Chef Kunal Kapur’s dry fruit ladoo is the perfect healthy sweet to try this festive season: See preparation

Chef Kunak Kapur uses almonds, cashews, peanuts, poppy seeds, til, pumpkin seeds, resin and more to prepare a healthy dessert for festivities.

With Diwali coming up in days, preparing sweets is at the top of the to-do list in many homes. And if you are looking for a healthy option, celebrity chef and MasterChef India judge Kunal Kapur’s dry fruit ladoo is the perfect recipe to try.

It takes approximately 50 minutes to make the mithai from scratch. The detailed instructions for the preparation are presented as follows.

Ingredients for dry fruit ladoo

For dry fruits and nuts

• Ghee - 5 tbsp
• Gaund (tree resin) - ½ cup
• Almonds - ½ cup
• Cashew nuts - ½ cup
• Peanuts - ¼ cup
• Pumpkin seeds - 4 tbsp
• Khus-khus (poppy seeds)- 3 tbsp
• Til (sesame) - ¼ cup

For ladoo

• Ghee - ½ cup
• Besan (gram flour) - 3 tbsp
• Atta (whole wheat flour) - 2 cups
• Black cardamom seeds - 1 tsp
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
• Ginger powder (optional) - 2 tsp
• Sugar (fine grain or powdered) - 1 cup

Method of preparation

To prepare the dry fruits for the ladoo

1. In a pan, heat some ghee, add gaund, and cook it over a low to medium flame. Keep stirring so that it puffs. Once they have all puffed, strain them to remove the ghee, then place them on a platter. Using the back of a bowl, lightly crush the gaund. Make sure to keep it coarse and not totally powdered, as it will give a good crunch to the ladoo.
2. Add the strained ghee back to the pan and lightly fry almonds and cashews on low heat till the almonds start to crack. Strain them both to remove excess ghee. Place them on a fresh plate. Similarly, fry and lightly brown peanuts and pumpkin seeds, strain them, and put them on the almonds and cashews. If all of the ghee is consumed by this time, then add a little more ghee in the pan and lightly fry khus khus and til seeds. Strain them and add them with the other dried fruits.
3. Now add all the fried dried fruits and nuts in a mixer grinder & grind it coarsely; do not powder it completely. Remember not to add the gaund to this as it is already crushed and ready. Remove and keep aside.

To prepare the ladoo

1. Heat ghee in a pan, add besan (gram flour), stir on medium heat for a minute and then add the atta (whole wheat flour). Cook them both together till the colour changes to a darker shade of blonde to light brown. Remove and add it on top of the coarsely crushed nuts. Add the crushed gaund to it. Mix them and let them cool just enough to handle by hand.
2. Once it is cooled, sprinkle black cardamom seeds, cardamom powder and ginger powder over it. Add fine-grain sugar or powdered sugar. Mix them with your hands, take a handful and shape them into a ladoo. If the mixture is too dry and not coming together, add melted ghee to it. Once shaped, it is ready to serve.

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