Badam Laddu | Almond Ladoo

Roasting almonds

1. Heat a thick bottomed pan. Keep the heat to low or medium and add 1 cup raw almonds.
2. Stirring at intervals, begin to roast the almonds.
3. Keep on roasting until the almonds become crunchy. But make sure you don't burn them or brown them too much. You can even roast/toast the almonds in an oven.
4. Taste a few almonds by cooling them first. They should taste crunchy.
5. When the almonds have got roasted well, add 2 tablespoons raisins and mix.
6. Turn off the heat and transfer the roasted almonds and raisins to another bowl or plate. Let the almonds become warm or cool at room temperature.

Making badam ladoo mixture

1. Next add both almonds and raisins in a mixer or grinder jar. Also add seeds from 3 green cardamoms.
2. Now add the jaggery powder. You can even use palm jaggery, raw sugar, coconut sugar or cane sugar instead of jaggery.
3. Run the mixer or grinder for some seconds and then stop. Check the consistency. Continue in the same way, till you get a fine consistency in the almonds with some oil released from the almonds. You can also use the pulse option in your grinder.
4. You have to run the grinder in parts till a bit of oil releases from the almonds. 
5. Take a small portion of the mixture in your hands and then press. It should hold shape and not crumble. 
6. Don’t grind at one stretch or grind too much as then much oil will be released from the almonds and you will get almond butter.

Shaping badam ladoo

1. Remove the badam ladoo mixture in the same bowl or plate in which we cooled the almonds & raisins.
2. Now take a small portion of the ladoo mixture in your palms and begin to shape it into ladoo.
3. Make badam ladoos with the rest of the mixture.
4. This recipe yields 10 almond ladoo. The recipe can be easily doubled or tripled. Store the almond ladoo in an airtight jar and refrigerate.
5. Serve these healthy almond ladoo as a sweet snack.