Recipe: Ganesh Chaturthi Special - Ready in less than 15mins

Hello Readers,

Vinayaka Chavithi aka Ganesh Chaturthi is around the corner. No Indian festival is complete without sweets. Irrespective of the big menu we lay down, Lord Ganesha's birthday platter is incomplete without his favourite laddus. Today I am sharing a simple and very well known laddu recipe in every household. However, this is my mom's recipe. I have eaten this from so many popular sweet shops, my friends' house, neighbours' house but none of those is near close to the ones my mother makes. Along with a secret ingredient, the laddus she make will have loads of "Maa ka pyaar" (mother's love) making them taste the best!! This is one particular sweet I don't prefer to eat from anywhere else. 

The recipe I am sharing today is "Rava Laddu". I know this makes you nostalgic and takes you back to your childhood. At least I could say, it definitely does take me back. This is one such sweet item that used to be a regular in most of the festivals like Varalakshmi Vratham, Deepavali, Sankranthi or any special occasion, primarily the ease with which it can be made and with ingredients that are quite commonly available in Indian kitchens. This is a perfect laddu recipe to make as part of Ganesh Chathurthi's huge prasadam menu, as besan laddu or bundhi laddu or urad dal laddu (sunnunda) or dry fruits laddu etc. requires more time. We can make these rava laddus within 10 mins, making it suitable for occasions where we are short of time.

Like what you read? Follow me on YouTube for fresh videos and updates on every new post!

Ingredients:

• Rava (Sooji/ Semolina) - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Grated coconut - 1/3 cup
• Cashew nuts (halved) - 1 tbsp
• Raisins - 1 tbsp
• Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Milk - 1/4 cup

Procedure:

• Boil the milk and keep it aside
• To a kadai or thick bottomed pan, add 1 tbsp ghee
• Once ghee is hot, roast the cashews and raisins until they are golden brown and set them aside
• To the same pan, add rava and roast for 2 mins 
• Now add grated coconut to rava and roast on medium flame until the mixture turns aromatic. It should take approximately 3-4 minutes
• Transfer the mixture to a plate, add sugar and caradamom powder and mix well 
• By now, boiled milk would have become luke warm
• Add milk to a small portion of the rava mixture and mix. While the mixture is still warm, take a handful of it, place a cashew and raisin and try to hold it into a lemon sized laddu (ball)
• Follow the above step to make all the laddus
• Leave the laddus to rest until it cools down

That's it. Delicious Rava Laddus are ready to be offered to our Lord Ganesha!!!

Tips:

• We can use desiccated dry coconut instead of raw coconut, to increase the shelf life of laddus. Since it is dry, 1/4 cup of coconut will suffice
• Add sugar while the rava is still hot. This process enables the sugar to slightly melt and aids in holding the ball shape well
• Don't over roast the rava. It will yield dry laddus.
• Don't miss to add milk. This is the secret ingredient that enhances the taste of these rava laddus 

   Check below for the video recipe.