Right from October, festival season starts in India. Food, Sweets is an automatic extension for festivals.We have celebrated Dussehra in our own traditional way. Now, next is Diwali. I love this festival. Everyone starts planning for what to cook, what sweets to make, what snacks we would be serving at gatherings, meet ups.  In Maharashtra, we make Gujias (sweet dumplings), Sev (crunchy noodles made from chickpea flour), Namakpare  (ribbon-like strips of pastry), Laddoo (ball-shaped sweet), Burfi, Chakali (savory crunchy twists), Chivda (spiced rice flakes snacks). That’s a lot right…yes that’s right. But this is what that puts us into festive mood. Since, Diwali is around the corner. I will be posting few recipes in coming weeks. I make all of this every year for Diwali.

Today, lets start with something sweet..may be BESAN LADDOO.

These Laddoos are my daughter’s all time favorite dessert. She tasted Besan Laddoos during our last India trip when my mom was making them. Till that time she was not a sweet lover as such..not even candy or cake. I was kind of happy that she is not into sweets…:) but when she tried a pinch of roasted Besan(chickpeas flour) mixed with sugar and home made ghee(clarified butter), she became super fan of these laddoos. After, coming back she was continuously asking me to make those laddoos that her grandma had made for her. Thanks to her that I tried making those Laddoos. But instead of stove top, I have made them using microwave. Found this recipe on internet.

Ingredients:

• Microwave safe bowl
• 1-1/2 cup Besan (chickpeas flour)
• 6-7 tablespoon Ghee (clarified butter)
• Approximately Less than 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom Powder
• Raisins (optional)

Steps:

• Mix Besan and Ghee in a bowl. Heat on high for 5 minutes first. Stir after a minute and continue heating. For 1cup of besan 5 minutes are sufficient. But for 1-1/2 quantity, it may require more time. Increase the heating time by 30 seconds. Keep checking. Once the mixture is reddish brown and has a nice aroma. Its ready for next step. Let it cool completely before moving to the next step.

• Add Sugar, Cardamom powder and Raisins. Mix well and start making small round. If ghee is not enough once you start making them (the mixture should not be dry, laddoos will not hold up their shape) just heat same ghee and add.