Pottukadalai laddoo

We usually make puffed rice balls for the festival of karthgai ( a festival referenced in tamil literature since 200 BC) but since I didn't have puffed rice, I decided to try a different kind of laddoo. This recipe is adapted from a moong dal ( split de-husked green gram) laddoo recipe my mom has made since I was young.

Ingredients:

Pottukadalai ( de-husked split chickpeas/de-husked bengal gram) powder- 1 cup ( 1/2 cup of the chickpeas will make a cup of the flour)

Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup ( granulated sugar can be ground in to a powder, sifted and set aside)

Ghee- melted- 2-3 tbsp

cardamom- 2 to 3 pods -  remove the seeds from the husk.

cashews- 10 roasted until golden brown and chopped into small pieces

Instructions:

1. Place a pan on medium heat.  Dry roast the de-husked bengal gram for 2-3 minutes and set aside.
   
   
2. Add the cardamom seeds to the gram and grind it into a fine powder.
   
   
3. Use a sifter to get the fine powder and set aside.
4. Take 1 cup of ground gram powder and add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to it.Add the chopped cashews to the bowl and mix. 
5. Add ghee a little at a time until the dough is the consistency of bread dough
   
   
   
   
6. Now break off small golf ball sized pieces of dough and make into perfect balls
7. Laddoos are ready to serve