Easy to make and free of refined sugar, these sattu ladoos are one of my favorite quick treats to make for the festivities. These come together in less than 30 minutes, are made with simple ingredients and are also great for gifting to friends and family for Diwali.
I always make a batch of my favorite besan ladoo for Diwali. While they are undeniably the best, it does take some time to roast the besan and put everything together. Now, when I want to make something quick for the festive season I make these Sattu Ladoo.
Since sattu is already roasted chana flour, you don’t need to roast the flour at all, although I do roast it for 5 minutes for extra flavor.
My love affair with sattu
I grew up eating sattu paratha and it was my favorite paratha growing up. We also drank sattu during summers and stuffed it in litti, and enjoyed it with chokha. Sattu, though is not a popular ingredient across India, it’s most commonly used in states of Bihar and eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh (that’s where my family is from). My husband, who is from Delhi had not even heard of sattu growing up!
Sattu is a pantry staple for me and other than making parathas, I also make ladoos from it. Add some nuts and makhana for the crunch and they are quite a treat, my toddler loves them too.
If you want to make then vegan, simply swap ghee with a vegan butter. I have used jaggery here because when I tested this recipe, I realized it had so much more flavor when made with jaggery. That caramelized flavor of jaggery goes well with sattu but you can definitely use sugar if you like.
Enjoy them for Diwali! xx
Let’s make sattu ladoo
- Roast the sattu
Technically, sattu is already roasted but for the ladoos, we roast them for 5 to 6 minutes in ghee for extra flavor and nuttiness. It also gives sattu a brownish color.
- Roast the makhana and nuts next!
Makhana gives these ladoos a nice crunch, roast them for 6 to 7 minutes on medium heat until they are crispy. I also like adding cashews, and pumpkin seeds to these ladoos but you can use any other nuts of choice.
- Crush the makhana and nuts
Add the roasted makhana to a food processor and pulse a few times, we don’t want a fine powder here. Similarly coarsely crush the cashews and pumpkin seeds.
- Add ghee to bind the ladoos
Once everything is roasted and crushed, add everything to a big plate along with jaggery powder (or any sweetener of choice). Mix everything with hands and then start adding melted ghee. You want just enough ghee for the ladoos to bind.
- Bind and make ladoos
Mix the ghee nicely with everything. If you are unable to bind the ladoos, you can add more, add 1 tablespoon at a time. Then take a small portion of the mixture and press it between your palm to bind it. Then roll it form a round shape and make ladoos. I got 12 ladoos from the mixture.
These last for upto 10 days at room temperature when stored in an airtight container. Perfect for gifting.
Sattu Ladoo (with jaggery)
Ingredients
- 1 cup sattu, 102 grams , roasted black chana flour
- 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon ghee, divided
- 1 & ½ cup makhana, 25 grams
- 3 tablespoon cashews, raw and unroasted
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds, raw
- ½ cup jaggery powder, 75 grams
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
Instructions
- Add 1 tablespoon ghee to a pan on medium heat, then add 1 cup sattu to it and stir using a spatula. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly until it becomes aromatic and brownish in color. Remove it from pan and transfer to a plate.
- To the same pan, now add ½ tablespoon ghee and then add 1 & ½ cup makhana to it. Stir and roast the makhana for around 6 to 7 minutes, until they become crisp. You can take one makhana between your finger and press it, it should snap easily with a cracking sound. Remove them from the pan.
- Then add 1 teaspoon ghee to the same pan and then add 3 tablespoons cashews and 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds to it. Roast for 2 to 3 minutes until they are golden brown in color and then remove onto a plate. Wait for it to cool down a little.
- Once the makhana and cashews and pumpkin seeds have cooled down a little, transfer the makhana to a food processor and pulse a few times to roughly crush/chop it. Then remove on a plate. Now, add the roasted cashews and pumpkin seeds to the food processor and roughly chop that as well. Remove on a plate.
- To a large pan, now add everything- roasted sattu, makhana, cashews, pumpkin seeds along with ½ cup jaggery powder and ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder. Use your hands to mix everything together. Now, start adding melted ghee, 1 tablespoon at a time and mixing with your hands after each addition.
- Stop adding more ghee once you are able to bind ladoos out of the mixture. I added around 4 & ½ tablespoons of ghee until I was able to bind the ladoos. Take a small portion from the mixture, press between your palm to bind it and then roll it to make ladoo. I got 12 ladoos from the mixture. They stay good for up to a 10 days at room temperature in an airtight container.
Notes
- I have used pumpkin seeds and cashews in this recipe, but you can swap them with melon seeds, almonds, pistachios etc. Use whatever you have in your pantry.
- I would recommend using makhana for texture but if you don’t have it, you can skip it. Edible gond, that I use in my pinni recipe will also work well here in place of makhana.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
