Coconut Laddoo

Our office basement where i park my vehicle just got whitewashed last week. The fresh smell of whitewash can evoke just one memory in me- Deepawali! As kids we waited for almost month long holidays to start - starting from dussehra up to deepawali. As we grew up these holidays did come down to around 10 days but still the enthusiasm was the same!

The preparation for Deepawali used to always start with whitewashing and selling off 'Raddi' Old news papers-magazines-tin boxes anything that can be used in the reusable market. Then came the vendors selling artificial flowers and other knick-knacks who would shout at the top of their voices around the streets. Of course now that the house is cleaned of the unwanted stuff, its time to decorate it!

The last few days of the rundown to the the D- Day, the entire neighbourhood would be filled with such delightful aromas of different goodies being made. And we knew that we would have a share in it since everything that is prepared would be shared amongst neighbours!

I am starting my rundown this week with Coconut Laddoos, fairly easy and quick to make.

You would need

6 cups of Shredded dessicated coconut (khopra)

400 ml Condensed milk ( I used Amul Mithai Mate)

10 pods of Green Cardamom

1 Tbsp of Sugar

1 Tbsp of Ghee (clarified butter)

1/3 Cup of Raisins (kismish)

Separate 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and keep it aside for rolling the laddoos at the end.

Remove the grains from inside the cardamom and powder it with sugar. I did this using a mortar and pestle. Keep the mix aside.

Heat the ghee in a pan and add the raisins. Once it starts popping take it off the flame. Keep it aside.

Heat the remaining 5 1/2 cups of shredded coconuts in a thick bottomed wok. Keep the flame low and keep stirring. Do not let it Brown. When heated add the condensed milk and mix well for roughly two minutes.The entire mixture should become heated just enough for us to be able to hold it in hand. Remove it from flame at this point.

Add the fried raisins and the grounded cardamom seeds to coconut and mix well. Immediately make it into balls and roll the coconut balls in the shredded coconut we had kept aside earlier so as to cover them entirely.

Delicious laddoos are ready to savour!

Things I learnt while making these laddoos. We went about shredding the dessicated coconut with the hand grater. I found cutting it into small pieces and running it through the mixie also produced the same desired results. It would have definitely spared my hubby of half an hour of sheer hard work :)

Also prior to shredding, the outer brown cover of the dessicated coconut can be scraped off and not used. I used them which gave my laddoos a darker shade.

This is my entry to Yummy Festival Feast - Diwali and JFI - Festivals- Deepawali