Boondi Ladoo

Diwali is a day of lights and sweets for me...As a kid has always enjoyed it by exchanging sweets with our neighbors ..lighting the diya at dusk and bursting fire crackers... As I grew up things changed..we shifted to Kerala...and diwali was no more fun with tons of sweets from neighbors or with crackers...Though we still lighted diya...Dad used to get the sweet boxes from stores which we used to expect north Indian sweets but sadly everything used to be the normal Kerala sweets with small pieces of halwas and regular stuffs...soon we got bored with it...Though after coming to US we really miss those boxes too...This time I decided to prepare some stuffs for my son and hubby to enjoy...
Happy Diwali to all my friends and readers...:)

Recipe adapted from Show me the curry
Besan/Chickpea flour-1 cup
Water-1/2 cup+little more
Orange/yellow color- little
Ghee-1 tsp
Cashews-1 to 2 tbsp
Raisins-1 to 2 tbsp
Cooking camphor- a small pinch.(optional)

For the syrup
Sugar-1 cup
Water-1/2 cup
Cardamom-seeds from 2 pods(slightly crushed)

Method of Preparation:
1. Sieve besan in a bowl, add color to it and mix with water.The dough should be thick with a dripping consistency.
2. In a pan add sugar, water and cardamom seeds and bring it to half string consistency.Turn off heat.
3. Heat oil in a wok on medium heat and when hot pour two spoons of dough on a perforated ladle. Using a tsp tap the ladle so that the dough drips from the holes.See that the difference between the hot oil and ladle is between 1 to 2 inches.
4. Initially you will hear a shhhh sound which starts to fade slowly. When the sound has become feeble remove the boondis from wok and drain on paper towel.
5. Add it to the sugar syrup after 1 to 2 mins.Let it soak there.
6. Now remove all the dough from the perforated ladle completely(wipe off) and continue the process.
7. Heat ghee in a wok and fry the raisins and cashews in it.Drain and set aside.
8. Now once evrything is added to sugar syrup mix it well. Take about 1/2 of the bondi in a mixer and pulse it once or twice.
9. Add this back to the pan with whole boondis,cashews and raisins and give a good stir
10. When the boondi is warm and can be handled by hand, grease hands with ghee. Take little of the boondi and press it slightly to form round shape.
11. Set it aside on plate.Continue the process.
12. Once shaped let them cool completely, and then store in air tight box.

Notes:
1. The thickness of batter is very important. Too thin the batter will flow from the perforation resulting in thin threads instaed of boondi and too thick it wont drop from holes.
2. The distance between the oil and ladle should not be more. It will result in tails in the bhoondi.
3. Do not fry boondis till it is crisp..That is till whole shhh sound stops.It will turn boondi crispy which will not absorb sugar syrup..resulting in crispy ladoos instead of soft ones.
4. The oil should be properly hot.Too low heat will result in rubbery boondis and too hot will result in crispy/burned ones. If heat of oil increases reduce to low and then back to medium while starting the next batch.
5. The sugar syrup should be half thread consistency. ie a drop of sugar  on ur thumb and pressed with ur index finger should stretch half way and break. If sugar syrup reaches one thread consistency then add a little water and get it to half thread. Its very important to get it right else sugar will crystallize resulting in hard ladoos.
6. If the boondi mixture cools off while making ladoos it wont hold round shape. In that case slightly heat the mixture.
7. Initially rolled ladoos will be slightly moist...It will be fine once cooled.
8. While pulsing the boondi mixture do it very carefully. You should not end with a paste. It should just be little crushed.
9. Instead of adding raisins and cashews with mix you can decorate with one on each ladoo.
10. Cooking camphor should be used very little...It has very bold smell and using more of it will result in intolerable smell.Add little by little.
11. Perforated ladle should be wiped after each use. else it will leave tails in boondi.
12. While making boondi do move the ladle to avoid forming lumps.
13. I have used a little green color to get green boondis. In such case take about 1 to 2 tbsp of batter before adding color and then add the desired color.