Laddu ~ Senagapindi (Besan) Laddu

For alphabet ‘L’, in this A-Z Challenge, Journey Through Telangana Cuisine, I could not come up with anything other than Laddu. For me laddu is always boondhi laddu and I am not a fan of boondi laddu. Had I prepared my complete list before going to India in December, I would have asked my mother to prepare laddu for the blog. I did not realize coming up with a dish starting with L would be so difficult.

I asked my mom if there is any other laddu that we make in Telangana other than boondi laddu. She then mention about senaga pindi laddu. She said we don’t make these laddu but has seen some people prepare laddu with senaga pindi. I followed up with my cousin A and she too concurred with my mother. Cousin A said some people shape it into a laddu and some spread it in a plate and cut it into a burfi or squares.

I was actually surprised to know senaga pindi laddu is a Telangana preparation as well, as I never tasted and seen it being served by any of my friends and family. I always thought senagapindi or besan laddu is a North Indian Sweet.

Preparation of senaga pindi laddu is lot easier than the traditional classic boondi laddu that is also prepared with senagapindi. Senagapindi ~ gram flour ~ besan flour is roasted in ghee (clarified butter), mixed with sugar and cardamom powder, and then shaped into round balls. The day I made these laddu, I met couple of my friends for lunch. In fact, I prepared them on that day as I could share the laddu with them. They liked and even Mr. U liked the laddu.

I could not think of any produce and food starting with 'L'.
Spices:
Lavangam - Cloves

Total Time: 20- 30 minutes (excludes cooling time)
Preparation: 10- 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Yields: 20 (depends on the size of the laddu))

Ingredients:

2 cups Gram Flour ~ Besan
8-10 Cashews
1 cup (16 tbsp) Ghee ~ Clarified Butter
1 ¾ - 2 cups Sugar (I used less than 2 cups)
¾ tsp. Cardamom Seeds

Preparation

Break cashews into small pieces.
Heat 10-12 tbsp, about ¾ cup ghee in a nonstick pan and fry the cashews into golden brown. Remove from ghee and keep aside.
In the same pan, fry gram flour on medium flame until flour is light brown. Keep stirring for even and lump free flour. This will take at least 10 minutes.
Transfer flour to a big bowl or plate.
To this add cashews, cardamom powder and sugar. Add 1 ¾ cup sugar and mix well until it blends well into the flour. Taste the flour mixture and add more sugar if required. Add sugar when the flour is still hot. Let the mixture cool.
When the mixture is cool and easy to handle with hand, try to make small lime size balls. If flour mixture can not be shaped into a ball, add remaining ghee and mix well. Then shape into round balls or laddu.
Store them in an airtight container.

Note:

I used 1 cup felt I could have used 2 tablespoon less. Add the remaining ghee as required, when shaping the laddu.
I used about 10 cashews but more can be add. Make sure the cashew pieces are very small.
I used less than 2 cups of sugar and add less or more depending on one's preference. The sugar we get in the US is almost like coarse powder. I did not powder the sugar but if one wishes, they can powder the sugar before mixing it with flour. You can see some powdery white specs on some of the laddu, especially in the first image. Those white specs are specs of sugar.

So far in this A-Z Journey Through Telangana Cuisine,
A for Attu Tunukala Koora
B for Biyyapattlu
C for Chegodi
D for Dondakaya Barada
E for Ellipaya Karam
F for Fenugreek (Menthi) Aaku Pesaru Pappu Koora
G for Garela Pulusu
H for Hyacinth Beans (Anapakaya) Annam
I for Iguru, Goru Chikkudukaya Iguru
J for Jonna Rotte
K for Kudumulu