Bethica's Kitchen Flavours: Dates & Nuts Laddu / Laddoo

Dates & Nuts Laddu is very easy to prepare. They are healthy energy balls with the goodness of dates, almonds, cashew, pistachios, coconut, roasted chana dal and sesame seeds. I then flavored them with cardamom powder and rose water. This is a perfect guilt free dessert apt for your Diwali celebration. Besides, they can be enjoyed as a quick breakfast on the go. It is also a perfect snack for weight watchers and ideal for youngsters.

Dates and nuts laddu is completely sugar free as it has only the natural sweetness of the dates. So they are diabetic friendly. It can be made much in advance and stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for a couple of days. So check out a quick step by step pictorial recipe to prepare this Diwali treat.

1 cup soft dates, deseeded & chopped
2 tsp. ghee
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1/4 cup cashew nuts, chopped
1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
2 tbsp. fresh grated coconut
1/4 cup roasted chana dal
2 tbsp. raisins
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
1 tbsp. dry rose petals
1 tbsp. rose water

Heat 1 tbsp. ghee in a pan and sauté the chopped almonds and cashew nuts till they turn slightly brownish in colour.

Then add the chopped pistachios and sesame seeds. Sauté for 1-2 minutes. Keep aside.

In the same pan, dry roast the fresh grated coconut till light brown. Add the roasted chana dal and give it a stir. Keep aside.

Heat remaining 1 tbsp. ghee in the pan and sauté the raisins for a minute. Then add the chopped dates and mix well till it is soft and comes together.

Then add all the roasted nuts, dry rose petals, pinch of salt, cardamom powder and rose water. Combine everything well.

Switch off the flame and set aside for a couple of minutes to slightly cool down.

Take a small portion of the mix and form into round shaped balls. Make similar balls with the rest of the dates mixture. Yummy Dates & Nuts Laddus are ready.