Maa Ladoo or Maladu is a protein rich, South Indian Laddu that is supposed to have originated from the district of Tirunelveli. It is made from roasted gram dal or chutney dal (pottukadalai). This is not only made during Diwali but since it is very rich in protein you can feed this urundais (balls) to the kids as an evening snack too. It takes just 5 ingredients and apart from 5 mins of cooking time the entire process is done without the stove. So it is one of the most easiest sweets to be made during Diwali in case you are a beginner.

Maa Ladoo Recipe

Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 15 mins | Makes: 10
Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Snacks

Ingredients:

Roasted Gram Dal (Pottukadalai) – 1 cup
Ghee (Clarified butter) – 1/4 cup
Sugar – 3/4 cup
Cardamom – 2
Cashew nuts – 2 tbsp

Instructions:

Break the cashew nuts into very small pieces and keep it ready.
Heat a pan and add roasted gram dal. Dry roast for 3 mins, stirring occasionally over low flame taking care not to burn it or change its color. Transfer to a plate and let it cool.
In the same pan add 2 tsp ghee and roast the broken cashew nuts till golden brown and keep aside.
In a mixer jar, powder the roasted gram dal and transfer to a sieve. Now powder the sugar and cardamom, well and transfer to the sieve.
Sieve the entire contents well. If there is any coarse mixture left in the sieve, powder it once again and sieve.
In a wide plate, place the sieved gram dal and sugar powder, add roasted cashew nuts and mix with your finger tips.
Heat the remaining ghee in the same pan and pour it on top of the mixture. Using a whisk, mix well.
While the mixture is still warm, make golf ball sized balls and arrange it on a plate side by side.
Store it in an airtight container and enjoy.

Notes:

You can also use cardamom powder, but using whole cardamom while powdering will be even more fragrant.
This ladoos will keep well for upto 10 days.
Keep the powdered gram dal and sugar mixed together and store it in a tight container so that you can just add ghee and make ladoos whenever you want.
Make sure that you make the balls by pressing them tightly in your palm else they will very easily crumble.