Besan Ladoo – How to Make Ladoo from Scratch

Last Updated on March 11, 2021 by Babita

Besan Ladoo is a small, spherical sweet made with besan (gram flour), sugar and ghee. It is a popular dessert made all over India, especially during festivals, holidays, family events, etc.

Traditionally it is made by roasting besan in ghee and then mixed with sugar and different kinds of nuts. These ladoos are delicious, and they will satisfy your sweet tooth.

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This recipe for besan ladoo is different from other recipes. It is a recipe that my mother-in-law has made for years and now passed it down to me. Her technique to make this one is slightly different than most recipes you find online. She adds rava (semolina) to the mixture and she also dry-roasts the besan and rava without ghee, unlike other recipes that call for those to be roasted in ghee.

I make this during Diwali. It is an easy recipe with minimal ingredients. This besan ladoo recipe has only 5 ingredients and all of them are commonly found.

Ingredients for Besan Ladoo

• 2 cups besan (gram flour)
• 1 cup fine rava (semolina)
• 1 cup melted ghee
• 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 tsp cardamom powder

Note Regarding Some of the Ingredients

Besan: is gram flour made from channa daal or split brown chickpeas. Many people confuse besan with chickpea flour (made with white chickpea). They are not the same. You can find besan in Indian stores and also online on Amazon (click here). I have also seen it in my local Walmart.

Rava: is semolina and also known as suji. Rava adds a grainy texture to the ladoo in a nice way. There are different kind of rava, fine and thick. For this this recipe I use fine rava. Rava is also commonly found in Indian stores and on Amazon (click here). I prefer to buy it from Indian stores because.

Ghee: Ghee is the important ingredient that helps bind the besan mixture and aids in forming the ladoo (balls). If you don’t have ghee, you can substitute it with melted butter; however, it will lack the distinct aroma of the ghee. In India, some people add Dalda (vegetable shortening). I would advise you not to substitute ghee with Dalda. Ghee is available in Indian stores, but I like to make my own ghee. If you want to learn how to make ghee (check my post) or my Youtube video.

Cardamom: powdered cardamom is added to this ladoo to give it a fragrant aroma. This is one of the most common ingredients in Indian sweets and desserts. I like to buy whole green cardamoms and then extract the seed from the pods and powder them. It is a more work, but this way, the powder retains its fragrance more. You can find them in Indian stores and Amazon as well.

Powdered Sugar: When I say powdered sugar, I mean regular sugar, that you powder it in your blender. Do not substitute confectioner’s sugar for powdered sugar.

Instructions to Make Besan Ladoo

In a frying pan, dry roast besan on medium flame. Make sure to keep stirring it. Roast until the besan changes color from yellow to light brown. This usually takes around 5 mins. Take it off heat and set it aside in a mixing bowl to cool down.

Next dry roast the rava in the same pan. Again roast the rava on a medium flame and until the color changes from white to light brown. Make sure to keep stirring while roasting to avoid from it from burning. Once it is done roasting, add it to the besan and set it aside.

To the besan and rava mixture, add powdered sugar and cardamom powder. Mix them until they are well combined.

Add melted ghee to the besan mixture and mix them well.

You can see below the picture of the besan mixture combined with all of the ingredients, including ghee.

Next, apply some ghee on your palm and grab some mixture and shape them into round balls, about 1 1/2″ to 2″ diameter. Repeat this process until all of the besan mixture has been used.

You can store besan ladoo in an air tight container and it will last for at least a month of two i.e if you can keep yourself away from it.

Tips and Tricks to Make the Best Besan Ladoo

If you have made this recipe and liked it let me know in the comments below or tag me on Instagram @babsprojects.