Paan Coconut Ladoo
Oct 17, 2016, Updated Oct 14, 2021
Instant Paan Coconut Ladoo, filled with gulkand is an easy Indian sweet for Diwali! You need only 15 minutes to make these!
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Instant Paan Coconut Ladoo filled with gulkand – a special little treat to enjoy this Diwali!
I am so excited to be finally be able to share some Diwali recipes with you guys. Yes! My favorite festival and most definitely my favorite time of the year. This year Diwali falls on 30th October, quite early actually. But for me literally Diwali festivities started in July/August! As you guys know, I had to work way in advance because of mom’s treatment this year [and that’s so unlike me, I mean I have always said – I am not a planner, I suck at these things! but this time, I had no choice.] So anyway I was making Diwali sweets in like July and there was one person who was very happy about this. Yes you guessed it was my husband! He would come back home and get to eat these sweets everyday and too in July. And then he would say seriously there are way too many perks of being a husband of a food blogger, one of them being that you get to eat Diwali sweets 3 months in advance! I think I agree with him! ?
These Paan Coconut Ladoo are my absolute favorite. Super easy to make and taste delicious. For those who don’t know paan is the hindi name for betel leaves. In India people fill these leaves with tobacco and eat it but there’s also another use – it has a very refreshing taste so it’s often used with few other things like rose petal preserve, fennel seeds to make what is called “meetha paan” or sweet paan. It’s eaten as a mouth freshener after meals. I absolutely love meetha paan and have shared 2 recipes before using the same flavors. In these Paan Coconut Ladoo, I have combined the flavors of meetha paan and coconut and they turned out absolutely amazing.
Coconut ladoo using condensed milk are the easiest Diwali sweet that you can make. I have a recipe for this 2 ingredient coconut ladoo on my blog but this year I wanted to do something special with coconut ladoo and adding paan flavor seemed like a great idea. We make them in the same way as instant coconut ladoo but we grind some paan leaves with the condensed milk before adding it to the pan with the desiccated coconut. Also these coconut ladoos are filled with gulkand (rose petal preserve) which makes them really flavorful. You can also add some chopped nuts too in the center. Just chop them fine and mix with the gulkand and stuff the ladoos with the mixture.
I hope you guys enjoy these easy Paan Coconut Ladoo on Diwali this year and it finds a place on your Diwali menu! I will be sharing more Diwali recipes in the coming weeks, so watch this space!
Method
To a food processor, add chopped paan leaves and condensed milk.
Pulse till well both are well combined. Set aside.
Heat ghee in a pan on medium heat.
Once ghee is hot, add desiccated coconut and roast for 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat.
Add the condensed milk – paan mixture and stir to combine. You may add few drops of green food color at this point.
Cook for another 2 minutes on low heat, mixture will thicken. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool down a bit.
Grease your hands with little ghee, take small portion from the coconut mixture, flatten it and add 1/2-1 teaspoon of gulkand in the center.
Bring the edges together and roll to form a ladoo.
Roll the prepared ladoo in desiccated coconut. Repeat the same process with the remaining ladoos.
Store these Paan Coconut Ladoo in the refrigerator and enjoy!
* Using green food color is optional.
* You can also add chopped nuts with gulkand in the filling.
Paan Coconut Ladoo
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut unsweetened
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 4 paan leaves also known as betel leaves
- 4-5 teaspoons gulkand also know as rose petal preserve
- 1 teaspoon ghee also known as clarified butter
- green food color optional
- more desiccated coconut for rolling
Instructions
- To a food processor, add chopped paan leaves and condensed milk. Pulse till well both are well combined. Set aside.
- Heat ghee in a pan on medium heat. Once ghee is hot, add desiccated coconut and roast for 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat.
- Add the condensed milk - paan mixture and stir to combine. You may add few drops of green food color at this point.
- Cook for another 2 minutes on low heat, mixture will thicken. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool down a bit.
- Grease your hands with little ghee, take small portion from the coconut mixture, flatten it and add 1/2-1 teaspoon of gulkand in the center.
- Bring the edges together and roll to form a ladoo.
- Roll the prepared ladoo in desiccated coconut. Repeat the same process with the remaining ladoos.
- Keep the paan coconut ladoo refrigerated.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Paan Coconut Ladoo
Can’t wait to try this Manali. What is your opinion on freezing the paan puree? It is very difficult to find paan leaves where I live and I finally found some that came in a bag – there are 12 Betel leaves.
Thanks,
Megha
i should work though I haven’t tried freezing puree personally. chop very fine using a food processor and then freeze in ice cube trays.
I froze the leaves since it will be a few days before I can make the balls. Would that work?
I hope so 🙂 i have never worked with frozen paan leaves
Hi mam,
Can we use frozen shredded coconut ?
And any substitute to get natural green color instead of food color?
Thanks
you can but you will need to dry roast the coconut so that there’s no moisture in there and then use. I have noticed that when you use good paan leaves you get really nice green color on its own. I never got nice green color in US but when I used paan leaves in Delhi to make this recipe, the ladoos had a nice green color just with paan leaves.
Hi Manali,
Condensed milk and gulkhand brand, please.
Eagle brand condensed milk and tower brand gulkand
Hi Manali, which brand of green color did you use?
I think it was Americolor
Hi Manali, what if I add a truffle touch to these laddoos by dipping them in white chocolate wafers + sprinkling them with mukhwaas?
sure, I already something similar on the blog:https://www.cookwithmanali.com/paan-cheesecake-truffles/
Hi ma’am
Pls tell self life of this?
they are good for 2-3 days at room temperature, to keep them for 5 days keep them in fridge.
hi Manali,these look so tempting. can the ladoos be frozen for use for a later date? thanks
yes I think so. Honestly they get over quickly so I have never gotten a chance to freeze them. If you do freeze, please come back and let me know how it worked!
Is the dessicated coconut used the dry one or the one found in the freezer section of the store ?
It’s the dry powder one, you find in aisle and not the frozen section
This paan laddoo was a total hit! Most guests had more than 1. Love that its so easy to make and a absolute favorite. Thank you!!!
What is the shelf life of this Laddoos when refrigerated?
4-5 days
Hi Manali- can you please share the measurements for 20 people?
I want to make them for my Diwali Party.
Thanks,
Madhavi
multiply everything by 3!
Thanks for sharing. I have paan squash syrup consistency. Can you tell me the proportion / quantity pls
Thanks
Sorry I haven’t tested the recipe with syrup, it will change the ratio so I will need to test it before I can comment.
Hello- thanks it turned out yum. A bit on sweeter side. ( these days tolerance for sweet has reduced ). Well I tasted the mixture kept on adding the paan squash squash to condensed milk until I could feel the flavor. Then rest as per your recipe. Added nuts to balance. The squash also has little sugar content.
Hi. Which brand gulkand did you use? Or can you suggest a particular brand. Buying from Amazon. Thanks
I used super tower gulkand brand that I find at my Indian grocery stores. I don’t have a favorite brand, I just use what I can find.
How long do these stay? Can I make them 2 days in advance??
yes will stay good for 3-4 days
Hello
Is there an alternative for ghee
Oil or olive oil .?? Or none?
butter?
Hi
I am planning to try these awesome ladoos tomo
Very excited to try
##Wanted to know if I can use fresh coconut…grinded in mixie
Pl reply asap
Thanku
you may but saute it in a pan first to get rid of excess moisture and then use in the recipe.
Hi Manali
I made these laddus and it was super hit. Every one in my home loved it.
Thanks for lovely and easy recipe.
Tried these beauties today, and they tasted so awesome. Thanks for this lovely Receipe.