Dates and Nuts Ladoo / Healthy Kids Recipe / Navratri Fasting Recipe - Festive Cooking

Sharad Navratri mark the onset of winters. Dates and dry fruits both provide warmth to the body and hence these Dates and Nuts ladoos serve as a delicious,  healthy and nutritious winter breakfast with energy punch to start the day , both for the ones who are fasting and even for those who are not. They can be made as a quick and easy festive food for any special occasion like Diwali , Karwa chouth , Dashera.

I have already posted a similar recipe Dry Fruits ladoo , where i have used dry dates (Chuara / Kharik) and edible gum (goand) along with dryfruits and jagerry. The dates and nuts ladoo recipe makes use of fresh Palm dates , Poopy seeds and nuts like Cashew Nuts , Almonds , Walnuts and Pistachios. Dates serve as natural sweetener and hence no additional sugar is added to this Ladoos. Recipe is very quick and easy to follow.

Before moving to the recipe, lets have a look at the health benefits of dates and nuts.
Nuts are bite-size nutritional powerhouses packed with heart- healthy fats , protein, vitamins, and minerals. Wonderfully delicious , dates are one of the most important fruits packed with an impressive list of essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are required for normal growth, development and overall well- being. The fruit is rich in dietary fiber, which prevents LDL cholesterol absorption in the gut. Dates are excellent source of iron, potassium , calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium.
source:http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/dates.html

These delicious energy balls are loved by one and all. They can be taken as breakfast with milk, or just as a guilt free grab and go snacks for kids and working folks. This ladoos prove beneficial in increasing hemoglobin levels and also help in gaining weight so my Mum made this ladoos during my pregnancy , as i was both underweight and anemic.

Ingredients: Makes 15-20 ladoos

• Fresh Palm Dates of your choice - 250 grams
• Roughly chopped nuts of your choice - 3 tbsp each ( i have used Pistachios, Almonds , Walnuts and Cashew Nuts )
• Poppy seeds - 3tbsp
• Ghee - 1tbsp
• Cardamom Nutmeg powder - 1tsp

  Method:

1. Remove the seeds from the dates and using a food processor or grinder pulse the dates in small batches. This will make their small bits and save time of individual chopping of dates.

   2.  Heat up 1 tbsp ghee in a non stick wok and shallow fry Almonds and Cashewnuts on low to medium flame . You will get nice aroma from the nuts. Keep stirring for 1-2 minutes or until cashews turn light pink. Drain and remove from the wok and keep aside.

  3. In the same ghee now roast the Pistachois and Walnuts for about a minute or so. Remove and keep with the Almonds and Cashews.

 4.  Now roast the Poppy seeds on low flame in the same wok with left over Ghee for 1 minute. Keep stirring continuously .

  5. At the end add the dates in the wok along with poppy seeds. Mix properly and put off the flame. Now add the roasted nuts followed by Cardamom and Nutmeg powder. Mix everything nicely and allow the mixture to cool down for 5 minutes.

  6. Once the mixture cools a little, mix it with hands to form a dough.

 7.  Pinch small portion and roll out into a small gooseberry shape ball between the palms. Repeat the same for all the Ladoos. You may make big ones or small bite size depending on your choice.

  8. Keep them in an air tight container. Serve with warm milk as a healthy and filling Breakfast.

  If you are looking for some more recipes with dates , check out my posts on Sheer Khurma, Dates and Sesame candy , Dry Fruit Laddos.