Diwali / Deepavali is around the corner and it is time to indulge in delicious sweets and snacks. My theme for this week’s BM is very apt for the season and for the next 3 days I will be posting Diwali sweets and savories. For new cooks, making sweets and savories could be a little intimidating and hence I am going to be posting recipes that are very easy to make and can be made under 30 minutes. I can’t believe that I have never made Rava Urundai / Rava Ladoo before and thinking about it, I realized that I have never had the need to make them from scratch. My mother would grind a large batch of the Rava and sugar mixture and all I had to do every time was just add the roasted nuts and melted ghee and make ladoos. I am out of stock and I wanted to make some when I was in India this summer, but never got to make it. So I thought, this would be a good opportunity to make the rava urundai.
What kind of rava / semolina to use
Grinding the rava to get that smooth texture is a challenge when grinding in the mixer. I have noticed that the spice jar or the smaller mixer jar grinds the rava much better than the large jar. Also roasting the rava with a bit of ghee makes it easier to grind it smoother. I also feel that grinding the rava and the sugar together makes them come together way better than mixing powdered sugar to the ground rava. The rava - sugar mixture can be stored for a long period and then can be made into ladoo by adding the ghee whenever needed. The shelf life for this ladoo is quite long as it does not having anything perishable. There are some recipes that call for a bit of milk to make it easier to shape the ladoo. If adding milk, the shelf life would be drastically reduced. Enjoy this quick to make Rava urundai / Rava Ladoo this Diwali. If looking for something similar, check out the Besan ki Pinni aka Besan ladoo recipe. I also have the traditional Boondi Ladoo recipe, if you want something a little more elaborate and traditional. Preparation time - 10 minutes Cooking time - 5 minutes Difficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Rava Urundai - Makes around 20 medium ladoos
Rava / Sooji / Semolina - 1 cupGranulated sugar - 1 cupGhee / Nei - 6 tbspCashews and Almonds - 3 tablespoon (chopped into small pieces)Cardamom powder / Elaichi - ¼ tsp
Procedure to make Rava Urundai
Heat a pan over low to medium heat with about a teaspoon of ghee. Add the rava to the pan and fry it until it is aromatic. Do not let the rava change color as that will change the color of the ladoo. Make sure that you fry it in low heat. This takes about 5 to 6 minutes.
Let the roasted rava cool down to room temperature.Transfer the cooled rava to the small mixer jar. Use the small jar as it grinds the rava much finer than the large jar. If making in large quantity, grind the rava in batches. I ground mine in 2 batch.Run the mixer for about a minute or until the rava is ground to finer texture.Now add the granulated sugar to the jar, along with the rava and grind it further to make it into as fine powder as you can. I added ½ cup of sugar as I ground my rava in 2 batches. You will find that the rava and the sugar are well incorporated at this stage.Transfer the content of the jar to a wide bowl and then repeat with the rest of the rava and sugar.
Heat ghee / nei in a pan and add the chopped nuts. Let the nuts brown in low flame and then add it to the ground rava mixture. Add the cardamom powder and mix with a spoon until it is warm enough to handle by hand.Try making ladoos and if they are too crumbly add a little bit more of melted ghee. Too much ghee will make the ladoos appear too greasy. When you press together a lump of rava mixture and it stays together as a lump, that is the right texture.
Form tight ladoos with the rava mixture and let it cool down entirely before storing it in an airtight container.
I made about 22 rava urundai / rava ladoo with the measurement above.
Notes and observation -
If you live in a place where you have access to a grain mill, then fry the rava and mix it with the granulated sugar and get it ground in the mill. You could store this mixture for a long time and make rava urundai / rava ladoo whenever you need.Start with lower quantity of ghee and then add more if needed.If grinding at home, use the small jar / masala jar of the mixer. The larger jar just does not grind as well as the small one.Grind the rava in batches with the sugar needed. I ground mine in 2 batches.
Other Dessert Ideas
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter/X