Black (Whole) Urad Dhal Laddu

கறுப்பு உளுந்து லட்டு  - Black (Whole) Urad Dhal Laddu

Only recently i noticed that urad dhal is one of the key ingredient in many of south Indian recipes. It is only for the past few decades we have been using white skinned (white) urad dhal. Before that it was the black whole urad dhal which was mostly in use. There were many special recipes here in Tamil Nadu with whole black urad dhal exclusively for its health benefits. Example உளுத்தம் களி, உளுத்தம் கஞ்சி, உளுத்தம் வடை, உளுத்தம் புட்டு, உளுத்தம் தோசை, உளுத்தம் லட்டு etc. Urad dhal is good to be consumed by women especially young girls during menstruation.

Here is the link for Ulundhu Kali.

Today i am going to share the recipe of the sweet உளுத்தம் லட்டு (Urad dhal laddu). This is one sweet way to consume urad dhal. Using whole black urad dhal increases nutritive value of this laddu. Avoid using white sugar and use jaggery instead as it has more goodness in it. Moreover jaggery has an unique flavour which the white sugar lacks completely. Also use good quality ghee to make this laddu. Very few ingredients... easy to make.. healthy snack.. tastes good.. loved by all.. what more reason you need to try this! 

Ingredients:

• black whole urad dhal - 2 cups
• jaggery - 1 and 1/2 cups or as per your taste
• ghee - as required (approx. 1/2 to 3/4 cup)
• cashews - 3 tablespoon
• fried gram - 1/4 cup
• boiled rice - 1/4 cup (optional)

procedure:

• dry roast the urad dhall till it releases nice aroma. since the urad dhal is already black you will not know when it is well roasted. the only clue is the aroma of well roasted urad dhall. i read a trick of how to know when the urad dhall is roasted enough. i follow this. that is, add few spoons of regular skinned white whole urad dhal and roast it along with the whole black urad dhal. so when the white urad dhal turns brown, it means the black urad dhal too is roasted and ready. once roasted let this cool.

• roast the rice and fried gram separately and cool them too.
• transfer these three ingredients to the mixer jar and grind it to a not-so-fine powder.
• add the crushed jaggery to the same mixer jar along with the powder and run the mixer to mix all well.
• roast the cashews in little ghee and add it to the urad dhal-jaggery powder.
• melt more ghee and add to the powder and make laddus.
• add ghee enough to make laddus. make laddus when the mixture is still warm.
• delicious, aromatic and healthy whole black urad dhal laddu is ready.

1. You can give the roasted dhal in a flour mill to make powder. 
2. The laddus will be good for a week when stored in an air tight container.

Happy cooking !!