Friday, August 29, 2008

Rava Laddus and a Click


Its friday.. My mind always gets a little lazy at this time of the week no matter how busy I am. Just the thought of friday makes me feel lethargic and sluggish. So, just in an effort to increase my productivity I decided to manage a few hours in the kitchen today. I knew I had plans to participate in quite a few events and its only a couple of days left but I've no idea what to make. I was glancing through various cookbooks from my shelf and found quite a few interesting recipes. But most of them required ingredients that I don't usually stock in my pantry. It required a mini visit to the grocery store. That was a good reason for me to postpone those dishes for some other time.

Finally after a lot of reasearch and thinking, I decided to close my cookbook and make my own favorite Rava Laddus. It was a good decision:) Laddus came out phenomenal! Sweet and soft with those yummy flavors. I have a liking for laddus since childhood and that liking still continues. Our Deepavali wasn't complete without rava laddus. Grandma used to make it delicious and I've managed to follow her traditional recipe many times. About a few months before, I tasted these laddus from a friend and it had a slightly different flavor, I just loved it! The secret ingredient was coconut! Adding just a little bit of coconut gave it a different twist and I fell for it right away. Since then I've been modifying my grandma's recipe just by adding a little coconut to it. I like all kinds of laddus, but rava laddus are the only ones that I have tried making at home. May be beacuse of the simple ingredients and the straight-forward method.


Ingredients
  • Rava - 1 cup
  • Sugar - 1 cup
  • Cardamom pods - 5
  • Cashews - 10
  • Shredded Coconut - 2 tbsp
  • Ghee - 2 tbsp
  • Milk - 3 tbsp
Procedure

  • Heat the pan and dry roast the rava until nice aroma comes. Set aside.
  • Remove the skins from cardamom and take just the seeds out. Grind them together with sugar to a fine powder. Mix them with the rava.
  • Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan and roast the cashews. Add this to the rava mixture.
  • In the same pan, add another tsp of ghee and fry the coconut until they become golden brown. Add to rava mixture.
  • Mix together well and start making the laddus by adding a little ghee and warm milk to each laddu while making it so that the ball holds on tight.

I also managed to make Honey Lemonade, a refreshing and healthy drink for summer. I often make this at home as my daughter just loves honey! The recipe is quite simple. Mix 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup honey in a pan. Heat until the honey dissolves fully. Cool and then add 4 cups of cold water, a few ice cubes and a pinch of salt. Mix well and serve chilled.

This entry goes for EC's AFAM:Lemon as well as Jai and Bee's CLICK event.

Honey Lemonade

25 comments:

Cham said...

Wow, i really love ur honey lemon shot! It is beautiful & refreshing :)
Of course ur ladoo too

Sujatha said...

Wow Cham, I just finished posting my recipe and I already see your comments.. You are super fast! :)

Thanks for your encouraging words, dear Cham :)

Anonymous said...

I just woke up and saw your honey lemon shot and immediately made it and drank its wonderful sujatha... even my hubby loved it... i am going to try spinach chicken today.. thanks for sharing...

Indian Khana said...

Rava Ladoo my favorite too...I make them always :)...your honey lemon drink looks refreshing and lovely shot..

ST said...

Lovely and superb click....Love Honey lemonade and Rava laddus too...

Pete said...

Drooling....I love the milky taste in Laddus

Laavanya said...

I can barely take my eyes off your honey-lemonade - it's stunning. Wishing you the very best for the Click competition. Your rava laddoos are perfect too.

kamala said...

Wow the click is so beautiful Sujatha..and the ladoos too!!!

Sujatha said...

Hi Sarayu, Welcome to my blog :) I'm glad you liked the honey lemonade.. Thats so nice of you to leave comments after trying it! Do let me know how the spinach chicken came out.. :)

Thanks Priti, Sireesha and Pete :)

Hi Laavanya, I've tried my best, But I am sure there will be much more amazing pics than mine for the CLICK event.. :) Thanks for your wonderful comments and wishes :)

Usha said...

Wow,I could not visit your blog for a few days and today I visit it to find such a lot of fabulous stuff here..rava laddu's look awesome..the lemonade looks refreshing..and the pista kulfi is making me drool...:)

Unknown said...

Sujatha, I think I am here for the first time and your blog is simply superb.I love those collection of recipes and write up.I am going to have u in my blogroll.One more thing please tell when will I add sugar to the ladoos, I am quite tempted to make them.

Sujatha said...

pearlsofeast - Welcome to my blog and thanks for your great comments :) ah.. sorry, I've now modified the recipe about sugar.. it has to be powdered along with the cardamom seeds.. thanks for pointing it out :)

Uma said...

wooo, the laddus are so tempting Sujatha! Looks so delicious. And the click is so beautiful.

Anonymous said...

hello sujatha ji.... i made spinach chicken and its a super duper hit... my hubby who never ever touches greens was licking his fingers..thanks so much...

vandana rajesh said...

The rawa ladoos look gr8. Reminds me of the ones my mom used to make.

lubnakarim06 said...

Rava Laddus look divine. I love that pista khulfi also. Sweet Suprise waiting for u in my blog.

Sujatha said...

Sarayu, Glad to know Spinach Chicken came out well and your hubby loved it :) Thanks for your great words.. :)

Kitchen Flavours - Thanks for passing me the award..:) Thats very nice of you..

Sreelu said...

Hey Sujatha, first time at your blog, love your click entry as well as your recipes, blogrolled you so will be in touch through ur recipes.

Rupa said...

First time here...liked the rava ladoos one of my favourites and a nice click too :)

Unknown said...

Sujatha, I made ur ladoos,they were awesome.Thanks for sharing the recipe.It is easy and quick ones.

Sujatha said...

Pearlsofeast - I'm glad the laddus came out well and you liked them.. :) Thanks for letting me know after trying it.. Yes, they are indeed easy to make with just common ingredients.. I also sometimes try avoiding milk altogether while making the laddus and just use ghee if I'm in the "don't care" mood about fat..:) It definitely makes it more softer and tastier :)

bee said...

outstanading shot! thanks for the click.

Sujatha said...

Thank you bee, for hosting such a nice event and inspiring a novice like me in photography..:)

Dori said...

Mmmm, something sweet sounds good right now... Share some, please :)

Anu said...

Rava laddus look very inviting :) Loved ur blog and the wonderful recipes here :)

I have posted my version of rava laddu in my blog My Scrawls. Do visit my blog in ur free time. Would be happy to receive ur comments :)