Besan laddu is one such Indian sweet that is made in almost all households in India during festivals and celebrations. Besan is the Hindi word for chickpea/gram flour and Laddu refers in general to all round shaped Indian sweets. Besan laddu is an easy recipe that needs only 3-4 ingredients. Making it in the traditional way could be a bit tedious job, but let me tell you a recipe using which you can make it easily in less than 10 minutes.
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Hello everyone!
I know it has been a really long gap, and I am sorry for that. I would also like to say a heartfelt thanks for all your messages during this time. I stopped writing the blog due to health reasons (when I conceived my younger angel); and then both our little angels kept me on my toes. Honestly speaking no complaints – I fully enjoyed being with both of them and cherished every moment of motherhood. Though cooking was still going on full swing. I simply did not get the time to write on the blog. Now as my younger angel has started school, I am here with you guys to continue our joyful journey of cooking delicious food 🙂
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Yes, you got it right 🙂 This is the continuation of my winter enjoyment theme. I am presenting my ultimate-winter delight -Gajar Ka Halwa (known as Carrot Pudding in English). Gajar ka Halwa has been a part of my family’s new year celebrations since my childhood, and it is the same with my husband’s family. I can safely say that I have successfully managed to follow this tradition post my marriage, as both of us (my husband and me) really relish this super-dessert.
Continuing my Diwali celebrations, this post covers another sweet/dessert that I prepared this week. However this is more of a regular one in my house than limited only for Diwali (courtesy my husband 🙂 ); not to forget that this is a much loved sweet/snack in parts of North/East India during the festival of Holi.
For all my global friends, Gulab Jamun is a India-wide available/famous dessert. In simple English language, it is an evaporated-milk based dumpling soaked in rose-scented sugar syrup. The actual dumpling is termed as Jamun (in Hindi), and Gulab is the Hindi term for rose – hence the name Gulab Jamun.
Let’s admit – how can you deny a good laddu on this lovely occasion of Diwali 🙂  With strong belief in this premise, I prepared these lovely albeit slightly different (by Indian standards) Courgette/Zucchini Coconut laddus as part of my Diwali celebrations.
Yes, this is again a speciality from my desert state of Rajasthan (Western India) 🙂 Mawa Malpua is a high calorie dessert which people mostly enjoy in the festivals like Diwali, and Holi in North/West India. So with this one, I am definitely not wearing my healthy/calorie conscious hat. Malpua comes in many different types as per the different regions of India – Malpua is made up with khoya and served with sweetened thick milk (rabri) in Rajasthan, in Maharastra, Malpua is made with banana or coconut. Malpua is also served to Lord Jagannath during Rathyatra in Orissa (an Eastern state in India).
Now this is what I term as the top of the lot Halwa – Moong daal halwa. This is again one of my favourite and an extremely relishing delicacy from North/West India. This rich dessert is generally present in most Indian celebrations like weddings, and Diwali/Holi. Since it is very warm, rich and on a heavier side, people tend to prepare/relish this rich dessert especially in winter. I however do not mind to have it at any time 🙂
The Indian festive season is on full swing, having just wrapped up Navratri and Diwali being just around the corner. Now this definitely calls for some sweet/dessert recipes as no celebration in India is complete without sweets 🙂
Moving away from milk based sweets (actually my husband’s fixation), this post is on another popular Indian (Western India) sweet dish made from roasted chickpea flour (gram flour/besan) and clarified butter (ghee) – Mohanthal. It is just like a fudge with an authentic touch of cardamom and chopped dry fruits. It is also known as Chickpea Flour Fudge. It looks like Besan Barfi but the making process and the taste are totally different.
For the benefit of everyone, Halwa (kind of equivalent to a Pudding) is a dessert which is very common in almost all Indian households. There are many different types of puddings in India, and each such pudding has its own unique taste.
Most Indian women will make this pudding without any measurements, just from their instincts or as I say “andaz se” (meaning calculated guess). Before marriage I had never made this simple pudding but I used to make one of the most difficult puddings (Moong Daal ka Halwa), because I simply loved that.
As you would now be aware of this well-known fact about my darling husband  – that he has real appetite for sweets, especially the milk based ones. I can safely and confidently say that he seems to have sweet teeth only, and none of the spicy ones 🙂
Any Indian celebration is incomplete without sweets, and that’s a known fact 🙂 . Laddu is an essential part of any celebration in India, especially Boondi Laddu. Even most of the revered temples in India serve Boondi Laddu to the Gods!.
Navratri is around the corner, so let’s get going with some divine dishes. For the benefit of everyone, Navratri is 9 day festival period dedicated to the Indian divine goddess Maa Durga. Most Indian people observe fast, in some form, on some/most of these 9 days. Some people do not even eat any grains during Navratri; so it becomes all the more important for them to get some good carbs to get charged up for the whole day.
For the benefit of everyone, Kheer is a very popular sweet in all over India. It has different names in India itself – in South part of India it is known as Payasam; in Eastern part it is called as Payas, and in rest of India it is famous as Kheer.
For the benefit of everyone, Laddu is mainly a round sweet ball which is very famous sweet/dessert in India. Laddu has been an integral part of any Indian celebrations, whether it was a wedding or big ceremony or as sacred prasad.
I am sure after couple more posts you guys will certainly know that milk based desserts and my darling hubby have a very strong connection:) This post uncovers Kalakand – another one of my hubby’s favourites. In common English parlance Kalakand is a form of a milk cake – soft, and melting in the mouth.
What could be a more better start for my food blog than a Bengali Rasogulla recipe – after all they are the best light, milk based sweet ever invented in my opinion, and the start of any good work in our Indian culture is celebrated by eating / distributing sweets!
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