Rava Ladoo is a popular Indian sweet made with semolina, ghee and sugar. This festive treat is easy to make and often made for festivals like Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi. This easy version needs no sugar syrup and you can make it in less than 30 minutes!
I love this time of the year when the weather is changing. It’s beautiful outside and it also marks the beginning of festive season. With so many festivals lined up, I wanted to share an easy Indian sweet recipe which anyone can make easily at home (yes even those with basic cooking skills and experience).
Rava ladoo or sooji ladoo as it’s known in Northern parts of India are sweet balls made with semolina (sooji/rava). These are made in different ways in different regions of the country. Some people make it with sugar syrup but since that can get confusing, I am sharing an easy way to make these ladoos at home. This method is fussfree and fail-proof!
This easy rava ladoo recipe requires no sugar syrup and minimum cooking. Sometimes coconut is also added to these ladoos, even though I have not added it.
Ingredients
This easy recipe needs only few ingredients!
Rava/Sooji (semolina): this is the main ingredient for this recipe since these are rava ladoo! I prefer using fine rava for this ladoo recipe but you may use coarse rava as well (which we use to make upma).
Ghee: the binding agent for these ladoos is ghee so do not skimp on that.
Sugar: for this recipe, I use granulated white sugar which is pulsed in a blender and then used in the recipe. Do not substitute with powdered sugar (also known as confectioners/icing sugar).
Nuts & raisins: this is optional if you are not a fan you can skip the nuts and raisins. I have used cashews and golden raisins in this recipe.
Cardamom powder: I love flavoring these ladoos with little bit of cardamom powder. If you are not a fan, you may choose to skip it. Some nutmeg powder can also be added.
Step by Step Instructions
1- Take a heavy bottom and put it on medium-low heat. Add rava to it.
2- Using a spatula, stir continuously and roast the rava until it’s fragrant. This takes around 7 to 8 minutes. Once roasted, rava becomes aromatic. You don’t want to brown the rava for this recipe so be careful and stir all the time and roast on medium-low heat only. Once done, transfer it to a plate and allow it to cool.
3- While the rava is cooking, take sugar in a blender. I have used granulated white sugar here, do not replace this with powdered/icing sugar.
4- Blend the sugar into a powder.
5- Once the rava has cooled down a bit, transfer it to the same blender (along with sugar, no need to remove the sugar from the blender).
6- Pulse few times to blend the rava as well. Do not make a fine rava powder here, we want the ladoos to have some texture. Set this aside.
7- Now, heat a pan on medium heat and add 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon melted ghee to it. Add broken cashews and roast for 1 minute until they start turning light brown in color.
8- Add raisins at at this point, cook for around 45 seconds until raisins plump. Remove pan from heat.
9- Add the powdered rava and sugar mixture to the hot ghee and nuts in the pan. Also add 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder.
10- Using a spatula, mix until everything is well combined. The rava should be nicely mixed with the ghee. The ghee is hot, so don’t use your hands at this point. Now, let this cool down a bit until you can manage to handle the mixture in your hands.
11- While the mixture is still warm (but not hot), take a small portion of the mixture and press between your palm for 30 seconds.
12- Then roll between your palm to give it a round shape. Make all ladoos simialrly. You will get around 11 to 12 ladoo from the mixture.
If you are unable to make ladoos, and it’s breaking, add 1 tablespoon melted ghee and try again. Start with 1 tablespoon and add more as needed. You may also add milk if you can’t bind the ladoos but that changes the texture of the ladoos. Store these at room temperature.
Tips & Notes
Roast the rava correctly: this is the most important thing in the recipe. You need to make sure the rava is roasted else the ladoos will taste raw. You also need to make sure that you don’t burn the rava while roasting it, we don’t want to brown it for this recipe. That changes the taste.
Use a heavy bottom pan, stir continuously while roasting and and roast on medium-low heat. You would know it’s done when you have a nice aroma coming out of the pan. This takes around 7 to 8 minutes on medium heat.
Crunchy texture: when you grind the rava in the blender, do not grind it to a fine powder. For these ladoos, you need the crunch of the rava.
Reducing ghee: if you want to make these with less ghee, an option is to replace half of ghee with milk. However ladoos made with milk will not last that long compared to the ones made with ghee only. The taste will also differ.
Adding coconut: a lot of people add coconut to these ladoos. If you want to add coconut, use dry coconut or desiccated coconut and add around 1/4 cup of it. Add it towards the last 2 to 3 minutes of roasting the rava.
Adjust sugar to taste: these ladoos are sweet, I have used 150 grams of sugar here (3/4 cup). If you want less sweet ladoos, use 3/4 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar which will be 125 grams.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are unable to bind ladoos, then you need to add more of the binding agent. Since ghee is the only binding agent here, add additional 1-2 tablespoons of melted ghee and then try to bind again. You can also use milk if you don’t want to add more ghee.
These ladoos are best store at room temperature. Since they are made with rava and ghee only, they will stay fine at room temperature for weeks. However, if you add milk to them, then refrigerate them.
I have not tried this recipe with jaggery but it can be used. The texture and taste of the ladoo will be different.
Butter will work well even though ghee is what I prefer for this recipe. I would not recommend using oil here.
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This post has been updated from the recipe archives, first published in October 2014.
Rava Ladoo
Ingredients
- 1 cup rava/sooji 165 grams, I use fine rava
- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar 150 grams, use 125 grams for less sweet ladoos
- 1/4 cup +1 tablespoon ghee melted
- 2 tablespoons cashews broken
- 1 tablespoon golden raisins
- 1/2 teaspoons cardamom powder
Instructions
- Take a heavy bottom and put it on medium-low heat. Add rava to it. Using a spatula, stir continuously and roast the rava until it's fragrant. This takes around 7 to 8 minutes. Once roasted, rava becomes aromatic. You don't want to brown the rava for this recipe so be careful and stir all the time and roast on medium-low heat only. Once done, transfer it to a plate and allow it to cool.
- While the rava is cooking, add sugar to a blender. I have used granulated white sugar here, do not replace this with powdered/icing sugar. Blend the sugar into a powder.
- Once the rava has cooled down a bit, transfer it to the same blender (along with sugar, no need to remove the sugar from the blender).Pulse few times to blend the rava as well. Do not make a fine rava powder here, we want the ladoos to have some texture. Set this aside.
- Now, heat a pan on medium heat and add 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon melted ghee to it. Add broken cashews and roast for 1 minute until they start turning light brown in color.Add raisins at at this point, cook for around 45 seconds until raisins plump. Remove pan from heat.
- Add the powdered rava and sugar mixture to the hot ghee and nuts in the pan. Also add 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder.
- Using a spatula, mix until everything is well combined. The rava should be nicely mixed with the ghee. The ghee is hot, so don't use your hands at this point. Now, let this cool down a bit until you can manage to handle the mixture in your hands.
- While the mixture is still warm (but not hot), take a small portion of the mixture and press between your palm for 30 seconds. Then roll between your palm to give it a round shape. Make all ladoos simialrly. You will get around 11 to 12 ladoo from the mixture.If you are unable to make ladoos, and it's breaking, add 1 tablespoon melted ghee and try again. Start with 1 tablespoon and add more as needed. You may also add milk if you can't bind the ladoos but that changes the texture of the ladoos. Store these at room temperature.
Notes
- Roasting the rava correctly is the most important thing in the recipe. You need to make sure the rava is roasted else the ladoos will taste raw. You also need to make sure that you don’t burn the rava while roasting it, we don’t want to brown it for this recipe. That changes the taste.
- If you want to make these with less ghee, an option is to replace half of ghee with milk. However ladoos made with milk will not last that long compared to the ones made with ghee only. The taste will also differ.
- If you want to add coconut, use dry coconut or desiccated coconut and add around 1/4 cup of it. Add it towards the last 2 to 3 minutes of roasting the rava.
- These ladoos are sweet, I have used 150 grams of sugar here (3/4 cup). If you want less sweet ladoos, use 3/4 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar which will be 125 grams.
My attempt was a complete failure. I’m certain this was my own fault and not due to the recipe, but I wanted to comment so that others would not repeat my mistake. My “ladoos” looked exactly like beach sand no matter how much ghee I added. I think it is critical to this recipe to get both the rava and sugar processed into a fine powder to soak up the ghee. I just don’t have a good food processor equipped for that, so sugar and rava were very gritty. I added a bunch of all purpose flour, baked them and turned them into a sort of tea cookie so as not to waste the ingredients. Good luck to everyone else making ladoos. I hope you have more success than me!
sorry you had trouble Heather, did you measure the ingredients correctly? it looks like you added too much ghee that’s why the sand beach texture. What you could have done is- roasted more semolina and sugar and added to the mixture. Then keep the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes and then try binding them. They would come together. Yes the rava and sugar need to be fine for the recipe.