Bengali Style Darbesh or Boondi Laddu: Ganesh Chaturthi Special

“Gananayaka Ganadaivataya Ganadaksha Yadhimahi

Guna Shariraya Guna Manditaya Guneshanay Dhimahi

Gunaditaya Gunadhishaya Guna Pravishtaya Dhimahai

Ekadantaya Vakratundaya Gauri Tanahaya Yadhi Mahi

Gajeshanaya Bhalchandraya Shree Ganeshaya Dhimahi”

This time it’s not only Shankar Mahadevan (Indian singer) but we all are chanting this; it’s Ganesh Chaturthi today. For those people who have no idea about what ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ is, it’s one of the biggest Indian festivals where we worship Lord Ganesha.

India is a multicultural country where each and every region is enriched with their own culture. Though each region has their own set of festivals, Ganesh Ustav is one of those festivals which is celebrated across the entire country. These days Ganesh Chaturthi is not confined in India anymore; it is also celebrated in Nepal, Burma, Malaysia, Thailand, USA, Canada and in many other countries.

Ganesh Chaturthi is the celebration of the birthday of Lord Ganesha. It is also known as Vinayak Chaturthi. In Hindu religion Lord Ganesh is worshipped for wisdom, prosperity and fortune. According to Hindu mythology,Ganesha is superior to all other gods except Shiva, Parvati, Laxmi/Lakshmi and Vishnu. It is believed that worshiping Lord Ganesha at start of the New Year will bring prosperity and happiness in our life for the full year.

Like any other festival Ganesh Chaturthi is also incomplete without special food i.e. some favorites of Lord Ganesha. And it is believed that Modak, Boondi Laddu etc yummy sweets belong to Lord Ganesha’s favorite list. Last year I tried my hands on Fried Modak and thought to try the steamed modak this year. But when I saw the bulk of Boondi at the sweet shops I cound’t stop drooling. Let me clear you all one thing here, we don’t get boondi around my place except Diwali. it worked like a trigger to me and here I am making Boondi Laddoo for our sweet Lord Ganesha. This Boondi Laddoo is also known as Dorbesh In Bengal.

Here is the elaborate and detailed recipe of Bengali Style Dorbesh or Boondi Laddoo (laddu).

Bengali Style Dorbesh or Boondi Laddoo (laddu) Recipe:

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 45 mins

Resting Time: 60 mins

Total Time: 120 mins

Yield: 10 pieces (medium)

Ingredients:

For Boondi:

Gram flour (besan): 1½ cup

Rice flour: ¼ cup

Baking soda: 1 pinch

Food color: few drops each red, green & yellow

Water: 1¼ cup

Oil/ Ghee (clarified butter) to deep fry

For Sugar Syrup:

Sugar: 1½ cup

Water: 1 cup

Green cardamom essence/powder: 3-4 drops/ ½ tsp (can be substituted with rose essence/water)

For Laddoo:

Khoya/ Mawa: 1 cup (grated)

Milk powder: ½ cup

Cashew nuts: 8-10 pieces

Raisins: 8-10 pieces

Ghee (clarified butter): 2 tbsp (melted)

Equipment:

Heavy bottomed saucepan

Heavy bottomed wok

Large sieve

Large mixing bowls

Small mixing bowls

Perforated ladle (boondi maker)

Medium slotted spoon

Deep ladle

Preparation:

Start the entire preparation from making the sugar syrup. Boil the water in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add sugar to the boiling water. Keep the mixture boiling until it reaches ‘1 string’ consistency. To check the consistency, do a small test by swiping your forefinger on the back of a spoon which has been dipped in sugar syrup. Now stick your forefinger and thumb together and pull back; if one string is formed then the consistency of the syrup is perfect.

Sift and sieve the gram flour, rice flour and soda together and take in a clean dry mixing bowl.

Make a small well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour ½ cup of water in the well and make a very dense paste.

Add rest of the water little by little and make a lump free batter. The batter should be able to cover the back of a spoon. Heat the oil in the wok on medium flame. The temperature of the oil is also very important here. The oil should be medium hot; not smoking hot.

To check consistency of the batter dip a spoon in the batter and add the droplets into the hot oil. If the droplets have tails that means your batter is too thick. Add 1-2 tbsp water to the batter and check again. If the droplets fall flat, your batter needs more gram flour then. Adjust the batter according to your need until you get fluffy round balls. Save two ladles full of batter in two separate small bowls and mix red and green color individually. Mix yellow color in the large portion of batter.

Now place the perforated ladle (boondi maker) above the hot oil in wok and pour the batter straight into that perforated ladle (boondi maker) from the deep ladle. And allow the droplets to flow directly in the hot oil.

Spread the batter in the perforated ladle (boondi maker) with the help of the deep ladle until the batter is almost scraped off from the perforated ladle (boondi maker).

Fry the boondis until they are nicely done. But remember not to fry them for a long time otherwise boondis will become crispy and that will be the least thing you want for laddoos. Remove the fried boondis with the medium slotted spoon and keep them on paper towel to get rid of excess oil.

Cook the rest of the yellow, red and green batter too in same procedure in batches. Make sure boondis are cooked and not raw in the center.

Once you are done with rest of the batter and fried all the boondis, heat the sugar syrup to warm it up. Pour the boondis in the warm syrup and mix well. Switch off the flame of the syrup and leave the pan covered for 15-20 mins. Once boondis are soaked in syrup nicely, remove the boondis from the syrup with a slotted spoon and dump in another large bowl. Wait until boondis cool down a bit and become warm but yet not hot.

When the boondis are warm, add khoya, milk powder, cashew nuts and raisins in the warm boondi and mix well. In the beginning it will seem to be a hard job as the mixture will be very sticky. But soon everything will come together and mixture will be smoother to handle. Now grease your palms with melted ghee (clarified butter) and take 1-2 tbsp of the mixture in your palms. Roll and shape the mixture into a ball. Do the same with rest of the mixture.

Your Boondi Laddu or Bengali Style Dorbesh is almost ready now. Now all you need is little patience and allow the laddus to settle a bit to hold the shape neatly. The laddus need atleat 1 hr. for that. Make sure they are untouched by this time. If you are running out of time refrigerate the laddus for 1 hr; by the time they will settle. Don’t forget to bring them at room temperature before serving,

Boondi Laddu or Bengali Style Dorbesh tastes best when they are served warm or at room temperature. These laddus can be stored in air tight container. They will remain fresh up to 2 days at room temperature. If you want to keep them up to 7 days, refrigerate. Keep the laddoo in a clean and dry pot in a single row. Make sure you don’t overlap them otherwise laddoos will break apart. If you have to (in any case) do so, make sure they are firm before you make the second layer.