Boondi

Boondi -A royal dessert made from besan(chick pea flour) sugar syrup and garnished with chopped nuts.Delicately flavoured with saffron and cardamon.

Ingredients:

For batter:

1 cup Besan
1 tablespoon melted ghee for batter

1 tablespoon melted ghee for final garnish
½ cup water
Pinch orange food colouring

For chasne (sugar syrup)

1 cup Sugar ¾ cup water
1 pinch Kesar(saffron)

1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom powder

Oil for frying
15 almonds cut into slivers
10 almonds blanched and skin removed
2-3 drops red food colouring 2 cups

Oil for frying

Method:

For the chasne (sugar syrup)

1. In a pan add the 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water bring to boil.
2. Add the kesar, cardamon powder and pinch of food colouring.
3. Turn off heat when all the sugar is melted and chasne reaches ½ thread consistency (1/2 tar)


How to make boondi laddu:

1. Sieve the besan flour to remove lumps and add a pinch of food colouring.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of melted ghee and make a thick batter using the ½ cup water.
3. Keep aside

4. Heat the oil in a frying pan.
5. Hold the sieve about 2 inches from the oil. Take a ladle full of the batter and pour small amounts on to the sieve with small round holes.

6.Batter should drop to form small round pearl sized balls.(If you find batter is dropping too quickly forming long strings, batter is too runny add more flour to the batter, on the other hand if batter is not dropping than its too thick so add a little more water to batter.

7. Fry these pearl sized balls in small batches. As soon as they are crisp remove then from the oil and add to the chasne (sugar syrup)
8. Repeat the procedure till all the batter is used up.
9. To blanch the almonds add them to boiling water and leave for 5 mins
Remove from water and skin will slide off. Split the almonds in to halves and than quarters.
10. To the blanched almond quarters add 2-3 colours red food colouring ,toss to coat the almonds to colour them red. Place on kitchen paper to dry.

11. Mix the boondi into the sugar syrup, coating evenly and leave for ½-1 hour for the syrup to penetrate the boondis.

12. After 1 hour pour over the soaked boondi 1 tablespoon melted ghee,add the almond slivers and the coloured red almonds and mix.
13. Transfer to serving dish. Boondi is ready.

NB: For boondi ladoos, divide the mixture into 8 parts and make small golf ball sized ladoos from the boondi.

You may like: Gulab jamun.

Submitted this dish to JFI-saffron event.