Monday, January 15, 2007

Indian Winter # 2 : Ladoos with Green Peas and fresh Green Chick Peas

IMG_0229

Vegetarian Ladoos with a 'non-veg' garnishing?

Before I start, let me make a special mention of HareKrishnaji, because
a) he is the only one who guessed 'Green chick peas' (Harbhare in Marathi) as one of the ingredients in these Ladoos right
b) he is a loyal reader of this blog (by 'loyal', I mean somebody who praises you)
c) he blogs from Pune too (the other place being Mumbai).
Thanks, HKji, for being there, and for leaving your comments regularly. I appreciate it.

A special note to the other loyal readers (the number was 5 at the last count, wasn't it?): I appreciate you Guys too. ;-)

Since I am in the mood to appreciate, let me also mention Vidya, who brought it to my notice, that silver leaf, the stuff that I have used to garnish these Ladoos is made in such a way that it is not suitable for vegetarians. Vidya was kind enough to also provide a link which leads to several other ones that prove this fact. What makes me sad, though, is that the Mithai vendors in India, who are well aware of its production process, continue selling sweets covered with silver leaf, inspite of knowing that a large portion of their clientele consists of vegetarians. Whatever happened to social resposiblity?

Anyway, let me just move on with today's recipe now; the post has had to wait pretty long. Ah, that reminds me: Guys, I have a new job now. So, if my posts become erratic and/or infrequent, blame it on my new Boss! :)

IMG_0225

Left to right: Green peas, Khoya/Mawa, fresh Green chick peas

Recipe for Ladoos with Green Peas and Green Chick Peas
(adapted from a recipe shown on E-TV Marathi)

Makes 12-15 small Ladoos.

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh green peas
1 cup fresh green chick peas (Hara Chana in Hindi)
200 g. Khoya/Mawa
½ cup sugar (The quantity depends also upon the sweetness of both kinds of peas.)
3 tbsp Ghee
powder from 5 cardamoms

For garnishing: 12-15 cashewnut halves (I have used silver leaf, but I don't advocate its use any longer.)

Method:

1. Mix both peas in a blender and make fine, smooth paste without adding water.
2. Heat the Ghee in a heavy-bottomed or non-stick pan, and fry the paste in it for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the Khoya and sugar and cook again for a while. Do not cover the pan at any point.

IMG_0226

Two-peas paste and Khoya being cooked

4. The mixture is done when it starts moving as one mass when you stir it. Take it off the heat, add the cardamom powder, stir once and let cool.
5. Once the mixture is cool, make pingpong sized Ladoos out of it. If using cashewnuts for garnishing, press one half on every Ladoo.

Serve these Ladoos, and ask your guests/family members to guess the ingredients. And please don't think that they can guess it more easily because they can taste the Ladoos. Nope. None of my family members could guess the ingredients right...not even after consuming two Ladoos.
HEY...hang on a second...did they really need two of them to guess or was that a pretext? Hmmm... that's got me thinking, Guys.

Anyway, enjoy these green beauties, and make sure you finish them soon. They don't really taste great after 3 days. Also, please don't forget to store them in the refrigerator, if you are in a warm place.

In the meanwhile, I hope you had a happy Makarsakranti/ Lohri/ Pongal. I did. :)

68 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Vaishali,

Only five loyal readers? I don't believe it for a moment ;)

Congrats on your new job -- hope you'll be doing something you enjoy as much as you enjoy cooking. Khoya is something I learned about from your recipes, and I even went so far as to buy a pack frozen in the Indian store. Now I'll have to try it with this healthy green sweet :)

Saleem Pothiwala said...

wow... i have never tasted/seen/tried green peas laddoos... definitely worth a try... can you please send some to me :-p

Punekar Abroad said...

hi , i am also a loyal reader of ur blog.. right from ur time in germany.. i am also a loyal Punekar.. i really like ur blog. reminds me of the good old poona days

Krithika said...

hmmm... only 5 loyal readers ? Looks like Sitemeter is not working for you, Vaish :-) Congrats on your new job. Green peas laddoo looks delicious. Happy Makar Sankranti

FH said...

Very unusual ingredients!:))Looks good.Varak is non-veg!:D Okay,okay,I will read the link!
Good luck on your new job!:)

Vini K said...

Hi Vaishali,wow!never heard of laddoes with green chickpeas!..considering that my list of things to try is growing longer by the hour,we both(me and Hubby V) are pretty sure to gain weight!Thanks for the recipe anyway, and Happy Sankranti to you and your family!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Vaishali for acknowledging my previous comment. I learnt about the silver leaf manufacturing process only recently and was as outraged as you are with the sweetshop owners. Thanks for spreading the message and educating unsuspecting consumers.
Vidya

Anonymous said...

Gosh ladoos with green peas, ohhh one learns everyday...this is new to me...i sure they must taste devine.....thanks for sharing...

Manjula said...

I just started visiting your blog regularly. Its great, I love ur pictures and the wittiness in ur write up.
The ladoos look really appetizing. Got to try this one for sure.

Anonymous said...

Nice pages here. Great information. Will visit again and recommend.

Anonymous said...

I had no idea that those silver garnishes were non- veg. That's crazy!
That ladoo sounds weird, but I guess it tastes good. h

Anonymous said...

heyyyy that's cheating.. even I am a loyal reader of your blog.

Now let me read the recipe and comment again.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful recipe!!! Good 'job', Vaish !!
Congratulations!!

Happy Sankranthi to you too!

Cheers,
Myths

Vaishali said...

Thanks a lot for the good wishes, Linda. Hope you enjoy cooking with Khoya.

Sure, Daagh, but couriering them will take at least a week and they will go bad in that time. :)

Austin Powers? From Pune? Not bad! And a loyal reader of this blog? Shall I call you Goldmember then? :)

Thanks for the wishes, Krithika. :)

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

Thanks for the special mention. Frankly speaking I really do not deserve it and besides I feel it is an injustice to all your other loyal readers.

Aapan mala Harbharyachya zhadavar chadvat aayat.

Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

Amazing recipe!!!! Never thought of somehting like this!!!! Is there a substitute for Khoya???? Don't get it here in singapore :(

www.mykhazanaofrecipes.wordpress.com

Sia said...

hi vaishali...
u have got more than 5 loyal readers girl:)
i have tasted green peas laddo made by my amma but not this one... looks so colourful... will look for khoya in indian stores... hope i find it somewhere..

Shammi said...

Vaish, stop trawling for compliments! :D 5 loyal readers? More like 500 (I'm always one of them, incidentally, whether it's 5 or 50 or 500!)

Congrats on your new job, but puh-leeese dont forget your blog, or your 5/50/500/5000 loyal readers! :)

Ultimate Foodie said...

Hi Vaish..your posts never fail to bring a smile to my lips...I may b the 1001th person telling you what you already know...your blog rocks!btw, have you made up your mind ? time to change the "about me" ;) ???

Anonymous said...

Green peas/chickpea sweet laddoos?!! I'd never have thought of making anything sweet with those 2 ingredients! Looks awesome! Good one, Vaishali! And btw, I'm sure you have more than 5 loyal readers! Did u count me?? :)

Shantanu said...

This truely original! Can't wait to find out how they taste.

Anonymous said...

Vaishali, these ladoos are gorgeous and when you see the ingredients its really hard to believe that you can concote a great looking and delicious recipe with them. Awesome pictures too!

And I happen to enjoy visiting your blog and relish your recipes, so count me in..:)

Congrats on your new job and have a great 2007!!

Menu Today said...

Hi Vaishali,
Congrats and Good Luck on your new job. Green peas ladoo looks nice and the pic looks great. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Ladoos look great Vaishali! I would have never thought of making ladoos with peas and chick peas. My daughter hates peas and picks them out of her food all the time. I should try and sneak some in this way!

and hey! count me in as a loyal reader :)

cheers!

manju bansal said...

It's great ! Green ladoos. First time hearing.

Punekar Abroad said...

born and brought up in Pune, now living in Austin ,Texas therefore Austin Powers- Punekar Abroad :-)

Vaishali said...

Asha, oh yes, the ingredients are unusual without doubt. Thanks for wishing me luck. :)

Gaining weight is one of the disadvantages of being a food-blogger, Vini. But then, the advantage is that you get yourself a new wardrobe every four months as clothes refuse to fit you. :)

Vidya, this proves that food-blogging is not just about salivating at recipes and pictures.

They do taste divine, Dilip. :)

Thanks for the complients, Manjula, I am always eager to accept them. :)

Thanks, Roger. See you around. :)

The Ladoo tastes *weirdly* good, Gini. ;-)

I did count you amongst the 5, Mythili. :) And hey, I like the word play. :)

Vaishali said...

HKji, hahahahaha...now was that a pun with ‚Harbhara’? :)

You might want to try it out with Ricotta cheese, Coffee aka Rooma. Or maybe you want to try out this Khoya that I made some time back?

Supriya, I will look forward to your post on your Amma’s Ladoos with green peas. :)

Oh God, you caught me there, Shammi. I am such an attention-seeker, aren’t I? :)

UF, hey, thanks for those lovely words. I appreciate your appreciation. :)

Now this is getting embarrassing, Vani. I think I am gonna take that line with ‘loyal readers’ off the post. :)

Shantanu, these Ladoos taste very different, yet moreish. “No one can eat just one!” :)

Thanks for the generous wishes, Sailu. :) Same to you! :)

MT, you are being kind, as always. Thanks. :)

Saffron, yeah, you could try and sneak green peas into your daughter's diet like this. Tell me whether you are successful. :)

The exotic appeal of these Ladoos is indeed fascinating, isn’t it, Manju? :)

Hey, Powers, I like that. :)

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

Gentle Reminder

I know you must be very busy with the new job,but the Indian winter is slowly fading away.

Prema Sundar said...

wow.. green ladoos ... new to me and looks great. so I sure have learnt a wonderful new dish today . thanks for the recipe

Inji Pennu said...

I was always suspicious about this silver thingie, since I never understood why it was there and when I knew it was from silver foil, I didnt like it at all. I am a non-vegan, but still I dont want to eat something which is not cooked properly. Thank you Vaishali. Following this post, I read up quite a lot of information about this again. I am not going to touch that silver thingie again.

Anonymous said...

Never heard/tasted this kind of ladoo.looks very interesting. Got ur blog thru suma's. Nice one.

Sia said...

where r u vaishali? missing ur posts:)

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

Dear New Boss,

The posts have become erratic and/or infrequent, and I believe you are the only to be blamed.

Please do something

Anonymous said...

Just popping by in my "loyal reader" hat, checking up and hoping all's well with the new job. Miss your posts, teach! :)

Sana said...

great blog. I loved some of your recipes and got tired of saving them. so adding your link to my blog :)

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

Hope everything is allright. We are little bit worried abot your absence on blog.

Anonymous said...

Hi Indira,
Hi. I am currently writing a master's degree dissertation about the importance of food to memory and identity.
I have chosen to focus on the Indian/Bengali/Bangladeshi community in London, and am wondering if you know anyone (family, friend, fellow blogger, or one of your readers) who lives in London who would be interested in speaking to or e-mailing me about this topic?
For those that you ask or those reading: I would be interested in any information/personal stories about the role that food plays in your life. The information you give to me could be anything to do with food-- that a certain recipe brings back a memory of childhood, or that you are a mum and feel it important to feed your family traditional food (or maybe you have decided to get rid of traditional cooking from your home all together), or maybe you have an opinion about the difference between the food served in curry houses and "authentic" cuisine.
I would be incredibly thankful for any stories that you have to share. Thank you so much for your time in reading this.
Stephanie

Anonymous said...

I am sorry Vaishali for getting your name incorrect on my post. I managed to mess up when I was composing the post and hit the "publish your comment" button too soon (i am very new to this!). My apologies and respect.
Stephanie

Mrs. K said...

Where are you vaishai? Hope you are doing good. Waiting to see the new JFI ingredient....

Shah cooks said...

very interesting color and recipe.thanks.

Anonymous said...

Yep, the silver leaf is non-vegetarian and should be handled the same was as raw meat. You should cook it until the inside reaches 165 F.

BTW, did you also know of these other meat products that are being passed as vegetarian items? These are milk, butter, ghee, and yogurt. Not only that, some of the vegetarian items are rumored to be alive.

Just trying to enlighten the hardcore vegetarian bunch :)

Amanda said...

Hello,
I just tried these out today and wanted to let you know that they came out delicious. I made the khoya using 1/2 tin of condensed milk, 1 cup of milk powder, and a little ghee. It worked very well (as far as I could tell, as I've never made nor had khoya before.)

The ladoos made for a perfect evening snack, and were something I would have never thought of on my own. Thanks for the recipe! I look forward to trying out even more in the future.

-Amanda

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