of the sugar syrup to the bhoondhis and mix gently until all the bhoondhis are coated with sugar syrup. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
3.Again pour 2-3 ladles of the syrup and mix gently. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
4.Check the bhoondhis, they should be soft. When you press the bhoondhis in-between your finger tips, a little syrup should come from the bhoondhis but they should hold their shape and not disintergrate. This is the right consistency.
5.If they are a little dry , add 1-2 laddles of syrup and wait for 5 minutes. Test the bhoondhis as above.
6.If the consistency is right, proceed to make laddoos.
7.Take a small amount of the sugar soaked bhoondhis in your hand and make keep rolling to form a soft round ball.
8.Place all the laddoos in large tray and keep the tray in a airy place for a couple of hours.

Once the laddoos have dried and firmed up, store in air tight containers. This tastes best when eaten within a couple of days but you can store the laddoos in the refrigerator for longer.

Notes: Be very careful when adding the syrup. It is always better to add small amounts slowly and check for the right consistency. If you have some syrup left over, store it in air tight container. You can use the same syrup for preparing jeera poori, badhushas etc. Just reheat the syrup gently and use as given in the recipe.

"Drip Consistency" - pour some of the liquid mix on the bhoondhi karandhi, if the mix drips freely in the form of tiny droplets when you tap, then the consistency is right. If too thick, add a little water and check consistency. If too watery and thin, add 2-3 tbsp of kadalai maavu [besan flour].

"Temperature of Oil": Drop a tiny droplet of the mix into the oil. If it comes to the surface immediately without becoming too dark, then the temperature is right. If the droplet stays at the bottom of the oil, then the oil is low in temperature. If the droplet becomes too dark quickly, then the oil is very hot. Reduce the flame for some time. Check the temperature before frying the bhoondhis.

"Circular motion for frying bhoondhis": Move the bhoondhi karandhi over the oil in a circular motion as you would when making a dosa - smooth circular motion. This helps the bhoondhis to fall all over the oil and fry evenly and quickly. Other wise they will fall in the same place and clump together.

You can add melon seeds to the laddoo at the end stage of assembling them. Do not fry the seeds. I have used bhoondhi karandi with large perforations. To make motichoor use laddle with very tiny perforations. You can decorate the laddoos with edible silver or gold paper to give a rich royal feel to the sweet treats...:)

A gentle reminder to all  - please kindly link all your entries for "CWS- Rice" by October 31. It can be anything from sweets/desserts/fried snacks/mains etc....

Sending this to:

Cooking Concept : Festive Food by Sravani.

Serve it : Festive Potluck by Denny and Krithi

Diwali Sweet Recipes by Sameena

Only-Sweets and Desserts by  Pari    guest hosted by Gayathri

My Diwali-My Way by Khushi

Diwali-Festival of Lights by Anu

Enjoy....


Scribbled by Reva