My parents were excellent cooks and my brother, and I were blessed to have some amazing food during our growing up years. I must emphasise that my father made mouth-watering sweetmeats, one of which was the Boondi ladoo (made from besan and sugar).
He was so skilled that when he held the boondi batter over the holed spoon for frying, our stomachs were already growling. The crunchy boondi and the laddoos, both were more of a blessing than any temple’s prasad.
Father made laddoos for my grandma as well and it was a great celebration in itself. Among all the South Indian dishes we grew up eating, this sweetmeat was the most soulful among others like small onion sambhar, Kerala-style Aviyal, amazing milk kheer (pal payasam) and pickles of all types. Mother made home-made crispies (vadams). I can go on and on. These are my sweet memories of my father and mother.
Boondi besan laddoo
Chickpea flour (Besan)
Turmeric (for colour)
Sugar
Refined oil
Clarified butter (Ghee)
Cloves
Cashew nuts
Cardamom (Elaichi)
Water
Filter the besan in a chalni (sieve). Mix a little turmeric for colour. Add water to make a thickened yet watery paste. Pour this paste through a holed spoon to create small balls of besan and fry in refined oil.
Boil sugar and water into a mixture and bring to a strong consistency. Add cardamom to this. Add the small fried balls of besan to the sugar syrup. Add cashew nuts and cloves fried in ghee to this mixture to form balls of laddoos. Let them cool and serve.
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Sumathy Ramakrishnan is a professional from Tamil Nadu