SUNNUNDALU

Ingredients

• 1 cup Urad dal ((with or without skin, both work just fine))
• 1 cup Jaggery powder (or grated jaggery/powdered sugar)
• 3 tbsp Raw rice
• 1 tbsp Cardamom powder (optional, but recommended)
• 1/3 cup Ghee

Instructions

1. 1

   --- Prepping the urad dal (optional) ---

2. 2

   Wash the urad dal in a colander under cold running water, and keep rinsing until the water runs clear.

3. 3

   Now drain the water completely, and spread a thick cotton cloth/ clean bedsheet (2*2 feet or big enough for the dal to spread evenly).

4. 4

   Now transfer the washed rice on the thick cotton cloth and spread the urad dal evenly, leave for 10-15 mins until dal dries out completely.

5. 5

   --- Let's keep everything else ready in the meanwhile!! ---

6. 6

   Measure the jaggery powder/jaggery cube and if you are using the soft jaggery cube, grate it and keep it ready.

7. 7

   If you are adding cardamom, then take the seeds out of cardamom pods and pound to a fine powder.

8. 8

   --- It's time to roast the urad dal!! ---

9. 9

   Heat a thick bottomed skillet/wide pan, and bring it to high heat. Then reduce the heat to low.

10. 10

    Now divide the urad dal into smaller portions to roast, and one portion at a time and roast on low flame until it turns caramel brown.Note : If you're using whole urad dal/urad dal with skin on, then it might be difficult to notice the change color, so go by the aroma instead. When the urad dal roasts enough, it leaves a nice nutty aroma.

11. 11

    Transfer the roasted nutty urad dal to a wide plate and let it cool down.

12. 12

    Repeat the roasting urad dal until you have finished roasting all the portions. And keep the roasted dal aside on a plate.

13. 13

    Now add the raw rice to the skillet and roast for 5 mins. Transfer the cooled down roasted urad dal to a blender jar, add roasted rice and blend to a semi-coarse powder.Note : You can also blend to a fine powder, but blending to a coarse consistency is recommended. As it helps in keeping the laddus crunchy and prevents the laddu from sticking to your teeth.

14. 14

    --- Let's make the sunnundalu mixture ---

15. 15

    Heat a saucepan, add ghee and get it to a piping hot consistency.

16. 16

    Add the blended urad dal+rice powder, cardamom powder to a mixing bowl and mix it thoroughly.

17. 17

    Now add the sweetener of your choice (jaggery powder/powdered sugar/grated jaggery) into the mixing bowl, mix until everything is well combined.

18. 18

    --- It's time to roll the Sunnundalu ---

19. 19

    Take small portion of the above sunnundalu mixture to a wide plate, and into that plate add piping hot ghee to this mixture, and be quick in mixing it and immediately start shaping laddus.

20. 20

    Take a handful of mixture at a time, squeeze the mixture, roll and shape tightly into balls or undalu/laddus. Keep them aside on a clean plate.

21. 21

    Repeat the above process for remaining sunnundalu mixture.

22. 22

    Let the sunnundalu/urad dal laddus dry out and harden completely, it may take around 3-4 hours.

23. 23

    --- Storing and shelf life ---

24. 24

    Store the air-dried sunnundalu in a clean and dry air-tight container. These sunnundalu stay good upto a month.