This rava laddu (ladoo) is the easier version made with condensed milk. I have mentioned all the tips and tricks to make it soft and perfect every time.
Heat the ghee in a pan on medium-low heat. Add cashews and fry with stirring constantly till they get light brown in color. Drain the excess ghee and remove it to a plate.
In the same ghee, add raisin. Within seconds they plump up. Again drain ghee and remove it to the same plate. Keep them aside.
In the remaining ghee, add semolina. Roast sooji with stirring continuously on LOW-MEDIUM heat for around 8-10 minutes.- In the beginning, you will find that rava is heavy and you will have to make some effort to stir it.- Continue roasting till you get a nice aroma of sooji and it will get slight color change (NO need to brown)- Once roasted, you will find that rava is very light while stirring.
Now add desiccated coconut. Mix and roast for 1-2 minutes, you will get a nice toasted aroma of coconut.
Remove this mixture to a plate. Let it cool for 4-5 minutes. Then add cardamom powder, condensed milk and roasted cashew-raisins.
Start mixing until it comes together like a dough.
Let this mixture become warm and cool to touch. Then grease your palm with ghee and start shaping them into ladoos. As it cools, ladoo will firm up.
Notes
This tastes best the day it is made. After a couple of days, it starts to harden up more.
Roasting sooji properly is the key to making the best-tasting rava laddu. Always roast the sooji on low-medium heat with stirring constantly.
If the mixture looks dry and you’re not able to form ladoo then you can add little milk or water at a time and mix. Depending on the quality and freshness of the semolina you may or may not need extra milk/water. Some type or sooji absorbs more liquids vs some less. So adjust the addition of extra liquid.
If the ladoo mixture is loose, then you need to dry roast little amount of sooji and add to the mixture so you can able to form the balls.
Which rava is used? Always use fine rava (not coarse) for this rava laddu.