Naadan Laddoo with camphor

 

Ingredients(Yields - 18 medium size laddoos):

Boondi:

        Kadala maavu / Besan Flour -- 1 cup
        Baking Soda --  a pinch

        Salt -- a pinch

        Turmeric Powder  -- 1 tsp (optional)

        Water -- as required

        Ghee -- 2 - 3 tbsp
        Vegetable Oil -- 2 cups or more as needed for deep frying

Sugar Syrup:

        Sugar --1 cup
        Water -- 1/4 cup

        Cardamom Powder -- 2 tsp

        Camphor -- 1 small pellet powdered(Optional)

        

To mix:

      

        Raisins --  a handful 

        Ghee -- 2 tbsp

        Kalkkandam -- 1/2 cup crushed

       

Preparation:

Mix the besan, baking soda, turmeric and salt. Add water little by little to form a batter similar to the dosa batter consistency.

Heat oil in a wok. Pour the batter into the hot oil through a round slotted spoon (check the mixture recipe for the picture). If the batter is too thick, boondi will be long in shape. If the batter is too thin, then boondi will be flat. Add more flour / water accordingly to adjust the consistency if needed.

Do not add over crowd the boondi in the oil as it may cling together and loose its shape. 

Let it fry just until it cooks or the sizzling stops, less than a minute. Drain onto a paper towel. Do not fry the boondi too crispy as this might not let the sugar syrup soak in.

Continue this until the batter is done.

Wipe the back of the slotted spoon for every batch, otherwise the batter will stick on it and not form a round shape.

Once the batter is done, add the prepared boondi into a bowl.  Add 1/3rd of the boondi into a mixer and just crush it to a coarse powder. Add this back to the bowl and mix. You now have a good blend of boondi powder and full shaped boondis.

Once the boondi is ready, prepare the sugar syrup. 

Mix water, sugar, cardamom powder and powdered camphor in a sauce pan. Let it boil until it starts bubbling up. Switch off the flame. Add colour at this stage if you wish to do so, I did not as the turmeric did give a nice yellow colour to the boondis. 

Do NOT wait until string consistency, it might harden the sugar as it cools. We have used only less water to form firm laddoos. If you like your laddoos to be softer, add a little more water, but not more than half a  cup.

Quickly add the sugar syrup to the prepared boondi in a big bowl. Mix well with a spoon. Add ghee and raisins (you can fry the raisins in ghee, if you wish to. I just added it as is) at this stage. 

Let it cool to touch, add the kalkkandam and mix well. If you add it while hot, it might melt the kalkkandams. The boondi might have soaked in the sugar syrup by now and you should have a warm sticky mixture. 

While it is still warm, grease your palms with ghee, take a handful of the mixture and roll into ball. Work quickly, not bothering to shape it well. Once all the balls are made, wash your hands, grease again and then roll the balls into a smooth shape.

Let it sit for a day to let the flavors blend well. 

Enjoy !! 

- I couldn't take any step by step pictures. Will make a note to take some good pictures next time and update :)