As a part of my festive series, I have shared a delicious salty and spicy snack earlier called Gujarati Chivda. As mentioned earlier, sweets and snacks are prepared during Diwali in Indian households so as to offer them to friends and family who visit you in Diwali. Presenting a sweet dish that is again a Gujarati specialty called Magaj and also made by many others known commonly as Besan Laddoo.
Ingredients:
- 250gms besan / Gram flour
- 250ml ghee
- 200gms sugar powder
- ½ cup milk
- 1 to 2 tsp cardamom powder
- 1tsp long thin pieces of almonds
- 1tsp almond powder
- 1tsp long thin pieces of cashew nuts
- 1tsp cashew nuts powder
- 1tsp long thin pieces of pistachio
- 1tsp pistachio powder
Method:
Take ghee in a frying pan and heat it on the gas. When the ghee gets hot, lower the gas flame to medium and add the gram flour / besan to ghee. Keep stirring it till the besan is pinkish brown. Then add milk to it, stir it continuously till the milk dries totally and besan becomes biscuit brown. Switch off the gas, take down the pan from the gas, add all nuts powder, and wait till the mix is completely cold. Now mix sugar powder and half the cardamom powder to it. Mix them properly. Take small parts of the mix and make round laddooss from it. Keep laddoos in a container or dish and garnish by applying the remaining cardamom powder and adding a piece from each nut on surface of the ladu. Repeat the procedure for all laddoos.
If we have to make in large quantities and don’t have time for making separate laddoos we can spread the mix in a dish which has border which doesn’t allow the mix to spill from the dish. Spread evenly with the help of a plane surface bowl (wati) . Spread nut pieces on the surface and press a little with the plain surface bowl used earlier which will enable it to set properly on the mix. We can apply eating silver paper(called silver varakh) on the top of the sweet to decorate the sweet.
Then cut horizontally and diagonally. Let it set for some hours and then remove the pieces by separating from each other and serve or preserve in a container.
We can preserve this sweet for at least 15 to 20 days without refridgerating and for 2 to 3 months if refridgerated.
Goodness of Besan Laddoos / Magaj
Ghee has vitamin ‘A’, ‘D’ and ‘E’, good for eyes, hair and skin. Besan has lots of protein and nuts have many vitamins good for brain.