Nutri Balls

Preparing these laddoos for my little one requires a little effort but, at the end seeing her gobble it all… is worth it :).

It all starts with roasting the flours.., the longer you roast them on a low flame the flavorful they become and, after so many preparations and I have adjusted my recipe so, apart from calling it just atta-besan laddoo, I call it Nutriballs.

Chickpea flour and wheat flour

Almost all the ingredients in it are healthy and nutritious especially for my kid. To start with Makhne – also called as roasted lotus seed, puffed fox nuts. (as below pic)

These small little balls are powerhouse of nutrition and can prevent several diseases. In this recipe I have roasted them in microwave and grinded it to a powder. Just remember when you roast anything in microwave you have to keep a watch at it..just keep removing it and stirring it else it can burn quickly.

Then another healthy ingredient sesame seeds, which are roasted till aromatic and ground in powder before mixing in these nutriballs. Roasting part is very important for sesame seeds. You will experience its flavour in every bite of the Nutriball ..But.. Roast correctly..:) .

Edible Gum or Dink (as is called in Maharashtra) are added to laddoos and also many sweets preparations in India. Dink are flavorless and their method of addition is by frying them in ghee, which swells them up and, then grinding and adding them. To avoid the ghee one can microwave it and then grind them in powder. But for microwaving dink , it should be big pieces. I had purchased dink which were the size of peppercorns. Frying them with ghee was the only option. Dink gives a nice crunchy texture to the laddoos and according to ayurveda it has many health benefits especially for curing cough and congestion.

Jaggery

I have substituted sugar with jaggery. Jaggery has many health benefits again according to Ayurveda. I always use it as a substitute for sugar especially when making laddoos aka Nutriballs. When using jaggery instead of sugar the quantity of ghee required increases. But then, also considering the plus points of ghee for little ones, this sure is a go.

Here’s my recipe for Nutriballs . The step by step pictures will surely help to understand its recipe.

Roasting Chickpea flour and wheat flour

Mix in the fried dink

Makhane powder

stir in makhane powder

stir in sesame seeds powder

stir in almond and pistachio powder

Some time , after turning off heat mix jaggery

How I made It?

Roasted chickpea flour and wheat flour. First dry roasted it then added half of the ghee and roasted it on a low flame . This will take some time. and the longer it is roasted the tastier it will become. I had roasted it for around an hour. Then I mixed in the makhane powder, sesame seeds powder, fried dink and the almond pistachio powder alongwith remaining ghee. Stirring it all in and kept mixing on a low heat for another half an hour. Turn off the heat.
After some time while its still warm stir in jaggery and cardamom powder.
Using my clean hands made equal sizes balls of it.

 

Delicious Nutriballs are ready for all sweet occassions and, no occassion needed for little ones to savour this healthy treat. Enjoy! 🙂