Dry fruits laddoo/ Dry fruits balls with no added sugar/ energy balls

 Sweets are must in case of any festival! Especially Deepavali is incomplete without loads of sweets. Obviously, we end up in guilt of overeating them. What about some sweets without added harmful white sugar!? Interesting, right? Here is that perfect healthy laddoos made without any added sugar or jaggery! Only natural sugar of dry fruits like dates & figs are used here. Also, I know there will be some dry fruits & nuts on hand post festival too. You can use all of them to make these energy balls which make great snack/ dessert or even breakfast combo option. Having one ball gives you lot of energy & it is great for kids after playing.

It is winter & food articles which keep our body warm are very much essential to be added in our diet. Lentils, dal, roots & tuber vegetables, nuts, seeds dry fruits are among them. So these vegan (as no butter or ghee added in it) balls are best and they provide the energy required on the go if they are made and stored in air tight container.  You need not stick to the measurement provided here as ingredients can be added as required & as available. Only point to be noted is there should be some nuts & some dry fruits for sweetness & for binding the balls.

To learn about, seasonal regimen of winter season, check here Sharad rutucharya.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

 Ingredients:

Nuts of choice (almonds, cashews, pistachios) – ¾ cup, you can choose any one or two of them
Dry fruits of choice (I used Dates, figs, apricots) – 1¼ cups

White sesame/ bili ellu – 1-2 tsp (optional)

Method:

• If using seeded dates, remove seeds and discard. Roughly chop dates & keep aside.
• Similarly, Remove apricot seeds, chop the flesh (fruit part) roughly and add to chopped dates. You can break the hard stone like seed to get the almond like kernel* which can be added to the laddoo.
• Chop figs roughly and keep it with dates and apricot.
• In a thick pan, roast almonds, cashews & pista till crisp. Add apricot kernels to this while roasting if you are using them. Don’t overdo & burn them. Transfer to a plate and keep aside to cool.
• In the same pan, add chopped dry fruits and sauté for couple of minutes. This is to remove water content if any. Please take care not to burn them too.
• Set aside until it comes to room temperature.
• In the same dry pan, roast white sesame seeds for a while, keep it aside in a separate bowl to cool down. Switch off the stove.
• Now take roasted nuts in a dry jar of mixer and pulse to get coarse powder. Avoid making fine powder.
• Transfer to the pan used to roast the nuts & dry fruits.
• Take roasted dry fruits in the mixer jar in batches (2-3), pulse to crush them too.
• Take all of them in the pan, mix well on low flame until they are warm and everything combine well.
• Add sesame seeds too. Mix all well to form a single mass of every ingredient spread evenly.
• You can use your fingers to do it if that is comfortable, that is what I do.
• Divide this into equal sized portions to make uniform dry fruits balls.
• Store in airtight box & enjoy as and when required.
• Refrigerate for better shelf life.

 

Notes:

• Apricot/ khubani kernels* (shown in pic) are said to be poisonous if consumed much. So take care and add only if it is fine & using them moderately.
• The laddoos may get spoiled soon if there is traces of water. So care must be taken while preparing.
• I prefer washing dry fruits like figs, apricot, dates before consuming. If you have this habit, then make sure you dry them before making this laddoo.