Besan Ladoo

Wednesday mornings were special for a little girl as her mother would give her 11 Rupees  to get Besan Ladoo for lord Ganesha from a Mithaiwala (Sweet shop) next door.  On special occasions, she tried two varieties of besan ladoo after visiting  Ganesh temple on Wednesdays with her sister and brother. Time flies and now she enjoys Besan ladoo made by her mother-in-law (MIL) while remembering her childhood days. Then, one day thousands of miles apart from her memories, she attempts to make them with an andaaza (approximate) recipe -  remembering bits and pieces of how MIL moved the ladle effortlessly with a lot of patience and love and yet, thinking about the little girl running to the sweet shop.

Ingredients:
3 cup besan ladoo flour (thicker than regular besan flour)
1 cup ghee (clarified butter - u can add 1/4 cup more if you want the traditional touch!)
1 cup powdered brown sugar (or more if u have a sweet tooth)
1/2 cup chopped almonds (adjust depending upon your taste)

- Melt ghee (clarified butter) in a thick bottomed pan (Kadai -  you can also use a nonstick pan)
- At very low flame, add besan flour to the pan. Cook the mixture for 60-70 minutes while mixing regularly to prevent from burning (This is the key step otherwise the mixture will either remain uncooked or will burn quickly. If you get tired/bored, you can switch off the gas and return to it anytime you want)
- Add chopped almonds about 10 mins before you finally turn off the gas
- Let the mixture cool down for 5-10 min. Add sugar and mix well
- Make 20-25 small ladoo with your hands. It might take some effort to assemble the ladoo because this recipe uses less ghee than usual. This much amount of ghee is good to slowly cook the mixture at really low flame. Of course you can adjust this amount according to your taste.
-Enjoy and Happy New Year!