Rava Laddu : Suji ka Ladoo

Its in the air! Yup, the onset of the Festive Season in India has begun... Along with celebrations, its time to treat your taste budz and tummy with very minimal or no restrictions whatsoever :) What better reason for me to try my hands at attempting some sweet dishes; and ofcourse, I was inspired by @ Riddhika Ram's 2 sweet dishes that I happened to taste recently. But as a novice, I would like to begin with the basics; some easy to make but commonly liked and available sweet dishes. Though I am not such a fan for sweet dishes, I do want to learn these to treat those sweet toothed people in my life!

Beginning with the most simple and easy to make Rava Laddu or Suji ka Laddu. Flat 15-20 mts and the dish is ready.

Ingredients:

• Rava / Suji / Semolina : 1 cup
• Sugar: 1 cup (3/4 cup, if lesser sweet)
• Ghee:  1/4 cup
• Cardomom powder : 1-2 pinch
• Cashew nuts : A handful (I would like to add other dry fruits like badam / dry grapes etc)

Method:

1. In a tava, add 1 tbspn of ghee. As it melts, make small pieces of the cashew nuts and roast them till golden brown
2. Keep the fried cashews aside. In the same left over ghee, if any, roast the Rava / Suji. You can also dry roast them. I prefer to roast them till golden brown (approx 10 mts on medium flame)
3. Allow the roasted rava / suji to cool for 5 mts
4. Make a powder of the Cardomoms 
5. In a mixer, add the cardomom (if not powdered smoothly), roasted suji, and sugar. Grind them just a little less fine (max coarse as possible so that it neither bites too much nor its too soft that it becomes sticky)
6. Add the powdered mix in a big bowl. 
7. Melt the remaining ghee.
8. Add the ghee slowly to the powdered mix. Make a mix and start making the ladus when the mix is hot. 
9. Yummy ladus are ready to be tasted

Tip:

• You can sprinkle a little warm milk if you are not able to make the ladus easily - this is something that I read but never tried

What went wrong:

• During my first attempt, I didn't roast the suji enough. So, it had the raw feel when the ladus were made
• I included Dried Grapes & Badam. While badam will go well, at times dried grapes may not synch in because it could be sour at times. Many may not like that flavor in rava ladu.