Besan ladoo

Ingredients:

■ ½ cup ghee plus 2-3 tbsp extra ghee

■ 2 cups coarse gram flour (magaz flour)

■ 2 tbsp melon seeds

■ 2 tbsp crushed pistachios

■ 2 tbsp crushed almonds

■ 1 cup icing sugar or to taste

■ ¼ tsp ground cardamom

■ a large pinch of saffron

Method:

■ In a non-stick wok, heat the ½ cup of ghee and once melted add the coarse gram flour. Keep the heat on low or medium and stir the mixture together until the coarse gram flour has been coated with the ghee and doesn’t have any lumps. It should resemble breadcrumbs.

■ Once this stage has been achieved, then add one tablespoon of extra ghee to loosen the mixture. If the mixture is still dry, add more ghee, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is just loose enough.

■ Keep stirring continuously, until the ghee begins to be released from the mixture; this usually takes about 20 minutes of roasting on a low heat.

■ From this point it takes about 10 minutes of further roasting on a low heat for the mixture to be ready. The mixture will start to impart a nutty aroma and turn golden brown; this is when the mixture should be taken off the heat.

■ Transfer to a glass bowl to cool the mixture.

■ Then, in the same wok, dry roast the melon seeds, until they just start going golden. Take off the heat and lightly crush. Repeat with the almonds and pistachios. Add to the cooled mixture. Then add the ground cardamom and saffron and combine.

■ When the mixture has completely cooled, add the icing sugar and mix thoroughly. Sift the icing sugar first to remove any lumps. Taste and adjust the sugar to cardamom (elaichi) ratio. Then take golf ballsized amounts of the mixture and form smooth balls between the palms of your hands. Place on a pretty serving dish and serve.