Minapa Sunnundalu (Urad Dal Laddu )

Sunnundalu, a traditional Andhra sweet made of urad dal, sugar and ghee. I am making these on the occassion of Diwali.

So, Happy Diwali to all of you :) Have lots of sweets and have loads of fun on this Diwali.

It reminds me of my ammamma ( granny ) , she used to make the best sunnundalu in the world. Yummmm...

I tried to make many times but it never tasted like her's. Well, the ingredients are the same, the proportions are the same , hmmmm wonder what made her laddoos better than mine. Probably, 'Love' was her secret ingredient.

Well , no matter how much we try we can never make half as good as our moms or grandmoms. However, that should not stop us from trying.

So, here is my attempt:


Ingredients:

• Black Gram Lentil ( Urad Dhuli ) - 2 cups
• Grated Jaggery or Sugar - 1 cup ( Adjust to taste )
• Ghee ( Clarified Butter ) - 3/4 cup
• Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp ( optional )

Directions:

• In a wide pan, dry roast urad dal on low heat till golden color. Keep stirring often. Be careful not to burn the dal. Since it is being roasted on low heat, it would take a long time, but it is worth the patience.
• Turn off the heat and let it cool.
• In a grinder, grind urad dal and sugar together to fine powder. If sugar is already powdered you don't need to grind. But it is granules, then you need to grind along.
• If you are using jaggery then, grate it separately and them mix with urad dal powder.
• Add cardamom powder to the mixture of urad dal and sugar/jaggery and mix well till all the ingredients are well incorporated.
• You can avoid cardamom powder , if you are not a fan of elaichi flavor , like me.
• Melt ghee. Bring it to room temperature. Add melted ghee to the mixture slowly as required and keep mixing.
• When you see the mixture has begun to hold together, stop adding ghee. Do not add too much ghee, else it will drip while making the laddus.
• Make lime sized laddus out of the mixture.
• It can be stored in an air tight container for a couple of weeks.

Note: The taste of sunnundalu when made with jaggery is definitely different from that made of sugar, but both are equally good. You should try both and then stick to the one you like.

Enjoy the toothsome sunnundalu !!