Raksha Bandhan Recipe: Sugarfree Date Chia Laddoos

Raksha Bandhan is a lovely opportunity to head into the kitchen and rustle up something delectable for your sibling(s) because ghar mein bani mithai is a lovely way of showing pyaar.

Madhuri Aggarwal's Chia and Walnut Laddoos can be put together in under an hour and, best of all, they have no added sugar!

The walnuts and chia seeds will add a crunch to the healthy sweet which can be stored away in the refrigerator for a week.

Sit back and enjoy the fruit-and-nut snack with a glass of sherbet or homemade Sooji Ki Masala Nimki and Chaitime Mathri.

Madhuri's food blog is colourfully named MADaboutkitchen and she declares that her kitchen is 'the heart of my home'.

Chia and Walnut Laddoos

Servings: 15-16

Ingredients

• 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder, optional
• 1 tbsp ghee or coconut oil

Method

• Coarsely blend the seedless dates in a blender without adding any water.
  Keep aside.
• In a large frying pan or kadhai heat the ghee or the coconut oil.
  Toast the walnuts over low heat till crunchy and golden.
  Take off heat and cool.
• In a blender, coarsely grind the walnuts.
  Transfer back to the pan. 
  Add the chia seeds and roast for a minute more.
  Add in the ground dates and mix well.
  Add the cocoa powder.
  Continue stirring thes mixture over medium heat.
  Keep pressing the dates with a spatula -- that helps the dates to mix uniformly with the walnuts and chia seeds.
  Saute till the dates start releasing oil.
  Take off heat and cool briefly.
  Do not let the mixture cool completely, or it will be too hard to roll it into laddoos.
  Using your hands, roll the mixture into medium-sized laddoos.
  Serve or store in an airtight container, ideally in the fridge, for a week.

Madhuri Aggarwal is a food stylist, photographer, artist, designer and cooking enthusiast.