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Maa laddu
Roasted gram flour laddus
மாலாடு: melt-in-the-mouth balls of roasted gram flour, sugar, cardamom and ghee, a Deepavali staple
Maa laddu (maladu) is the simplest of the Tamil Deepavali sweets, made in a quarter of an hour from pottukadalai, the roasted split gram sold in every Tamil grocery. Ground with sugar and bound with hot ghee, it melts on the tongue, nutty and cardamom-scented, and it's the laddu grandmothers teach children to roll. The mistake is pouring cold or too little ghee: the powder won't bind and the balls crumble, so add it smoking hot and in stages. Chef's tip: warm the pottukadalai in a dry pan for two minutes before grinding; it brings out the toasty flavour and grinds finer.
- Total time
- 23 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 5 ½ oz sugar
- 4 green cardamom podsseeds only
- 3 ½ oz ghee
- 12 cashewsbroken
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Warm 7 oz pottukadalai (roasted split gram) in a dry pan over low heat for 2 minutes until fragrant. Cool slightly.
3 minStep 2: Grind 7 oz pottukadalai (roasted split gram) to a fine powder and sift. Grind 5 ½ oz sugar with 4 green cardamom pods to a fine powder and mix in.
5 minStep 4: Pour half the hot ghee and cashews over the powder and mix with a spoon, then add the rest a little at a time until a handful holds when pressed.
3 minStep 5: While still warm, press tight balls the size of a walnut in your palm. If they crack, warm a teaspoon more ghee and mix in.
8 minStep 6: Cool and store airtight for up to 10 days.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 200 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 21 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does maa laddu take?
- About 23 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 8 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of green cardamom pods?
- A pinch of ground cardamom per 2 pods.
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Perfect for:Diwali