Sunnundalu are urad dal laddu, a healthy 3 ingredient gluten free sweet from Telugu cuisine.
For the last post under Diwali snacks & sweets, it is sunnundalu or urad dal laddu. These 3 ingredient gluten free sweet is quick and easy to prepare. In fact, all the prep work can be done well in advance. Since there is lot of preparations leading up to Diwali, these laddu are a great pick for Diwali sweets and do all the prep work well in advance. Mix roasted urad dal flour and powdered sugar together, and store in an airtight container. Shape the laddu a day or two before Diwali.
The first two posts for Diwali Snacks & Sweets theme were snacks; bread muruku and ratlami sev.
Black gram or urad dal is rich in protein, minerals and fiber, hence making it one of the healthy foods. Therefore, it is a very common lentil in south Indian kitchens. However, it was not so common in some of the Telangana regions few decades ago as it was not a common crop in the region. As people learnt about the health benefits associated with urad dal, it has become a staple even in these regions.
One of the common sweet preparations with urad dal is laddu or sunnundalu or sunni undalu. Undalu are round balls. Roasted urad dal flour, powdered sugar and ghee are mixed together, and shaped into laddu or round balls. Here ghee acts as a binder. Since sunnundalu are healthy and rich in calories, these fall in energy balls category. There are 4 ingredients listed in the recipe. However, cardamom seeds are an optional ingredient to enhances the flavor of laddu. Since the quantity is less than a spoon, these laddus fall in 3 ingredient recipe.
Sunnundalu Recipe
Sunnundalu ~ Urad Dal Laddu
Ingredients
- 1 cup Urad Dal
- ¾ cup Sugar more if needed
- ½ tsp Cardamom Seeds
- ⅓ cup melted Ghee more if needed
Instructions
- Wash urad dal several times in water and immediately pat dry using a kitchen towel. If there is no time constraint, let the dal dry for 10-15 minutes. Washing dal is an optional step.
- Roast urad dal on medium flame until golden brown and aromatic.
- Spread on a plate and let cool.
- Grind dal to a fine powder and keep aside.
- Grind sugar and cardamom seeds to a fine powder.
- Mix together urad powder/flour and sugar powder. Taste the mixture and adjust sugar to suit your sweet tooth.
- Pour melted ghee and mix well.
- Take 2 -3 tbsp of the mixture in hand and shape into balls or laddu. Add more ghee if the mixture doesn’t bind together.
- Yields 15 laddu depending on the size and I shape them really small. Store in airtight container.
Notes
- Ghee - I used ⅓ cup ghee and if one wants to indulge, feel free to use up to ½ - ⅔ cup of ghee. ⅔ cups of ghee is real indulgence.
- Storing Sunnunda Mixture - Make a big batch of urad dal and sugar mixture and store for at least a month in the pantry or for months in the refrigerator. Prepare laddu using ghee as a binder whenever you want.
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Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners are doing this BM#105
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth says
These laddoos sound really interesting… I never knew urad dal is also used to make laddoos…
Rajani says
These are perfect for Diwali! Quite easy to make and can be made ahead as well.
Harini Rupanagudi says
Perfect for Diwali, Usha. My mother-in-law always recommends the whole urad dal for sunnundalu.
Amara Annapaneni says
One of my favourite laddoos. Perfect one for Diwali.
Suma Gandlur says
Such a classic and fuss free sweet dish from Andhra. I am partial towards those sunnundalu made with whole black gram because of their earthy flavor. 🙂