Magaja Ladoo / Wheat Flour Ladoo from Odia Cuisine

Magaja ladoo is a delectable sweet from the Odia Cuisine. These ladoos are made with whole wheat flour, sugar, ghee and are flavored with cardamom and black pepper. Magaja ladoo is one of the famous chaapan bhog (56 offerings) of Lord Jagannath at Puri temple in Odisha. These melt-in-mouth wheat ladoos are rich in calories and can be made on special occasions and festivals like Diwali and Durga Pooja. You can serve them to kids as a healthy breakfast with milk or an after school treat. The recipe is very simple and the ladoos can be prepared under 30 minutes.

Magaja Ladoo are very much similar to the Pithiche Ladoo we Maharashtrians make from whole wheat flour, sugar and ghee. Only difference is that we use only cardamom powder for flavoring and in Magaja ladoo , black pepper is also used. These ladoos crumble easily as they are loaded with ghee and have a very good shelf life. The ladoos remain good at room temperature in an air tight container up to a month. Apart from these Magaja Ladoo , Rasabali and Chhena Poda (baked paneer cake) are the other sweet dishes among the chaapan bhog offered at the Jagganath Puri temple that I have tried my hands on.

Every alternate month I participate in a Facebook group, Recipe Swap Challenge ,where in paired bloggers visit each others blog and bookmark recipes they like and wish to try out. Any one dish is then recreated and posted on their blogs with due credits given to the author. This is my 5th month in this wonderful group started by dear friends and fellow bloggers, Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan. My partner for this month is Sasmita Sahoo Samanta who has a wonderful blog, First Timer Cook. Do check out her space for authentic Odia recipes and other delicious recipes around the globe. I have bookmarked a couple of recipes from her blog. For this event, settled to this delectable odia Magaja ladoo.

                                         

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 1.5 dozen ladoos

Ingredients: Measurements used - 1 cup = 240 ml

• 3 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1 cup ghee
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon green cardamom powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper powder

Method:

1. Heat a non stick pan on low flame. Add ghee to it. Once the ghee melts, add wheat flour to it and start mixing the flour with the ghee. Keep roasting the flour for 8-10 minutes on low to medium flame . You will get nice aroma from the roasted flour and the flour will turn light brown (2 shades darker than the original) on roasting. 

2. At this stage add the powdered sugar and granulated sugar and mix it well with the roasted flour.

3. Lastly add the cardamom powder and black pepper powder and put off the flame. Mix it well and allow the ladoo mixture to cool down a bit .

4. Once the mix is cool enough to handle , grease your palms with ghee and take around 2 tablespoon of the mix in your palms and start binding it to give a round shape. Prepare all the ladoos similarly. I could make around 18 medium size ladoos from the above measurement of ingredients.

5. Offer the ladoos to the deity if making as bhog and latter distribute among family members as prasad. Keep the remaining in an air tight container and serve as needed.

                           

Recipe Notes:

• The ideal wheat flour to ghee ration in this Magaja ladoo recipe is 3:1
• Use freshly ground cardamom and black pepper powder for a flavorful treat.
• The ladoos remain good at room temperature in an air tight container up to a month.
• The above measurements yields approx 1.5 dozen ladoos. You may easily half or double the recipe as per your requirements.
• If you have difficulty in shaping the ladoo. Serve the ladoo crumble in a bowl with spoon. Taste wise it will be flavorful.

I hope you would love to try out this healthy and delicious treat for your loved ones . Would love to know your thoughts , so feel free to drop any queries, suggestions and feedback in the comment section below. Follow us on  #Facebook  #Instagram ,  #Twitter and #Google+  for more recipes and new updates. 

For more ladoo recipes, check out the following from this blog

• Aliv che Ladoo / Garden Cress Seeds Ladoo

                              

• Dry Fruits Ladoo

                             

• Besan Suji Ladoo

                            

• Instant Peanut Coconut Ladoo

                            

• Edible Gum and Whole Wheat Flour Ladoo

                          

• Dates and Nuts Ladoo

                         

• Almond Chocolate Ladoo

                         

• Fenugreek seeds and Edible Gum Ladoo / Winter Special