The only homemade boondi ladoo recipe you will ever need! These turn out deliciously sweet, soft with perfectly round boondis every time. Plus they’re so easy to make.
Here you will learn all the tips and tricks to perfecting them with step by step photos.
Jump to:
What Is Boondi Ladoo?
Boondi name came from the Hindi word ‘Boond’ means drops or droplets. Boondi is made from chickpea flour (besan). Small pearl-sized, round balls are deep fried in the hot oil or ghee and it is known as boondi. Going further, these boondis are soaked in saffron flavored sugar syrup and then formed in the shape of ladoo or ball.
Boondi ladoo are made during special occasions or festivals like Diwali or Ganesh Chaturthi.
During the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, ladoo, modak and few savories are offered to the Lord Ganesha. And then distributed between devotees. Check out the complete list of 35 Ganesh Chaturthi recipes.
These boondi ke laddu are packed into a decorative box and gifted to the friends and families on the Diwali festivals. Check out the list of Diwali sweets that you can make with love and gift to others. Many just make it at home for themselves and celebrate the festival.
❤️Why I Love This Recipe
- This method gives the perfect round shaped boondis (no more tailed or uneven shaped boondis). Do read the tips and instructions in the details.
- Homemade is always better than store-bought. You know you have used quality ingredients while making it.
- The proportion of the ingredients is perfect. So while shaping boondi laddu will bind nicely and you will get nice round ladoo.
- Making this boondi ke ladoo is little time consuming but it is totally worth it. The joy of making homemade boondi ladoo is more important for me. If you are fond of cooking like me then go for it. The end result is the same as the one you get from Mithai shop.
🧾Ingredients
Here is the pic of ingredients you’ll need to make boondi ladoo. Water (to make batter) and ghee (for frying, or oil) are not shown in the pic.
Besan (gram flour): Besan is ground up chana dal (split bengal gram) and very easily available in Indian grocery stores. There is similar flour called chickpea flour (garbanzo flour) and it more popular in American grocery stores. This chickpea flour is ground up white chickpeas (garbanzo beans).
- FYI, besan is very fine vs chickpea flour is little coarse. To make BEST boondi ladoo, you must use besan (gram flour).
🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
1) Sift the besan in a bowl.
2) Add little water at a time and make a smooth, lump-free batter. If you add all the water once, you will have too many lumps in the batter and so please avoid that.
3) You can see the batter should be runny consistency.
4) Special utensils required is Boondi jhara (skimmer works fine). To get the perfect boondi use the right type of spoon. Below is the picture, a small spoon is used for dropping and making boondi shape. While a big spoon is used to drain out the fried boondi from oil.
5) Heat the oil/ghee in a pan for deep frying on medium heat. Hold the boondi making skimmer on the pan with your left hand and take some batter in the ladle, pour on the skimmer.
6) and spread in using the ladle in a circular motion and droplets will drip down in the oil.
7) Fry till they are just cooked (not crispy or brown)
8) Drain the excess oil/ghee using another skimmer and remove it to a paper towel lined plate.
9) Before making the second batch of boondi, clean the bottom of the spoon with a kitchen towel or paper napkin to get the well-shaped boondi. I am saying again, do not forget to clean the bottom part at every batch.
10) Here is all of them are ready. You see one batch did get little brown but that’s ok.
11) To make sugar syrup, take sugar, water and saffron in a saucepan on medium heat. Let it come to a boil.
12) And cook till you get one string consistency (ek taar chasni).
13) How to check for one thread consistency of sugar syrup:
Method 1: Take a small drop of syrup in a plate, cool a bit, rub between your thumb and first finger and you will see the single string forming.
Method 2: Check by candy thermometer, it should be 220ºF – 222ºF/104º-105ºC. Once reach the single thread consistency, turn off the stove.
It took me 4-5 minutes to get the right stage. At the right stage, sugar syrup will be thick enough that it coats the spoon.
14) When ready, add fried boondi, cardamom powder, chopped nuts and raisins.
15) Mix and let it rest covered for 30 minutes. By this resting time, all the syrups get absorbed.
16) Start shaping the ladoo. No need to grease the hands, squeeze a little tight while forming the shape, the absorbed syrup will help to bind together.
Garnish with more nuts and let them set for 3-4 hours and they’ll firm up, now laddu are ready to serve.
💭Expert Tips:
- Right utensils: Use the right kind of skimmer (if not using boondi jhara). It is important for making perfectly shaped boondi. Make sure that holes are not too small or not big. They should be medium.
- Batter consistency: Always make the runny and lump-free batter. Do not make batter thick or too thin.
- If the batter is too thick then you will get tailed bundi, thin it out by adding little water.
- If the batter is too thin then you will get flat bundi, add little besan to get the right consistency. - Cleaning the back of skimmer: To avoid the tailed boondi, I highly recommend cleaning or wiping the bottom (not the top) of the spoon.
- Do not make the boondi crispy otherwise it won’t soak the syrup and you’ll not get soft ladoo.
- One thread consistency of the syrup is most important for the soft texture of the ladoo. If syrup cooked more (means two or more thread) then ladoos will be rock hard. One string makes soft and melts in your mouth ladoo.
- I have the practice to shape the ladoo by using only one hand. If you find it difficult then use two palms. But to get the nice round shape I would say try with one hand only.
PS Tried this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback! Plus, Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates.
📋 Recipe Card
Boondi Ladoo
Ingredients
For making boondi:
- 1 cup Besan (gram flour)
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons Water
- Oil / Ghee to deep fry the boondi
For Sugar syrup:
- 1 cup White granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup Water
- 10 strands Saffron
For ladoo:
- ½ teaspoon Green cardamom seeds powder
- 2 tablespoon Raisins
- 2 tablespoon Almonds chopped
- 2 tablespoon Pistachios sliced + little more for garnishing
Instructions
Making Boondi:
- Sift the besan in a bowl. Add little water at a time and make a smooth, lump-free batter. The batter should be runny consistency.
- Special utensils required is Boondi jhara (skimmer works fine). To get the perfect boondi use the right type of spoon. See the pics shared above.
- Heat the oil/ghee in a pan for deep frying on medium heat. Hold the boondi making skimmer on the pan with your left hand and take some batter in the ladle, pour on the skimmer.
- And spread in using the ladle in a circular motion and droplets will drip down in the oil.
- Fry till they are just cooked (not crispy or brown). Drain the excess oil/ghee using another skimmer and remove it to a paper towel lined plate.
- Before making the second batch of boondi, clean the bottom of the spoon with a kitchen towel or paper napkin to get the well-shaped boondi. I am saying again, do not forget to clean the bottom part at every batch.
- Fry rest till you are done with the batter.
Making Sugar Syrup:
- Take sugar, water and saffron in a saucepan on medium heat. Let it come to a boil.
- And cook till you get one string consistency (ek taar chasni).How to check for one thread:1) Take a small drop of syrup in a plate, cool a bit, rub between your thumb and first finger and you will see the single string forming.2) Check by candy thermometer, it should be 220ºF – 222ºF/104º-105ºC. Once reach the single thread consistency, turn off the stove.
- It took me 4-5 minutes to get the right stage. At the right stage, sugar syrup will be thick enough that it coats the spoon.
Making Boondi Ladoo:
- Add fried boondi, cardamom powder, chopped nuts and raisins to the sugar syrup.
- Mix and let it rest covered for 30 minutes. By this resting time, all the syrups get absorbed.
- Start shaping the ladoo. No need to grease the hands, squeeze a little tight while forming the shape, the absorbed syrup will help to bind together.
- Garnish with more nuts and let them set for 3-4 hours and they’ll firm up, now laddu are ready to serve.
Notes
- Batter consistency: Always make the runny and lump-free batter. Do not make batter thick or too thin.
- If the batter is too thick then you will get tailed bundi, thin it out by adding little water.
- If the batter is too thin then you will get flat bundi, add little besan to get the right consistency.
- Cleaning the back of skimmer: To avoid the tailed boondi, I highly recommend cleaning or wiping the bottom (not the top) of the spoon.
bhavana
Loved your detailed description. Worth all the effort!
Kanan Patel
Thank you. Happy Cooking!!