Annapurna

Methi Goand Ke Ladoo is a delicious Indian Winter delicacy. Made with the healthy goodness of fenu greek seeds (methi dana), whole wheat flour, edible gum (goand), coconut, poppy seeds (khus khus), dry dates (chuara), and dry fruits, these ladoos are sweetened with jaggery which makes them a guilt free affair. The best thing which i love about these methi goand ladoos is that in spite of the large amount of Methi dana (fenu greek seeds) going in these ladoos, one cannot find any after taste or bitterness of the methi dana in it. Though these ladoos are specially given to the nursing mother as it is believed to increase the milk production, people of all ages, especially the kids and elderly can enjoy these winter treats . Serve them at breakfast with a glass of milk to kick start a day .

Winter season is at its peak in most parts of India and here in North India it is freezing cold. To withstand such harsh winters it is very necessary to have food which will not only provide the required warmth to our body but also strengthen our bones and provide the essential nutrients. One such food stuff which is prepared in almost all the northern states of India is winter special dry fruits ladoos loaded with healthy goodness.

In Maharashtra we generally prepare Dinkache Ladoo (Gond ke ladoo), Khajur che ladoo (Dates ladoo), Methi che ladoo ( Fenu greek seeds ladoo), Udadachya Daliche Ladoo ( Urad dal ladoo), Aliv che Ladoo (Garden Cress Seeds Ladoo) during winter season. The name being derived from the main ingredient in these ladoos. Today i am going to share a unique traditional recipe of Methi Goand ke ladoo which i learnt from my friend Shradha's mother-in-law.

What is Methi Goand Ladoo?

Fenu Greek is referred as Methi and Edible gum as goand in Hindi Language. These ladoos are named so owing to the main ingredients of them being fenu greek seeds and edible gum. Methi seeds are believed to produce heat in our body and edible gum strengthens our bones, hence these methi goand ladoos are typically consumed during winter season in India. Apart from these two ingredients, the ladoos are loaded with healthy goodness of dry fruits , poppy seeds (khus khus), dry coconut, dry dates (chuara),dry ginger (saunth), Jaggery (Gud) and Oil. I agree that making this ladoos at home is little time consuming but the end results are worth the efforts ! Methi is bitter in taste but believe me, one cannot make out the taste of methi when we eat them. So even kids and fuzzy eaters will love it.

Short Video for Methi Goand Ke Ladoo

Who Can have these Methi Goand Ladoo?

As these ladoos are believed to increase production of milk in nursing mothers, these are typically made for new moms. As these ladoos provide warmth to the body and strengthen the bones, these can be served to people of all ages, especially the kids and the elderly people. These ladoos are generally consumed in moderation during winter season and served at breakfast (early morning) along with a glass of milk for best results. Pregnant ladies should not consume these ladoos as they produce heat in the body .

Related Event: This is an old post which i had published in 2015 during my initial blogging days. I have updated this post today with new pictures and written content but have not changed the recipe. I have many such old posts where the photography is dull and the recipe is not up to the mark. Such posts need to be updated with new pictures and written content. Thanks to Renu, my dear friend and a fellow blogger who came up with a Facebook group, Foodies_Redoing Old Posts as an initiative, wherein we bloggers can update our old posts with either new pictures or written content or both every two weeks. This is my 14th entry into this event (24th January 2020).

Ingredients: Measurement 1 cup = 250 gm

4 cups whole Wheat flour / 500 grams
1 1/2 cup fine Semolina/ Rava - 250 grams
2 cups Milk - 500 grams
1 1/4 cup Methi dana ( Fenu greek Seeds)- 250 grams
2 1/2 cups grated dry Coconut- 250 grams
2 cups Makhana / Lotus seeds - 50 grams
1 1/2 cup dry dates Powder ( Chuara powder) - 250 grams
3/4 cup crushed dry fruits ( i have used Almonds and Cashew nuts)
3/4 cup edible gum (Gond) - 200 grams
1/4 cup Khus Khus ( poppy seeds) - 50 grams
4 cups Jaggery / Gud - 500 grams
2 cups cooking oil ( preferably groundnut oil) - 500 grams
2 tbsp dry ginger powder (Saunth)
1 tbsp Cardamom and Nutmeg powder

Method:

Dry grind the Methi dana (Fenu greek seeds) in a grinder to a coarse powder.

2. Soak this powdered Methi in hot milk in a large container over night. Next day the methi will absorb all the milk and swell to more than double its volume.

3. Dry grind the edible gum (gond) to fine powder.

4. Crush or roughly chop the dry fruits, deseed the dried dates and grind them as well. Grate the dry coconut and jaggery separately. Mix the whole wheat flour and Suji together . Keep all the ingredients ready.

5. In a broad and heavy bottom kadhai or wok, add about 1/2 cup oil and roast the whole wheat flour and semolina mixture on a medium heat until fragrant and light brown in colour. Remove and keep aside. Add more oil to the same kadhai and fry the powdered edible gum , remove it. Now similarly fry the dry fruits followed by khus khus and dry dates powder , remove the mixture and keep with the fried gum.

6. Similarly in some oil roast the grated dry coconut . Remove it and lastly roast the soaked methi on a low to medium flame until fragrant and completely dry. There should be no moisture left in the methi. It took me around 8-10 minutes to soak methi alone.

7 . Now heat up remaining oil into the wok and add the grated Jaggery to it. Keep stirring until the Jaggery completely melts and we can see layer of oil floating over the melted Jaggery.

8. Now add all the roasted ingredients one by one in the melted Jaggery and blend together well.

9. Put off the flame and now add the Cardamom and Nutmeg powder and dry Ginger powder and mix well. When the Ladoo mixture has cooled down enough to handle, take handful of mixture and make round shape ladoo out of it. Repeat the same for rest of the mixture. From the above ingredients i could make 80 medium sized Ladoos.

10. Keep all the ladoos in an airtight container and use as per need. Enjoy this healthy methi gond ke ladoo as a breakfast treat with milk during winters !

Recipe Notes:

The above mentioned quantity of ingredients yield approximately 80 ladoos of medium size. You may easily double or halve the recipe.
After soaking in hot milk the ground methi seeds become sticky and more than double its size. Keep patience while roasting the soked methi until it is completely free of moisture. The methi mixture should feel light on hands while working on it after proper roasting. If the methi mixture is not properly roasted, it will effect the shelf life of the ladoos and also you may get the bitter after taste of methi in the ladoos.
These methi goand ladoos stay good at room temperature for about a month in an airtight container.
Pregnant ladies should not consume these ladoos as they produce heat in the body .

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.