Besan Ladoo

Crumbly, nutty, and loaded with homemade ghee – just how I love my Besan Ladoo which are inspired by Halwai or Mithaiwalas. Elevate your festivities and celebrations with the most melt-in-mouth Besan ke Laddu which only needs a few easy ingredients like gram flour, ghee and sugar. For perfect ladoo, try this easy fail-proof recipe!

What are Besan Ladoo

Besan Ladoos are delicious Indian sweets made with main ingredients like gram flour (besan), ghee (clarified butter), white sugar and nuts such as almonds and pistachios.

They are then shaped into small balls. These ladoos have a distinct mouth texture in that they are grainy (danedar) but extremely melt-in-the-mouth.

They are not overly sweet unlike many Indian desserts and have an earthy and nutty flavor and nutty fragrance.

The perfect Besan Ladoos will not stick in your mouth or throat. They should not have a very shiny finish – this is the incorrect texture for besan ladoos.

I do not like to garnish the besan ladoos with anything and prefer to keep them plain.

Halwai Besan Ladoos

Halwai or Mithaiwala is the name given to people in India who make confectionary and sweets. Sweets made at home and sweets found in Mithai shops (Indian sweet shops) always seem to taste different.

I can’t put my finger on what it specifically is – maybe the cooking process, ingredients used but they just do.

My Mum has been making besan ke ladoo for the family since I was little and they are one of our favourite types of ladoos. When whole house fills with sweet aroma, we know we're in for a treat.

Once, when I was young, my parents bought us Besan Ladoos from a mithai shop in London. I loved the taste of them so much that I still remember them vividly to this day. For quite some time it became my favorite sweets. They were really crumbly and loaded with big pieces of nuts.

Halwais put a little yellow colouring into their ladoos to get that perfect golden look. At home, we don’t add it.

Along with sweets like Kesar Gulab Jamun and Best Semolina Gujiya, Besan Ladoos are also made on special occasions and Indian festivals such as Diwali – the festival of light.

The gorgeous golden brown color of these sweet balls makes them perfect for this day. Cover the ladoos in silver or gold edible foil tin for festive cheers.

Of course, you don’t need an excuse to make ladoos, so often, these will be made in Indian homes in the winter months as a sweet treat.

I love how Indian mithais are works of art and are so colourful. Almost decorated like a bride! The smell and aroma that comes from making homemade ladoos is hard to beat and decorating them is so much fun. The best part undoubtedly is eating them!

We love making Gujarati style Churma Ladoos, (atta ladoo) Coconut Ladoo, Mango Badam Coconut Ladoo, Rava Ladoo and many more!

Tips for the Best Besan Ladoo

• Raw besan has a bitter taste so to get the perfect flavour, you must take your time roasting the flour.
• For best results and delicious ladoos, use good quality ghee and quantity of ghee
• Keep roasting until the besan becomes aromatic – that is the indication that it is ready to use
• The flour can burn easily and go brown so you have to stir continuously.
• Add the sugar at the end so it doesn’t melt and release extra moisture.
• To avoid raw taste in recipe of besan ladoo, stick to given roasting time
• We have powdered the sugar as granulated sugar will release moisture and loosen the mixture.
• Don’t forget to sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water, this procedure makes ladoo grainy or danedar just like halwai style.
• If your ladoos are not binding then:
• You may have either too much or too little ghee.
• If you have too much ghee in your besan ladoo mixture, then dry roast more fine gram flour separately and add to the mixture and shape
• If there is too little ghee, then add a tablespoon of ghee at a time. You’ll need extra ghee if it is shop-bought.
• The most commonly used nuts are almonds and pistachios. You can also add brazil nuts, cashews or other nuts to your preference. I like to keep the nut pieces quite large for more texture.

Can I make Coarse Gram Flour at home

Good news is that yes, coarse gram flour can be made easily at home.

1. Take 1 cup chana dal and wash it under running clean water.

2. Pat dry with the clean tea towel.

3. Dry roast on low heat until all the moisture dries up and lentils are roasted, but not changed colour.

4. Let it cool completely, then grind it using a coffee grinder.

5. Don’t go for fine powder but just coarsely, then sieve it so very big pieces can be removed

How to get powdered sugar at home

Take white granulated sugar and blend in a high-speed blender. Spice or coffee grinders work really well.

For the recipe, use the same weight of granulated to powdered sugar.

Storage:

Store in an airtight container in a single layer and keep them at room temperature.

These ladoo have a long shelf life and stays fresh for more than 2-3 weeks.

Do not store in the refrigerator or freezer.

🍬Ingredients and Substitutes 

Here are key ingredients besan laddu recipe that are easily available in Indian grocery stores. Step by step pictures and exact measurements are in the recipe card

1. Besan flour – also known as chickpea flour. For the crumbly Punjabi or North Indian style Ladoo, use coarse gram flour, known as Besan Ka Mota Aata or Ladoo Besan here in the UK. If coarse flour is not available, you can use normal fine besan and add fine semolina for the similar texture of coarse gram flour.

2. Ghee – The backbone of this recipe, all the flavours and textures depends on this ingredient. If possible use homemade desi ghee. Of course, you can use shopbought ghee too if pressing for time. Vegans use vegan butter and coconut oil.

3. Plain flour – Secret ingredient used by halwais and mithaiwalas. All-purpose flour makes ladoos crumbly and reduces the slight bitterness and stickiness of the besan.

4. Oil – Vegetable oil is added so that when you are cooling the mixture, the ghee does not completely solidify the mixture but keeps it loose to work with. (another secret ingredient used by halwai)

5. Sugar – For particular this recipe you’ll need powdered sugar NOT ICING SUGAR as we are adding in the last stage once the roasted flour is totally cooled down.  You may use castor sugar or boora or tagar. You can make fine caster sugar by pulsing granulated sugar in the grinder. Vegans use vegan sugar or maple or agave syrup works well too.

6. Nuts – I love my besan ladoo full of nuts and love to use almonds, cashews, pistachio and brazil nuts. We did not roast or fried nuts, just ground it in the grinder.

7. Green Cardamom – ground cardamom or cardamom powder for flavours and for help to digest these rich ladoos, do not miss adding these. We crushed it with dry fruits ( mixed nuts).

For besan le ladu, we do not need milk solids (khoya or mawa)

📝How to make the best Besan Ladoo

Following these steps combined with the tips above should get you perfect Besan Ladoos.

On medium flame heat ghee in a kadai or heavy bottom pan and add oil.

Keep heat low and add sifted besan, and mix well. The mixture will be in smooth paste consistancy.

Now add plain flour (maida) and mix everything using a spatula.

keep roasting on medium to low flame for 25-30 minutes  or until lightly changed color of the besan and nutty aroma starts wafting.

very important step, sprinkle a tablespoon of water in the mixture to get crumbly and grainy ladoos. Turn off the heat after a minute or so but keep stirring the mixture for another 5 minutes.

Add crushed nuts, mix and leave it to cool completely.

When the mixture cools down totally, add powdered sugar, boora or agar.

Mix well and leave it aside for another 15-20 minutes.

Take a small amount of besan mixture in palm of your hands, press it in your palm and roll round ladoos, besan ladoo doesn’t have to be in perfect round shapes. At this stage ladoos will be little shiny as the heat of your palm will melt the ghee.

Tasty ladoos are ready to store and devour.

Other coarse gram flour recipes

Mohanthal

Magas

Stuffed Magas Ladoo

Homemade Dakor Gota Mix 

Dakor Na Gota

Methi-Corn Bhajiya

Note - This recipe originally posted on 19th of September 2012, since we have updated the post with newer images and content.