Churma Ladoo

Churma Ladoo is a delicious dessert from the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is typically made as an offering to Lord Ganesha during Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Churma ladoo are made with just 3 basic ingredients, coarse whole wheat flour, ghee and jaggery and are rich in calories. The ladoos are flavored with cardamom powder and nutmeg and are rolled in poppy seeds. This authentic ladoo has a melt-in-mouth texture and has a good shelf life of up to a week at room temperature and up to 15 days on refrigeration when kept in an air-tight container.

What is Churma?

Churma is a sweet delicacy from the Indian state of Rajasthan and served as an accompaniment to the classic combo Dal Baati. It is basically a sweetened and cardamom flavored mix of crushed baatis. Traditionally it is made by crushing up wheat flour baatis, roasting it in ghee and adding jaggery to it.

Rajasthan and Gujarat being neighbouring states of India, they have similarities in their culture, traditions and food. That said, while Churma is a Rajasthani speciality, Churma ladoos belong to Gujarati Cuisine.Whatever may be the origin of this sweet delicacy, I am fond of both Churma and the ladoos and do not mind indulging into a sweet treat that is heavy on calories, once in a while.

Points to consider while making Gujarati Churma Ladoo

• You require coarsely ground wheat flour to prepare these ladoos. You will not get the typical texture of the ladoos if you use reqular chaaki aata. Since, i did not have one, i have added fine suji (semolina) to the whole wheat flour ( chaaki Aata) to get the coarse texture.
• Always use warm water to knead the flour. 
• Do not cut on the quantity of ghee used in the recipe, if you are looking for authentic taste. The wheat flour dumplings are deep fried in ghee and then crushed to use in this recipe. Those who cannot use large quantities of ghee in their diet due to some health issues, may however bake the dumplings in an oven at 180 degress celsius for 30 minutes like we do while making Baati of the Dal Baati Churma and then crush the baked dumplings and make ladoos using it.
• The color of the ladoos solely depends on the colour of the jaggery used.
• If using hard jaggery, the jaggery has to be first grated, then melted in little ghee and then added to the crushed ladoo mix. Since i used powdered jaggery which is easily available here in North India, i added it directly without melting it.
• One has to be very patient while frying the dumplings as it has to be done on low to medium flame for a good 7 minutes per batch, otherwise the dumplings will remain undercooked and not taste well. 
• The fried dumplings are then allowed to cool down completely before they are been crushed using a mixer grinder.

What goes in to my Churma Ladoo?

Churma ladoo is a traditional , melt-in-mouth types Indian delicacy. As mentioned above the churma ladoos require just 3 basic ingredients, whole wheat flour, jaggery and ghee.

• Whole wheat flour - The type of flour required to make these ladoos is of the coarse type. Using reqular chapati ata will not give you the desired texture of the ladoo. In case you do not have coarsely ground whole wheat flour, add 1/3 rd quantity of semolina to the flour to get the coarse texture.
• Ghee - I have used cow ghee here. In this recipe, ghee is used in all the 3 stages, first as a shortening (moin), then for deep frying the dumplings and lastly while rolling out the ladoos.
• Jaggery - Use gpood quality jaggery as the taste and the colour of the ladoos depends mostly on the quality of jaggery used. If using hard jaggery, the jaggery has to be either chopped finely or grated, then melted in little ghee and then added to the ladoo mixture. I have used oraganic powdered jaggery, so i added it directly.
• Flavorings - Cardmom powder and nutmeg powder are use to flavor the ladoos. It is added at the last, to retain the flavor and aroma.
• Poppy Seeds - Churma ladoos are rolled in poppy seeds which lend a lovely nuttly flavor to the ladoos.

                               

Meethe Pal @ Foodie Monday BlogHop

Meethe Pal is the 26oth theme on Foodie Monday Bloh Hop, a Facebbook gourmet group, where a bunch of like-minded bloggers share their culinary creations each week depending upon a pre-decided theme. Sujat di who blogs @BatterupwithSujata was our hostess for this week and among the 2 themes she proposed, Meethe Pal won with maximum votes. Sujata di suggested that we come up with any dessert recipe. Since the Ganesh Chaturthi festival is just around the corner, i selected to post Churma ladoos, that are typically made as bhog and offered to lord Ganesha during the festival. We call Sujata di as "the dessert queen" of our group as she is fond of sweets and her blog is a home to differrent desserts , mostly traditional Bengali sweets and her healthy bakes. I am awed by the Sandesh varieties she has on her blog. Today her blog has completed 500 recipes. Do hop onto her space for wonderful recipes. I have bookmarked her Eggless Caramel Custard and Orange Flavored Bhaapa Sandesh to try out soon.

                                

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 21 medium sized ladoos

Ingredients: Measurements used 1 cup = 240ml

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup semolina /suji
• 1 cup jaggery powder
• 1/2 cup ghee + for deep frying
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg powder
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds

Method:

1. Take whole wheat flour, semoline, pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Mix it well. Add 2-3 tablespoons of ghee to it. Rub the ghee with the flour such that the mixture appears bread crumbs. 

2. Now, add warm water, little at a time to knead the flour to a semi soft dough. Do not knead much, just gather the flour so that you can make firm dumplings with it. Now pinch out a small portion of the dough and hold it between your palm and fingers, such that you get an elongated shaped dumpling. Refer the picture below. Make all the dumplings similarly.

3. Heat ghee in a frying pan and when the ghee is hot, lower the flame and slide 4-5 dumplings into the ghee. deep fry the dumplings on low flame until they become golden brown from all sides. You have to patient at this stage. Do not overcrowd the frying pan with too many dumplings and do not get tempted to fry the duplings on high flame. Each batch should require at least 7 minutes to fry the dumplings.

4. Remove the deep fried dumplings using a slotted ladle and allow to cool down on a plate. Fry all the prepared dumplings similarly. Once they have colled down completely, break it into small pieces and trasnfer it to a grinder jar and grind to get a coarse but lump free powder.

5. Remove the ground mixture on to a large plate or parat. Add measured jaggery powder to it. Give  a good mix. If using hard jaggery, chop or grate it and then melt it in little ghee and then add it to the mixture.

6. How heat remaining ghee and add it to the ladoo mix. Add cardamom and nut meg powder and mix the mixture very well. Grease your hands and roll out small portion of the ladoo mix into medium size balls. Take poppy seeds on a plate, roll each prepared ladoo in the poppy seeds and place on a plate. Prepare all the ladoos similarly.

7. Keep the prepared churma ladoos in an air tight container and use as per need. Offer the delicious Churma ladoos as naivedhyam to the deity and then distribute as prasadam if making it for Ganesh Chaturthi festival and enjoy it with your loved ones !

                            

Recipe Notes:

• You require coarsely ground wheat flour to prepare these ladoos. You will not get the typical texture of the ladoos if you use reqular chaaki aata. However, you may add 1/3 quantity of semolina of that of the flour to get the coarse texture.
• Always use warm water to knead the flour. 
• Do not cut on the quantity of ghee used in the recipe, if you are looking for authentic taste. The wheat flour dumplings are deep fried in ghee and then crushed to use in this recipe. 
• For the ones on diet, however can bake the dumplings in an oven at 180 degress celsius for 30 minutes like we do while making Baati of the Dal Baati Churma and then crush the baked dumplings and make ladoos using it. 
• The color of the ladoos solely depends on the colour of the jaggery used.
• If using hard jaggery, the jaggery has to be first grated, then melted in little ghee and then added to the crushed ladoo mix. Since i used powdered jaggery which is easily available here in North India, i added it directly without melting it.
• One has to be very patient while frying the dumplings as it has to be done on low to medium flame for a good 7 minutes per batch, otherwise the dumplings will remain undercooked and not taste well. 
• The ladoo has a good shelf life of up to a week at room temperature and up to 15 days on refrigeration when kept in an air-tight container.

I hope a few of you would love to try out this recipe. If you do so, feel free to share your feedback with us in the form of likes and comments in the comment section below this post. All your suggestions are also more than welcome. If you like my work and feel it is worth following, do hit the follow button at the top right corner of this blog. Your appreciation means a lot to me. For more recipes and new updates follow us on social media.

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Wishing a happy and blessed Ganesh Chaturthi In Advance to all those who celebrate ! May Lord Ganesha bless us with good health and keep us safe during the Corona Pandemic. Stay safe and take care everyone !

Related Posts:

• Dal Baati 

                                  

• Churma

                                  

• 101 Ganesh Chaturthi Recipes

                                  

• Gur Papdi - Sukhdi