Poha Ladoo

Poha (flattened/beaten rice) is dehusked rice that is flattened into dry flakes and can be found in thin or thick varieties. Poha is light and easily digestible but satisfying. In most indian homes, poha is consumed for breakfast/dinner but can be had as a healthy snack too. Not sure how, but I have been told that it is a great food for dieters to consume without any guilt. For a long time, I have been using white poha (mostly because thats the only one available at stores close to home) but recently came across red/brown poha made from red/brown rice and I wanted to try it out.. 

My first attempt with the red poha variety was breakfast/snack poha (recipe coming up soon), one of my childhood favorites, which was good but taste-wise I prefer the white over the red/brown poha. Lately, I have been thinking about few indian sweets to make and have quite a few to try out - one of the seemingly easiest ones on my list was poha ladoo. I was a bit skeptical about the outcome of the recipe, but what the heck....anything is worth a try!! I decided to use the thick red poha and gave it a shot. The preparation is what takes up some time and once you have the crumbly mixture, then the process of rolling them into balls is the fun part. The ladoos were an instant hit and has become one of our new favorites. 

Ingredients:

1 cup red poha, thick variety
1/3 cup raw almonds, dry roasted and ground finely
1/3 cup roasted split dalia, dry roasted and ground finely
2/3 cup sugar, powdered (adjust to taste)
10-12 cashews, cut into small pieces
1/4- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (adjust to taste)
Pinch of salt
5 tbsp + 1 tsp vegan butter, melted

Method:

For this recipe, I used thick red poha but white or brown poha variety (thick or thin) can be used as well. 

Dry roast the red poha for 4-5 mins until it emits an aroma and starts to slowly puff up.

Dry roast the roasted split dalia for 3-4 mins.

 

Dry roast the almonds for 4-5 mins.

In a pan, heat 1 tsp vegan butter and fry the cashew pieces until golden brown and set aside. 

Now, grind the roasted ingredients separately (poha, roasted split dalia and almonds) into a fine powder.

In a large bowl, add the poha, dalia and almond powder, roasted cashews, sugar, cardamom powder, salt and mix well. 

Add 4 tbsp melted butter and sprinkle (about 1 tsp or so) water and mix until it forms a crumbly mixture (got a bit too engrossed in making ladoos and skipped a photo of the crumbly mixture :)). Form balls with the crumbly mixture. If the balls are still crumbly, can add the remaining 1 tbsp to the crumbly mixture and then form the balls. Sorry about the bad lighting on some of the photos (will upload better pics soon).

For a variation, you can use 2-3 tbsp of coconut oil/cocoa butter with some shredded coconut instead of vegan butter. Alternatively, you can use maple syrup/date syrup and reduce the quantity of sugar or prepare a sugar syrup to form the crumbly mixture. 

Store in airtight container and enjoy!!

Makes 20 - 22 ladoos.