Rava Laddu Recipe
Rava Laddu or Rava Ladoo is an Indian sweet made with semolina, ghee, sugar and optional nuts. It is made and served during Diwali, especially and is very easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rava, sooji, semolina the fine kind
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1/4 cup cashew nuts
- 2 tablespoons raisins optional
- 1/2 cup grated coconut thawed if using frozen
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 pinch cardamom powder
Instructions
- Heat the ghee in a pan and add the cashew nuts and raisins
- Grind the coconut and cardamom powder together. This is an optional step but I did it since my grated coconut was very coarse and I was worried it won’t be easy to make the laddus into balls.
- Add the coconut-cardamom mixture to the roasting nuts and raisins.
- Mix once and add the rava next.
- Fry this mixture for 2-3 minutes and then add the sugar. Since my sugar was very fine, I didn’t powder it but you can do so if you wish.
- Continue to roast the rava mixture until the colour changes to a light brown. Don’t let it sit and walk away or the rava will start toasting and turning a golden brown on one side. The process of roasting the rava took me about 5-6 mins.
- Once the rava is browned lightly, turn off the flame and slowly add the milk, stirring continuously as you do so.If you are a food blogger, it’s ok to stop mixing and take a quick picture before you continue, but don’t let it sit for too long without stirring.
- Once all the milk is added, continue to mix until the ladoo mixture comes together. It will be quite moist and will stick around your ladle.
- Remove from heat.
- When the rava laddu mixture is warm enough to handle, make into lemon-sized balls and gently set aside. If the mixture is too dry, sprinkle water or milk as you shape the laddu
- Done! As I said, the entire process of making rava laddu took me no longer than 20 minutes and I got 12 medium-sized ladoos from this quantity.
Notes
- It's important to not leave the pan unattended while making the rava laddu mixture
- Keep low the entire time you are making the laddu. Rava, especially, is delicate and can burn or turn darker quickly which will result in uneven tasting laddu
- Grease your palms with ghee while shaping the laddu
- Avoid coconut and add a tad more milk if you want a coconut-free rava laddu
- Cashew nuts and raisins are optional but really add to the flavour and texture
- Add cardamom powder to your taste. I add a generous pinch for this quantity
- Another variation I learned from Vahchef's rava laddu recipe is to roast each ingredient separately in little ghee and then combine in the end to shape the rava laddu
- You can void milk too and replace with water to increase shelf life. This will result in slightly harder laddus and adding milk makes them softer and tastier.