Searching for variety Diwali sweets recipes / easy Diwali ladoo recipes?
Craving some yummy Indian sweets during this festive season?
Planning to gift your loved ones with homemade easy Diwali sweets?
Here are 3 easy to make variety Diwali laddoos to make this festival of lights sweeter.
Diwali has its origin from the Sanskrit word Deepavali denoting row of diyas (lighted lamps) and this is the festival of diyas, crackers, and sweets.
As you all know the Sanskrit Epic Ramayana narrates that Lord Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana headed back to Ayodhya after their 14 years of vanavasa by defeating Ravana during a pitch black night. The people of Ayodhya celebrated their arrival and welcomed them on that dark night by lighting diyas in rows from the forest to Ayodhya. We follow this tradition of lighting lamps to celebrate the victory of good over evil.
Now coming to our main interest - food!! Every Indian festival is celebrated with lots of homemade traditional sweets. I prepare sweets for every Indian festival without fail. Nowadays "chotta bheem ladoo" seems to be one of the favorites among kids. Unfortunately, my little man doesn't like ladoos. But I love ladoos and it's not like we should always look upon our kid's choices. So I thought of making some laddus for you lovely readers as Diwali is just around the corner.
We all descended from a generation where ghee was used as cooking oil for its taste, medicinal values, and nutritional properties. Due to more western influences on Indian culture, we started picking more of vegetable oils from the grocery shops than ghee and coconut oil. I have added ghee in all the Diwali sweets recipes listed here. So before heading into the recipes, let's know about the health benefits of ghee.
Health Benefits of Ghee
- Most of you have the misconception that ghee will put on more weight if consumed. I will give you the scientific reason to prove this is a myth. Ghee is composed of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), the type of fatty acid which is very useful for our body. This MCFAs will not get deposited as adipose (fat) tissue in the body as other long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) and will be burnt as energy. So ghee is regarded as a good energy booster.Ghee is best for those who are lactose intolerant as its dairy free.
- Omega 3 fatty acids in ghee helps in lowering the bad cholesterol from your body.
- Ghee is used in ancient times to treat many types of inflammation in the body. Ghee is used to treat gastrointestinal inflammation. Ghee contains butyric acid (short chain fatty acid) which is useful to decrease leukotriene formation and reduce prostaglandin which are responsible for inflammation.
- Ghee has a strong antioxidant property which help in fighting/ eliminating/neutralizing free radicals and promote new skin cell formation, help in reducing the risk of heart disease and few types of cancers.
- Ghee is rich in Vitamin A which is good for eyes.
- Ghee helps in boosting up the immune system.
- Ghee is a good source of vitamin K2 which help to remove the calcium from the arteries to deposit (prevent calcification of arteries).
- Ghee can be used in combination with some herbs to help in the absorption of the medicinal properties of those herbs.
- Ghee can be used for seasoning, sautéing, baking or frying as it has a high smoke point (can be cooked at high temperatures without burning)
- As always, any food when taken excessive is harmful. So always limit the intake.
Read:
Diwali Sweets Recipes- 3 Yummy Diwali Ladoo Recipes For Your Kids And Guests
Ladoos are a must when it comes to any Indian festival sweet box. So let us see how to make 3 different easy Diwali ladoos at home and impress your guests and satisfy your kid's tummy and sweet tooth.
#1. Besan Ladoo
Besan ladoo is made with channa dal and is a hit Diwali sweet recipe in my home. We Indians include lots of daal varieties in our foods. I can eat rice and daal with ghee for my daily lunch menu.
Health Benefits of Channa Dal- Channa dal otherwise the baby chickpeas can be easily digested by the little tummies.
- It is highly nutritious with high fibre content, and aids in reducing the level of cholesterol.
- The other rich nutrients present are protein, calcium, zinc and folate.
- The other good side is most of the fat content present in channa daal is polyunsaturated.
- It is good for diabetic patients with its low hypoglycaemic index (slow release of glucose into the blood), thus maintaining the body's blood sugar levels.
Besan Laddu Recipe
Ingredients: (makes around 12-15 small ladoos)- Channa dal - ½ cup
- Dry ginger powder - ½ tsp
- Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
- Melted ghee - as required (nearly ¼ cup)
- Powdered sugar - ¼ to ½ cup (adjust sugar according to your taste)
- Almonds/cashewnuts/almond powder (optional) - 3 finely chopped/1 tbsp powder
The preparation method of besan ladoo is very simple. You have to first dry roast channa dal. Once cool, grind it to fine powder in a mixer. Transfer this to a bowl, then add dry ginger powder and cardamom powder. For sweetness, you have to add powdered sugar. Just take granulated sugar and powder it in mixer.
Adding almond powder or cashewnuts are completely optional. I have added almond powder here to increase its taste and nutritional value.
Now heat ghee in a pan on low flame and melt it. Once cool enough to handle the melted ghee, pour to the above mixture and mix well to form a smooth dough. Make small ladoos from the dough. Your besan ladoos are now ready to be served.
#2. Coconut ladoo
The main ingredient of coconut ladoo is coconut and makes one of the top preferred Indian sweets for Diwali.
Coconut is one of the super healthy foods you can include in your daily diet without any worry. It not only increases the taste of food but benefits your health in so many ways. You will be amazed after reading the health benefits of coconut and I am pretty sure, you are going to start including coconut in your daily diet.
Health Benefits of Coconut- Regular usage of coconut will decrease your sweet cravings.
- Its rich in dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is a type of insoluble fiber which our body can't digest. As a result, no calories are formed when you consume coconut.
- One of the good saturated fatty acid present in the coconut is lauric acid. Do you know the fact that the lauric acid increases good-HDL cholesterol levels in your blood?
- It helps in good thyroid function and also is good for immune system
- It's an instant healthy energy booster and gives relief from chronic fatigue symptoms.
- It has no trans-fat and is rich in vitamins and minerals.
- It consists of antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and anti-parasitic healing properties.
- Its gluten free and hypoallergenic.
- It contains healthy short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) which is required for a healthy heart and also help to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis.
- Like ghee, coconut fiber also slows down the release of glucose as they have low glycemic index. This will help in maintaining the blood sugar level of body.
- It aids in speeding up your metabolism thus prevent obesity.
- Coconut is a good stress reliever. It helps in relieving stress on the pancreas and enzyme pool of your body.
- It improves digestion and good for various digestive tract inflammation.
- Coconut - 1 cup, freshly grated
- Powdered sugar - ½ cup (adjust according to your taste)
- Split roasted gram (Tamil: pottukadalai) flour - 1/4 cup (you can use besan also)
- Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
- Melted ghee - little or as required
For making coconut ladoos, you have to use freshly grated coconut. First dry roast freshly grated coconut. Grind this along with sugar to a smooth mixture. Powder some roasted split gram (can substitute with roasted channa daal). Add roasted split gram flour and cardamom powder to the coconut-sugar mixture and mix well.
Now heat ghee in a pan on low flame and melt it. Once cool enough to handle the melted ghee, pour to the above mixture and mix well to form a smooth dough. Make small ladoos from the dough. Your coconut ladoos are now ready to be served.
Here is another way to make coconut laddoos. Read: 3 Ingredient Coconut Ladoo Recipe
#3. Chocolate Sago Ladoo/ Tappioca Pearls Ladoo
Sago is also known as sabudana or tapioca pearls. Dishes prepared with sabudana are one of the foods served during fasting and also a common evening snack in many Indian households.
Health Benefits of Sago- The primary nutrient of sago is carbohydrate, so it can be given to kids with low weight as it helps in gaining weight.
- It will boost up your energy.
- The advantage of consuming sago is its low fat content.
- The other nutrients present are protein, calcium, folic acid, iron and potassium.
- It's very good for your digestive tract as it helps with indigestion problems and constipation.
Read: Sabudana/Sago Khichdi Recipe for Babies and Kids
Chocolate Sago Ladoo Recipe
Ingredients: (makes around 12-15 small ladoos)- Sago - ½ cup
- Freshly grated coconut - 1/3 cup
- Powdered sugar - ¼ to ½ cup (adjust sugar as per your taste)
- Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
- Dry ginger powder - ½ tsp
- Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
- Melted ghee - as required (nearly ¼ cup)
Kid's loves anything chocolaty. And how can our Diwali treats go without some chocolate recipes. So I have added cocoa powder to make this ladoos. I promise you, both you and your little one are going to love this crunchy ladoos.
(You can check my hot chocolate recipe to know the health benefits of cocoa powder)
For preparing sago ladoos, as usual you have to dry roast sago. But this is very time consuming one, it will take around 20 to 25 minutes to dry roast on low flame. You have to dry roast till it becomes light brown and somewhat puffed up. At the finishing stage, add cocoa powder and switch off the flame.
Let it cool. In the meantime, dry roast freshly grated coconut. Now grind roasted sago, grated coconut and sugar to a fine powder. If you like a crunchy texture, don't grind it long time to powder form. Transfer this to a bowl, then add dry ginger powder and cardamom powder.
Now heat ghee in a pan on low flame and melt it. Once cool enough to handle the melted ghee, pour to the above mixture and mix well to form a smooth dough. Make small ladoos from the dough. Your chocolate sago ladoos are now ready to be served.
All the ladoos mentioned here should be stored in air tight containers. It will stay for good 3-4 days.
All the above ladoo recipes can be given to babies above 1 year.
Read: Diwali Special Thinai Halwa or Foxtail Millet Halwa
Celebrate this Diwali with my homemade healthy ladoos. Fill you diwali sweet boxes with homemade sweets and make it more special.
Share with us your masterpiece Diwali sweets recipes.
Have a happy and safe Deepavali.
A Note of caution: Try to cut down the number of fireworks and protect our nature!
