Give the classic Besan Ladoo a makeover by filling them with chocolate truffle for the festive season! These besan ladoos have a creamy melt-in-mouth chocolate truffle on the inside which makes them irresistible.
100gramsdark chocolateuse good quality chocolate, do not use chocolate chips
1/3cupheavy cream80 ml
splashvanilla extractoptional
For the besan ladoo
1/4cupghee55 ml, not melted
1 cupbesan110 grams I used coarse besan (ladoo besan)
1/2cupbura/boora75 grams, not to be confused with icing sugar/confectioners sugar OR pulse granulated white sugar and use that
1/2teaspooncardamom powder
Instructions
Make the truffles
To make the truffles, take good quality chocolate and chop it fine. You need to chop the chocolate fine so that all the chocolate melts easily when you pour hot cream over it. Heat the heavy cream in a pan just until it starts to sizzle from the edges, do not boil it. Pour the warm cream over the bowl of chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Take a wire whisk and stir the cream and chocolate together. Add a splash of vanilla if you like. The chocolate should melt complete and you should have a smooth ganache. If you see that some of the chocolate hasn't melted and the mixture isn't smooth, pop the bowl into the microwave and microwave in 10 seconds increments as needed and it should be all smooth.
Cover the bowl with a cling sheet making sure that the cling sheet is touching the surface of the ganache. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours for the ganache to harden.
Once the ganache has set, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Use a mini cookie scoop to scoop out the ganache into small scoops, don't try to shape it at this point. Place the sheet in the refrigerator for 30 more minutes.
After 30 minutes, now start shaping the truffles*. Push the ganache scoop from both sides to bring it together and shape it into a round (as much as you can). Once it's reasonably round, then roll it quickly between my palms to make it more round and then roll into cocoa powder. You have to work here quickly because this can get messy. Place the prepared truffles in the refrigerator while you work on the besan ladoo mixture.
Make the besan ladoo
Melt ghee in a pan on medium heat. Then add the besan and stir and set heat to low. At first it will clump and then start to loosen up around 7 to 8 minutes mark. Keep stirring at all times. Please refer to my detailed post on besan ladoo complete instructions, it has all tips and tricks that you need to make this mithai.
After roasting the besan for around 25 minutes, it becomes very smooth and liquid-y and golden-brown in color. Take care to not burn it. Let the besan cool down for around 10 minutes and then add boora and cardamom powder. Mix until the boora is well combined with the besan.
Now, let the mixture cool down a little more. Since we are going to stuff these with truffles, we don't want the mixture hot. We don't want the mixture to become completely cold either because then the ghee will solidify and it will become difficult to shape ladoos. So, just let it cool down a bit more after adding the sugar. After it's just slightly warm, start making the ladoos. Take some mixture and press it between your palms. Also, take out the truffles from the fridge at this point.
Fill the ladoo with truffles
Make a well in the center by using your thumb. Add the prepared truffles in the center. Now use a little more of the besan ladoo mixture and place it on top of the truffle to seal the ladoo. Then gently roll between your palms to shape the ladoo. Do not try to reshape the ladoo once you have shaped it. The chocolate will melt inside the ladoo and if you try to reshape it, the ladoo will break and chocolate will ooze out and then you can't reshape it again. Make all the ladoos similarly. You would get around 8 truffles from the mixture, keep in mind these truffles are large in size.
Store at room temperature or you can also store these in the fridge if you live in a warm place.
Notes
*Please read the paragraph "Important Tips" in the blog post before you start making this recipe. There are some key points which you need to take care of before making these Chocolate Truffle Besan Ladoo.