MOTICHOOR LADOO

Motichoor ladoo is made from tiny boondhis (made from chickpea flour)fried in ghee or oil and then cooked in sugar syrup. It's then mixed with nuts and made into balls. Super delicious but heavy. you just cant stop with one. great if you want to indulge or celebrate. very famous in indian households during festivals too.

You will need 2 big slotted spoons for this recipe. One to make the boondhis and the other to remove the boondhis from the hot oil.
It looks a bit complicated but it isn't. Once you start making it, you will get the hang of it.

These make about 11 to 12 ladoos
INGREDIENTS:

For the boondhis:
chickpea flour/ besan/ kadala maavu - 1 cup

orange food colouring - few drops

cold milk - 4 tbsps

pinch of salt

oil/ ghee for frying (see notes)

need 2 slotted spoons.

for the sugar syrup:

sugar - 1 cup

water - 1/2 cup

cardamom, bruised - 2

rose essence - 2 drops - optional

pistachios, sliced - 1 tbsp

PROCESS:

• First we make the boondhis- In a bowl, add the besan, orange food colouring, salt and cold milk and mix. Now slowly start adding water little by little mixing well with a whisk to make sure there are no lumps. Batter must not be too thick. It must be of flowing consistency. But not too watery either. I used slightly more than 3/4 th cup of water on the whole.
• Now, heat the ghee/oil in a pan for frying. Hold one slotted spoon over the hot oil and scoop  some batter and pour it on the ladle and smoothen it around . Drops of batter will drop into the oil and form small boondhis. 
• As soon as the batter touches the oil, you will see lots of oil bubbles. As soon as they stop remove from the oil. It doesn't need to cook for long. Just a few seconds. Don't fry them too long. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Do the same till the batter finishes.

• Don't worry if the boondhis clump up in the oil. It happened to me too. Just put the boondhis into the blender and 'pulse' for 3 to 4 times till you get small, fine boondhis. Don't over do it and make it to a powder. Keep aside.
• Now to prepare the sugar syrup- In a saucepan, heat the water, sugar. cardamoms and rose essence. Once it has come to a boil stir in the boondhis and turn off the flame. Stir well so the boondhis are drenched in sugar syrup. Now, turn the heat back on low and cook the boondhis till there is very little sugar syrup inside. Don't overcook it as the ladoos will become dry.
• Then, once it has cooled add the pistachios. 
• Grease your palms with some ghee. Take some boondhi mixture and roll it between your palms to form a ball. Do the same with the rest of the boondhi mixture.

Notes:

• The boondhis are usually fried in ghee. but I used half oil and half ghee to fry the boondhis.
• For some strange reason I just am not able to upload a video of how to make the boondhis. So please bear with me and view it here. It's the same method.
• If you dont have a slotted spoon to make the boondhis you can even poke holes(slightly far apart) in an an aluminium foil container and use it to make the boondhis.