Semolina(Rava) coconut ladoo/laddu

Ladoo is an Indian sweet. Ladoos are usually made up of gram flour or semolina (rava), wheat flakes or many different flours. It's usually made for the weddings or special occasions. Also made for Diwali, an special Indian festival.
I am not a big fan of sweets. Although I love ladoos made up of combination of semolina and fresh shredded coconut. As my mom is here, I was able to take some really good clicks while she was preparing the ladoos.

According to me ladoo preparation is an art. You can master the skill over the period of time. BTW That's my next 5 years goal....:)

Roadmap
Let me just roadmap the recipe. Roast the rava(semolina) and add shredded coconut to it. Prepare the sugar syrup and add the roasted mixture of coconut and semolina to the sugar syrup. Let it rest for a while, and then shape them round.

Here is what this ladoo needs-:

• Semolina- 4 cups
• Grated fresh/frozen coconut- 1 cup
• Ghee/clarified butter- 4-5 tbsp
• Cardamom powder- a pinch
• Saffron- few strands
• Raisins- one for each ladoo
• Almonds-Cut in to small pieces.

For sugar syrup-:

• Water- 1 and half cups
• Sugar- 3 cups

This is how you prepare the tasty ladoos-:

• In a sauce pan, heat the ghee on a low to medium heat. Roast the semolina  for about 15 minutes. Add the grated fresh/ frozen coconut. Continue roasting for 5 more minutes.

The prepared mixture of roasted semolina and coconut, topped with raisins and almonds.

• In a separate pan, mix the water and the sugar and prepare the simple sugar syrup. When the water bubbles, keep the heat on for about 5-7 minutes. In marathi, we call it an Ektari paak. Add cardamom powder and the saffron strands to the sugar syrup.
  
• Add the mixture to the prepared sugar syrup.
• Let it rest for 10 minutes. Mix it well.
• Make sure not to keep until the mixture gets too dry. The right consistency is, it should not be too dry not too liquid like.

A Special Touch Tip:

If you feel the mixture gets dry, add 2 tbsp of milk to the mixture and mix again.

• Take some mixture in to your hands.

• With your hands, roll the mixture and make round shapes. Keep rolling and pressing with your hands as the pictures below.

• Make them to the size you wish. I like to make medium sized ladoos. Use a raisin and some almond pieces per ladoo.

ENJOY!!!