Instant Coconut Laddu

I am back with one more Laddu recipe :D  Its my favorite coconut laddu.  I love coconut and anything made with it.  Be it coconut chutney, coconut kheer, coconut burfi, coconut muffins, coconut cakes and so on.
Coconut laddus are very common.  Most of you must be aware of its different recipes. Here I made an instant version with condensed milk.  Its insanely easy and quick to make.  Those who are new to cooking can easily start with this amazingly delicious sweet.

So try it and share your feedback.  Happy Cooking :)
Also try my other Indian sweets -
Ragi Laddoo
Phirni
Roti Laddoo
Chana Dal Burfi
Lauki Halwa
Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun
Pineapple Rava Kesari
Sweet Corn Kheer/Payasam
Custard Powder Halwa/Karachi Halwa
Coconut Kheer

Makes – 7 laddus

Ingredients:

Fresh coconut  (finely grated)	1 cup (tightly packed)
Condensed milk	Little less than ½ cup
Cardamom	2 (finely crushed)
Ghee	1 tsp
Cashews (finely chopped)	4-5
Desiccated coconut	½ cup (for rolling)

My 1 cup measures 250 ml.

Method:

• Heat ghee in a non stick pan and add coconut.  Fry for 2-3 minutes on medium low heat till it gets a little dry.  Add in condensed milk and mix well.  Add crushed cardamom and chopped cashews. Mix again. Keep stirring and let this mixture cook on medium heat till it starts leaving the sides of the pan.   Remove from the flame and shift to a dry bowl.  Let it cool down.
• Take a large plate and spread a thick layer of desiccated coconut on it.  
• Pinch a little amount from the mixture and roll it between your palms and shape them into laddus.  Likewise make laddus with the remaining mixture.
• Roll the prepared laddus in desiccated coconut and roll again between your palms to remove the excess coating.
• Serve.

Notes:

1. You can make these laddus with desiccated coconut too.  
2. If using desiccated coconut to make these laddus, do not roast it.  You can directly cook the mixture.
3. You can add your choice of dried fruits and nuts but use them in little quantity to maintain the coconut flavour.
4. Do not overcook the mixture as it may get a little hard after cooling down.  A little moisture should be there to get the soft laddus.
5. You can keep these laddus on room temperature for one day and after that keep them refrigerated.  I recommend to not to store them for long as there is fresh coconut in it.

Ragi Laddu

Today I am going to share my Ragi Laddu recipe.  This post was in my draft folder since quite a long time.  I thought to post it today as its my little sister's birthday.  So this one is specially for you NEHU :)
Laddus are almost everyone's favourite but people try to avoid them most of the times because of the guilt of having loads of ghee. So today's recipe is specially for those whose temptation of having sweets, kneels down in front of calories as these laddus are made with just 5 tbsps of ghee :)  And the cherry on the cake is that they are made of ragi flour.  This is called Health Bhi Taste Bhi :)  

These laddus were so delicious and addictive that all of them got finished up on the same day.   A guilt free anytime snack.  
Its a must try.  Simply follow the recipe and you will never go wrong. Try it and let me know the results.  Happy Cooking :)

Makes – 18 Laddus

Ingredients: 

Ragi flour	1 cup
Desiccated coconut	¼ cup
Khuskhus /Poppy Seeds	½ tbsp (roasted)
Castor sugar/ Powdered sugar	¾ cup+2 tbsp
Cashews	12 (roughly crushed)
Almonds	22 (roughly crushed)
Raisins	2 tbsp (chopped)
Ghee/Clarified butter	5 tbsp

My 1 cup measures 250 ml

Method:

• Take a non stick pan and dry roast the ragi flour on medium flame for 5-6 minutes.  Shift to a dry bowl.  Set aside.

• In the same pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and add chopped cashews and almonds.   Fry them till light brown then add raisins and fry for 20-30 seconds.  Remove from flame and set aside.

• Use the same pan and add 2 tbsp ghee, add in roasted ragi flour and fry on low flame till nice aroma comes out.  Add in desiccated coconut and roasted poppy seeds.  Mix well.  Then add fried nuts and raisins.  Mix again.  Remove from flame and set aside.

• Now shift the prepared mixture to a big bowl and add in sugar.  Mix everything well with hands.  Add 2 tbsp ghee and mix well with fingers.  Let the mixture warm.

• Grease your hands, take some mixture and shape it into balls.  Likewise make laddus with the remaining mixture.

• Store in an airtight container.

Notes:

1. Use fine ragi flour to melt in mouth texture.
2. Dried fruits and nuts can be added as per choice.
3. Be patient while shaping the laddus as they would take some time in the beginning.