Healthy festive recipes, ragi, oats and sesame ladoos (2024)

“Here is your copy from editors’ desk” said the delivery man and handed over the parcel to me. My heart started pounding faster and my fingers flipped the pages recklessly. “Relax mom, your articles will be there in it” son understood my eagerness and took the magazine from my hand.

Whoosh…a small booklet slipped from inside the magazine and fell on the ground. My eyes popped out to see my picture there.

Hmm…the thrill of seeing yourself in print ….the best adrenaline rush you could ever get I suppose.

Well, adrenaline rush or not, this assignment did make my diet graph plunge into a nose-dive. Yes, I am struggling to ward off those calories I gained after each recipe was done with 🙂

I was skeptical when Vaidehi (editor of a regional magazine) asked me to take up the assignment of 30 sweets for their Diwali edition. What with the amount of time I could hardly spare for my online work.

Creating thirty sweets, styling, clicking and then drafting the recipes made me hesitant to take up the assignment. Term exams for children and a styling project lurking around to be completed in the same month pulled me back. I had a sigh of relief when she informed that I could also send some of the recipes already posted onLite Bite.

Doing this assignment and recreating some of therecipeslong forgotten was a complete fun. Making authentic Churma Ladoo, grandma’s way and then adding Millet in her recipe for a healthy indulgence. I never expected the humble Ragi ladoos vanish as soon as the shoot was over.

And I could hardly manage to sneak in a few pieces of soft saffron Sandeshwith cottage cheese for Vaidehi who visited home for translating the recipes in regional language that day.

Friends and relatives started calling and asking if I take orders for sweets…Huh….Felt happy when a close family friend (Saranya) who is also featured in the same issue called to congratulate. How true is the saying…”Cherish all your happy moments, they make a fine cushion for old age.”

A few pages from the booklet. I tried to keep the recipes simple, easy and closer to rustic Indian sweets. I avoided deep fried recipes and sweets with maida (all purpose flour) in it. Many recipes are done using indigenous ingredients such as Ragi, millet, jaggery and sesame seeds.

Here are two of the recipes from the magazine with detailed pictures.

Black sesame ladoo recipe is a popular sweet in many parts of India and is normally prepared during winter days. Ragi Ladoo is a healthy take on ghee laden Pearl Millet or Bajra Ladoos made in Rajasthan and undoubtedly one of my favorite sweets of all. Do not miss the raisins in Ragi Ladoos.

1. Finger Millet or Ragi Ladoos

Ingredients :

• 1 cup Ragi or Finger Millet flour
• 3/4th cup grated jaggery or powdered sugar
• 4 tbsp. Ghee
• 10-12 Almonds
• Raisins as desired
• 1 tsp. cardamom powder

Method; Heat ghee in a pan and fry almonds in it. Take out the almonds and crush into coarse powder.

Roast Ragi flour in the same pan for about 6-7 minutes on medium heat.

Add grated jaggery and cook for 2 minutes. If you are using powdered sugar, just add it to the warm flour mix and make Ladoos.

Take the pan from flame. Add coarse almond powder, raisins, cardamom powder and mix well.

Oil your palm slightly, take about a tablespoon of mixture in between palm and roll into small balls. Make all ladoos from the above mix and store them in an airtight container.

2. Black Sesame & Oats Ladoos

Ingredients;

• 1/2 cup black sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup Oats
• 1/4 cup groundnuts + almonds
• 1/4 cup grated jaggery
• 2 tbsp. Ghee
• 1 tsp. cardamom powder

Method; Dry roast sesame seeds (till), oats, groundnuts and almonds in a non-stick pan for 3-4 minutes and take it out.

Powder all the above in a blender when slightly warm.

Add grated jaggery, cardamom powder add ghee in the powder and mix well. The mixture should be slightly warm when adding jaggery to it.

Oil your palm, take a tablespoon of mixture and roll into small balls with the mixture. Make all the sesame ladoos and store in an air tight container.

Notes;

1. To make Ladoos or balls the mixture should be slightly warm to bind it.
2. You can replace powdered sugar with jaggery if you cannot find the same.
3. Do not avoid raisins in the recipe of Ragi laddos, it gives a wonderful sweet and sour bite to the bland tasting Ragi flour.
4. You can replace whole sesame with de-skinned white sesame in the recipe if you wish.
5. Sprinkle a few drops of water if you find it difficult to make Ladoos.

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