Rava Ladoo (using brown sugar) 2

Rava ladoo is a quick, easy-to-make dessert using sooji rava, sugar and warm ghee – try using brown sugar to make this a visual and healthful treat!

A friend of mine, Sandhya, makes yummy rava ladoos regularly for Diwali. Although I’d had rava ladoos several times before, it is after tasting her ladoos that I was inspired to attempt making them. In this recipe, I’ve tried a small variation – instead of using white sugar, I’ve used brown sugar and was quite happy with the results, so sharing it with you all.

Ingredients (makes around 15 medium sized ladoos):

• Fine Sooji Rava (1 cup)
• Brown Sugar (slightly less than 1 cup, but more than 3/4th cup)
• Ghee (2/3rd cup)
• Cardamom (elaichi) powder (1/2 tsp)

Method:

• Measure out the required quantity of rava in a heavy-bottomed pan.

• Dry roast on a medium flame for a few minutes till the rava starts giving out a nice aroma and has become slightly brown.

• Transfer the rava onto a plate. Wait for it to cool.

• Now grind the rava coarsely.
• Add sugar.

• Add cardamom powder.

• Mix the ground rava, brown sugar and cardamom powder.

• Heat ghee in a pan.
• Divide your rava-sugar mixture into 2 or 3 sections.
• Now add spoonfuls of ghee, little by little into a section. Mix well until you find that it becomes easy to make ladoo shapes using your hands.
• Work quickly and make as many ladoos as you can out of that particular section and place them aside.
• Now heat the ghee again if necessary and work through the other sections of the rava-sugar mixture.
• You may have some leftover ghee, but that should be okay since ghee can be used later too.
• Store the ladoos in an air-tight container.

Tastes (Rasa):

Sweet (rava, sugar, ghee), sour (none), salty (none), bitter (none), pungent (cardamom), astringent (none).

Doshic Influence:

Sweet dishes are always kapha aggravating in excess. The pungency and the digestive benefits of cardamom help balance the dish and make it suitable for consumption in moderation. Addition of ghee is great, since it is tridoshic and also serves as a digestive aid. Rava, which is basically wheat, is heavy and difficult to digest, making it kapha and vata aggravating, in excess.

Effects on the Mind (Gunas):

This is a sattvic dish, if using fresh ingredients. You can keep this at room temperature in an air-tight container for 5-6 days and for a week and a half or so in the refrigerator, but it’s best consumed fresh, or a few days after making.