Rave Unde (Rava Laddoo)

We were visiting relatives this past week. There was a ceremony for which I volunteered to make sweets and savory things and carry it over. One of the sweets I made was 'Rave Unde' or 'Rava Laddoo'. Here is my version of it..

Ingredients:

• Fine Soji (Chiroti rave) - 3 cups
• Sugar (Measured and then powdered) - 2 1/2 cups
• Sugar - 3/4 cups to make syrup.
• Grated dry coconut (Kobbari or copra) - about 1 cup
• Ghee - 1 cup (You can put upto 1 1/2 cups, but 1 cup is a minimum that you need)
• Cardamom powder - pods of 9 - 10 cardamom or a tsp.
• Cloves - 5 - 6 (optional)
• Broken cashews - 1/2 cup
• Raisins - 1/2 cup (I used the green ones that we get in Indian stores)

Method:
Dry roast the soji or rave till done. Make sure it is not raw because once you mix it with sugar, you cannot fix it. Couple of ways to check to see if they are done are: put a small amount in your mouth (roasted rava) and you should be able to get a feel as if you are biting a cracker or something that is well roasted. And they should not have the raw smell. Keep aside. Heat ghee in the same pan. When hot, add cloves if using, when they splutter, add broken cashews and when they are half done, add raisins. Now, stir the roasted rava and mix well. Turn off the heat and add powdered sugar, grated dry coconut, cardamom powder and mix well. In a saucepan, bring 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water to a boil. Turn it off. (I do this way so that the rave unde can be stored for longer periods of time. If you use milk and do not refrigerate, they get a funky smell after few days). This simple syrup is used in place of milk to help make the balls.
When the mixture has cooled down a little bit (good enough for you to handle, but not totally cool), put couple of spoons of the sugar syrup and start making balls. For the above mentioned quantity, I got 50 undes or laddoos. But, I didn't make mine too big.  After forming the ball, let them dry on a plate for 10 - 15 minutes and then you can store them in an air tight container.

Happy New Year everyone!! Pin It