I am from Bengal, in case you din’t know already. And we are known to be “sweet” people ~ Mishti (sweet in Bengali)!
Apart from the fact that our language is considered mishti, we have our weakness for anything thats sweet..especially from old west part of Bengal (before partition). My mother being one of them – we have had our share of sweetish curry, sweetish meat gravy, sweetish bread, sweet Cake or sweet snacks, sweet sweet & sweet drink..that includes tea or coffee with the amount of sugar worth a fortune!
Over the time, our tastes and kitchen rules have changed, flavours evolved and dessert choices altered. From the quintessential Bengali Rosogolla to payesh we have moved to variants of laddoo or even kheer stuffed puff pastry.
But who can beat an Indian classic?
None!
[Check out a range of desserts & sweets here]
Today my post is on one of the most love, eaten and sold sweet in any part of India. You are in India or ever have been here, I bet you have had a laddoo of some sort. If you haven’t, consolations to you!
This one is motichur/motichoor ke laddoo which is a popular variant among besan laddoo, bundi laddoo, khoya laddoo etc. These are had in almost any occasion, be it a festival, wedding, party, religious puja as shagun (token of good wish) or just like that!
I am taking a homely way out & not using any food colouring (which I highly discourage. Some studies on them are crazy!) Or readymade thickening agent like many sweet shops do. No no no!
That by no mean means mine are tempting addictive in any way π
The ingredients I have used are so simple and made from scratch.
The colour is NOT the vibrant orange that you see in the sweet stalls or by caterers but they taste just as delicious!
To give it some thick moist texture I will use some khowa/khoya (concentrated milk solid), which can be readymade but I made it from scratch.
Lets get started with his Puja / party special dessert π
Homemade Motichur laddoo - No added colour
You will need :
– A mixing bowl
– A wok/kadai or pan (to make bundis, make sugar syrup & khowa(if not readymade))
– a colander/ holed laddle or spoon
(Picture below)
Ingredients :
For the motichur/bundi
– Besan/ Bengal gram flour, 1 big cup
– Semolina/ sooji, 1 tablespoon
– Milk, to make the batter
– oil + ghee mixture, 1:1 ratio or as loved, for deep frying
– saffron in milk, for colour (optional)
– Khowa, 2 tablespoon (readymade store bought or homemade* scroll down to know more)
– Seeds of big black cardamom/Elaichi, 2 teaspoon ( optional)
– cashew nut/raisin, to garnish (optional)
For homemade khowa/milk solid
– milk (preferably full fat), 1 cup
[You can buy readymade unsweetened khowa from a store too]
For sugar syrup
– Sugar ,1 cup
– Water, 3/4 cup
– Green Cardamom/elaichi powder,
1 teaspoon or paste of 2
Method :
For the khowa/khoya/milk solids
β‘ In a wok/kadai/non-stick pan, pour in milk and boil it in low to medium flame. Keep stirring to avoid burning or sticking to pan. Depending on the fat and milk content, it will take from 10-25 minutes. You can easily do this while making the motichurs on another gas top/stove.
For the motichur/bundi
β‘ In a mixing bowl, add the besan/bengal gram flour, semolina/sooji with milk at normal room temperature. Add in some saffron/kesar strands in warm water for colour. The batter should be of flowing consistency with no lumps.
β‘ Take a wok/pan, put in the oil + ghee and heat it.
Pour in the batter through a colander or holed laddle/spoon. (PICTURE BELOW)
β‘ Fry them to a soft consistency (not too crispy), keep aside on a kitchen napkin. These are your Bundis.
For the sugar syrup
β‘ In a wok/kadai, add the sugar and water. Add the elaichi/cardamon powder/paste,mix very well.
Cook till string like sticky consistency.
Assemble
β‘ Now, pour the sugar syrup in the oil soaked bundi. Coat every bit and grind it into finer motichur/motichoor. Dont grind too fine or it will be hard to mould them into round balls.
β‘ Mix the khowa, Black cardamom seeds, (a teaspoon of ghee if you want) with the motichur/motichoor and mould the between your palms into round balls of your desired size.
Add a cashew or raisin on top to garnish.
Hope you enjoy trying this Indian Classic sweet for puja, occasions, festivals, or just to treat yourself π
You may want to check other Sweet dishes or desserts too!
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Love & Luck,
Roy β€ β€
Here’s some of my Pinterest fun
They look awesome! Love that you use the actual names of things, makes this an interesting read!
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I’ve never hears of some of these ingredients, but they sound pretty interesting.
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I am sure you can find them in any Asian/Indian store. π
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Probably. We actually have a huge Asian specialty grocery store very close to my work.
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Am sure they will stock up besan n all. Plus this is like the national sweet. π
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I have never tried Motichoor ladoos! But If they’re sweet I bet they’re good. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
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Thank you π
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I’ve always had trouble making any kind of ladoo..Except for coconut. That seems to be the only one that doesn’t give me troubles!
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You mean ‘naru’ !
Am sure you can make these too π
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These look and sound fantastic. I also have s huge sweet tooth. BTW, love your blog name!
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These look and sound really delicious. I have a sweet tooth as well! BTW, I love your blog name!
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Thank you. Am so glad you liked them.
Thanks for your kind words Cristieh!
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Roy,
Motichoor ladoos are so difficult to make but an expert like you make it look so easy. Love the step by step instructions for these. I am drooling looking at the laddos!
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I am blushing. A great cook like yourself saying that means so much to me.
You have a lovely blog full of delicious recipes.
Thank you for your kind words.
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I love this sweet!! I remember being taken to pujas sometimes, and I used to wait for the end to get these! Plus we used to get bundi as treats when we were taken out to Bombay sweet shops (in Sri Lanka). I definitely need to try making these at home π Thank you for the recipe!
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Thank you so much for sharing that anecdote.
I love lil food memories..am glad you could relate.
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These look and sound amazing! Wow thanks for sharing something so unique
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Thank you.
am glad you liked the unofficial “national sweet” of India π
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It is so nice!
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This is one of my favorite Mithais and did try making it once; took some time to make but my sister and I made loads of them and they lasted for a couple of days π Shall be making again someday but by following your recipe π
Thanks for sharing! π
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Yes it lasts a few days just fine.
Thanks Madiha. π
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Indian sweets are my FAVORITE! So flavorful and satisfying. This homemade recipe sounds absolutely tempting to try!
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Thank you. So glad to hear that π
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Very well made laddoos π
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Thank you so much π
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I love Motichur Laddoos. I have never made it at home due to the elaborate procedure.Its high time for me to try at home. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
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Thank you π
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I love Motichur Laddoo. I have never made it home due to the elaborate procedure. The loddoos look delish. High time I should try this now. Thanks for the recipe.
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I used to think they are elaborate and something not for home fun but I was so wrong.
Its pretty simple..just 30 minutes and you can easily multitask.
Fry the bundis while the sugar syrup is on.low flame.
Do try .i hope you have fun π
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They look so yummy and perfectly round too π
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Thank you π
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Yummy.. my kids fav sweet.. they simply just love it.. and yes ur blog name is really unique
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Thank you Fareeha π
Its one of my niece’s favrt too!
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