Aval/poha/flattened rice laddus (Makes ~15)

I wanted to make something different from the usual rava laddus for our monthly bhajana meeting and that’s how I ended up making aval laddus. I pretty much followed similar preparation method as that of rava laddus and got excellent compliments from friends. This is very easy to make and addition of coconut brings a sweet crunch to the laddus. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

1. Poha/flattened rice/അവല്‍ 2 cups, I used thick poha 
2. Sugar 1 cup
3. Grated coconut/തേങ്ങ പീര ½ cup
4. Ghee/നെയ്യ് ½ cup
5. Cardamom/ഏലക്ക 3 nos
6. Cashew nuts 10 nos, broken to pieces

Preparation

• Heat a non stick pan at medium high heat and dry roast the poha/flattened rice/aval till a golden brown color. Switch off flame and set aside to cool down.
• Add this to a blender cup along with sugar and cardamom (ഏലക്ക) to a fine powder. Transfer this to a bowl and add the grated coconut to it. Mix well and set aside.
• Now heat a saucepan at medium heat and add the ghee (നെയ്യ്). Fry the cashew nuts and pour this to the aval/poha mixture. Mix well with hands and make small balls out of it like laddus.
• Enjoy!!!

Notes:

1. Make sure to roast the aval/poha well or else you will end up with crumbled laddu mixture.
2. You can sprinkle a few tablespoons of milk if the laddus are not holding together to form a ball. Use within 3-4 days if using milk.
3. You can use brown aval/poha too to make this recipe. In that case, use 3/4 cup of jaggery syrup instead of sugar.

Cheers!!!
Suji