Laddoos are among India’s favorite desserts. Be it a festival, a social gathering, temple prasadam, or some good news, laddoos are found everywhere and they’re everyone’s go to. Laddoo is essentially a small sphere that’s sweet and can be eaten as a snack, a medicine, or a dessert.
In historic times, ayurvedic practitioners used sesame seed laddoos as antiseptics. They could also include ingredients like ghee, dates and nuts, which nourished and energized eaters. Laddoos were also convenient to carry and were a great ration for traveling soldiers. Once sugar was introduced in India, laddoos started changing. They became a celebratory dish in many parts.
Laddoos come in a variety of flavors like nariyal laddoo, motichoor laddoo, til laddoo and more. Each part of the country makes it with different ingredients and of different tastes and textures, depending on the locally available ingredients. Til laddoos keep you warm while motichoor laddoos are more festive and nariyal laddoos are a response to the widespread availability of coconut in the south.
Another popular type of laddoo is the besan laddoo. With its high protein content, besan or gram flour is a relatively healthier laddoo option. The dietary fiber of besan makes it a great digestive aid and the laddoos are excellent as an after-meal snack for this reason. Besan also controls blood sugar and promotes heart health, satiates the appetite and controls craving making it good for weight loss, and promotes bone, skin and hair health. A mixture of ghee, sugar and besan, the laddoos that emerge are healthy, hearty and delicious.
The exact origin of who thought to mix besan with ghee and sugar and create these laddoos is unknown. But they are a deeply popular option in India today. They're often found at weddings, birthdays and other celebrations. During festivals like diwali and rakhi, besan laddoos satiate everyone’s sweet cravings. And in temples, they make for a popular prasadam choice. In fact, one of the most famous temple laddoos is the besan laddoos served to the deities and then shared with devotees at the Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati.
Here’s a simple recipe to make besan laddoos at home.
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