Natasha Gandhi's easy recipe for healthy Motichoor Laddoos does not require frying and uses jaggery instead of sugar, so your Diwalis are a little more oil-free.
Photograph and video: Kind courtesy Natasha Gandhi
Motichoor Laddoo
Servings: 12 pieces
Ingredients
- 1 cup channa dal or Bengal split gram
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 cup jaggery
- 2/3 cup water
- Chopped pistachios + extra, for garnish
- Silver vark or silver filigree sheets, for garnish
Method
- Soak the channa dal in a bowl of water for 4-5 hours or overnight.
- Drain the water and transfer into a mixer jar.
Grind without water till a coarse paste.
- Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed kadhai or saucepan.
Add the channa dal paste and cook on low heat till it dries out completely.
Take off heat, cool and transfer into a jar and grind again.
Keep aside.
- Melt the jaggery along with water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat.
Once the jaggery melts, take off heat and add the channa dal mixture.
Stir well and let the channa dal mixture soak up all the jaggery syrup.
Add the chopped pistachios and roll the mixture into medium-sized laddoos.
Garnish each laddoo with a slice of chopped pistachio and a few small dots of vark.
Serve or store in an air-tight container for upto a week or so.
Note: To get that signature orange colour, use raw sugar instead of jaggery along with a few strands of saffron. Or if you opt for a lighter-coloured jaggery like gud and add a few strands of saffron, you should get the desired orange/yellow colour.
WATCH: How to make healthy Motichoor Laddoos.
Natasha Gandhi is a MasterChef India Season 6 contestant and the founder of House of Millets.