January 21st, 2009
Peanut Laddus
During my school vacations, in the afternoons when my grandmother used to take her nap, I would tip toe and quietly sneak into her kitchen and gobble up these laddus. In the evening, when I asked her for more and she opened the lid of her traditional brass boxes, she would look at me with a knowing smile and admonish me saying ‘too much peanuts are not good for you, they will increase your pitta (heat in the body according to Ayurveda)’.
These constant sermons of pitta getting imbalanced did not stop me from devouring these delicious sweets. And my digestive fires were strong enough to take in as many as I wished! Years have passed since, and my fascination with these laddus continues the same way, the differences being that I now make them myself and I do need to exercise a certain amount of control for fear of over-indulgence (which most often than not proves to be a futile exercise).
When you are looking for something to satisfy that sweet tooth and a quick burst of energy, these peanut balls are sure to satisfy that craving. They are super-easy to assemble, require practically no cooking and are so simple to make. The wholesome goodness of jaggery and protein rich peanuts pack in quite a powerful punch!
Peanut Laddu Recipe
Make sure you use unbleached, unrefined and preferably organic jaggery to make these laddus.
Ingredients:
2 cups roasted unsalted Peanuts without skin
¾ cup Jaggery
½ tsp Cardamom powderMethod:
Grind the whole, roasted, unsalted peanuts without skin in a food processor. Work in short pulses and give the peanuts a few seconds to cool between each pulse or else you’ll end up with a sticky mass. Pulverize the jaggery with a mortar and pestle or with a metal potato masher. Assemble the powdered peanuts and jaggery in a bowl and with the help of a potato masher or with the help of a mortar and pestle, mix the powdered peanuts, cardamom powder and jaggery. Form into balls.
Makes about 24 bite sized laddus
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 am
Peanut butter is one of my favorite things so these sound great.
I’ve never used jaggery. Do you think it would be difficult to find in the US?
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:47 am
Awesome!!!
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Hi Sara.. Jaggery has a very earthy taste which perfectly complements the roasted peanuts. You wouldnt find it difficult to locate in an Indian grocery store in the US.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:33 pm
It’s like a chikki made with jaggery in bengal, but peanut halves are used. Love it!
February 1st, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Soma: True. Quite similar but different in taste and texture. Peanut/groundnut chikkis are made in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka too.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Nee madhidh nodi balla santhosh aithu. Nee kasht pattidhaku saarthaka aithu. Innu balla mundh waribeku. Niim Ajja idhidhre yeshtu khushi padthidhru. Idake rohit nu prothsaha kotidane., baaki yella cholo aagli antha nanna aashirvada. Inu yen andhre, laptop dhage thilas beku antha nanige gothirlilla, rekha helidlu. Nee hinge mellake khanditha hoguthia antha nanna bharavase. website balla chandha agidhe.
Innthi aashirvada,
Nina Ajji
August 24th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Hi Anu! You have a cool blog… pics are mindblowing!! Will visit often
December 6th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Oh! Peanut laddus! These were my treat when I behaved ‘like a good girl’. Of course the only reason I used to behave was so that I could eat the laddu
My mom uses a slightly different technique though. She melts the jaggery first, adds a bit of dry ginger powder and cardamom along with the crushed peanuts and quickly forms the laddus. I tried this at home once but ended up with severe burns on my hands.
I can’t wait to try it out your way. No chance of injuries here