Gond and Dry Fruit Laddoo

I am always extremely excited when I am trying a traditional recipe and so when I decided to make gond and dry fruit laddoos for a close friend who had recently delivered a baby, I couldn’t wait to get on with it. These laddoos are generally made for young lactating mothers as gum and makhana enhance lactation, the dry fruits provide vital nutrients which then pass on to the new born via the mother’s milk.  

This is definitely a ‘not so everyday’ recipe and this is the first time I made this. I wish I could have made this for my sister too when she delivered my niece but I was so busy with my project at work that it was just impossible to even think of something like this then. Anyways...

Though I made this for my friend, everyone at home too liked these nutrition packed laddoos.   

Ingredients

100 grams powdered sugar,

100 grams gond or edible gum,

100 grams ghee,

¾ cup coarsely chopped almonds,

50 grams dry deseeded dates,

2 tbsp dessicated coconut,

1 tbsp poppy seeds,

1 cup chopped cashew nuts

1 cup halved makhana,

½ cup raisins,

2 tbsp melon seeds,

2 cups whole wheat flour,

1 tsp dry ginger powder,

¼ tsp of powdered nutmeg,

1 ½ tsp powdered fenugreek seeds,

1 tsp roasted and powdered ajwain,

¼ tsp salt,

1 cup of warm milk

Method

Powder the dry dates to a coarse powder.

Roast the melon seeds, almonds, desiccated coconut and poppy seeds one by one and reserve in a large plate.

Roast the makhana and when half roasted add some ghee and fry till crisp. Keep aside. Fry the cashew nut pieces in ghee and keep aside. Heat some more ghee and add the gond. They will pop a little. Once all the gond has popped, strain it out and once it is cool, grind to a fine powder.

Heat the remaining ghee and add the wheat flour, fry this till it changes colour.

Now mix in all the ingredients except the warm milk. Mix them well and shape into laddoos. If you have trouble binding them in round laddoos drizzle the warm milk on to the mixture, this will help in binding.