Maladu Recipe

Maladu or Nei Urundai is a popular ladoo recipe in South India made using roasted gram dal, sugar, ghee and nuts. Highly nutritious sweet made with dal which is made in less than 15 minutes perfect for diwali or any festive occasions. Learn how to make it with step by step pictures and video.

Maladu Recipe

Amma makes maladu whenever we are craving for sweet. This recipe hardly needs any cooking. It is super easy to make and not complicated at all. Amma always has a stash of roasted gram dal or pottu kadalai in her pantry. So whenever we want it, she can make few ladoos in an instant.

About Maladu Recipe

Maladu is a traditional South Indian sweet recipe which is highly nutritious. It is high in protein and is best for kids health. We call this ladoo as nei urundai, but many people in South India makes nei urundai with pasi paruppu(split yellow moong dal). Ever since I was a kid we used to call this as nei urundai.

Roasted gram dal or Fried gram dal is the main ingredient in maladu. This is made from husked chana dal (kala chana) which is split and roasted to give a nutty taste & texture. It is known as pori kadalai, pottu kadalai or udacha kadalai in and around South India. Commonly used in making coconut chutney.

Nei urundai or maladu is made with roasted gram dal, sugar, cardamom, ghee and fried cashews. Gram dal is powdered with sugar and cardamom. Fry Broken cashews in ghee and mix into the powdered gram dal mixture little at a time. The mixture should resemble damp sand-like which is then shaped into ladoos.

Ladoos make a great recipe to try for Diwali sweets recipes. Some ladoo is easy to make and some is really complicated. But this maladu is not only easy, it takes minimum time to make. You can make this from start to finish in less than 15 minutes.

Watch Maladu Video

Maladu Ingredients

Roasted Gram Dal - fried gram dal is available whole or broken. You can use any variety you can find. But make sure you use the variety which is already roasted and skins removed.

Sugar - you can add more or less according to your taste. Jaggery cannot be substitute but organic granulated brown sugar can be used.

Ghee - Use pure desi ghee for making ladoos. It imparts so much flavour to the sweet. The ghee should be slightly warm when you add into the powdered gram flour mix.

Cashews - chop cashews into small pieces which distributes evenly into the ladoo. Instead of cashews you can use finely chopped almonds.

Cardamom - Don't add too much it might over power your sweet. I use already powdered cardamom but you can add 2 to 3 whole cardamom pods when grinding gram dal and sugar.

Maladu or Nei Urundai Preparation in 3 Easy Steps

Fry Cashews - Heat ghee in a frying pan on low medium heat. Add in cashews and fry till golden. Remove cashews to a bowl and reserve the ghee for making ladoos.

Powder gram dal - Powder roasted gram dal, sugar and cardamom till super fine. Add cashews and warm ghee and mix well using hands till it resembles wet sand like texture.

Shape & Enjoy - take a handful of the gram dal mix and press tightly in your hands till it comes together into ladoo. Let the ladoo sit for 30 minutes to set. Serve.

• Here are Some More Ladoo Recipes
• Coconut Ladoo
• Boondi Ladoo
• Rava Ladoo

Expert Tips

Measurements

You can reduce the ghee and sugar quantity if you want. But the texture and taste will be compromised. Reducing Sugar quantity will make the ladoo less sweet but still it will taste great.

Choosing Roasted Gram Dal

Use finest quality of fried gram dal. You can find split gram dal and whole fried gram dal, any of which can be used. Make sure your roasted gram dal is skinned and unsalted.

Frying Nuts

Use chopped nuts which distributes evenly in the ladoo. Fry broken cashews in ghee till golden and use them. Chopped almonds or any nuts can be fried and used.

Use Ghee While Still Warm

Once you fry nuts in ghee, reserve the ghee for making ladoos. The ghee shouldn't be too hot when adding into the powdered gram dal and sugar mixture. If you pour hot ghee into the mixture, it makes the sugar melt which makes the shaping process hard.

Shaping

The mixture should resembles wet sand like texture. Shape the ladoo tight giving enough pressure. This will make the ladoo hold its shape better.

How to Make Maladu (Stepwise Pictures)

1)Heat ghee in a pan on low to medium heat. Add in broken cashews in the ghee.

2)Fry the cashews till golden brown. Strain the fried cashews and set aside. Reserve the ghee for making ladoos.

3)Now to make roasted gram dal mixture. Take fried gram dal in a blender.

4)Add in sugar. I used granulated white sugar. You can use unrefined brown sugar.

5)Add cardamom powder. Whole cardamom pods can be added. powder this mixture till smooth.

6)Take the powder in a bowl. You can sieve the powder using a fine mesh sieve for extra smooth ladoos.

7)Add in fried cashews and mix evenly into the mixture.

8)Pour the warm ghee little at a time.

9)Mix gently so the ghee mixes into the gram dal mixture.

10)Add more ghee and mix.

11)The mixture should resembled wet sand like texture. Take some mixture in your hands and shape them tight into ladoo.

12)Maladu is ready to serve.

13)Enjoy maladu immediately.

FAQ's

Can I reduce the quantity of ghee when making ladoo?

Reducing ghee makes the drier and less melt in mouth. Sometimes it makes the mixture too dry, that your ladoo doesn't hold its shape very well.

Can I use brown sugar when making ladoos?

Brown sugar which are wet in texture cannot be used. It will make the mixture too liquidy. Some organic brands of sugar available in the market is unrefined and looks like granulated sugar. You can use that variety of sugar for this ladoo so the texture won't be affected.

Why my ladoo not holding its shape?

If you don't use enough ghee then the mixture doesn't have enough moisture to hold its shape. If you pour too hot ghee into the gram dal mixture, then the sugar melts too much and makes the mixture soggy which makes its hard for the ladoo to hold its shape.

Shelf Life & Storage

Maladu or nei urundai doesn't have any moisture like water or milk. So this keeps well at room temperature for more than a week.

You can store them in an air tight container for a week.

More Ladoo Recipes to Try

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