Make your own Date Laddoos and have them sugar free at home (apart from the sugar from the dates of course)
There is a lot of back end work for this, but it is so satisfying to eat these delicious little parcels of joy. What I use for this are the really good and plump and soft dates. Only with these you will get that great stickiness to bind everything together. I make this really simple but you can put all sorts of things in these rolls like Grated Coconuts, Flax Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Walnuts, Cashew nuts, Apricots etc.. Of course all the things need to be in proportion and you need to use less almonds and pistachios for the same.
What I use to make for a stash of around 4 dozen Balls or Laddoos
Dates: 1 kg Soaked in boiling water for half an hour and kept aside
Almonds: 500gm
Pistachios: 250 gm
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp ghee (Come on, it's one whole kilo of dates!!)
What you need to do for the almonds and pistachios is all the hard work and will take half a day to do
- Take boiling water and put the pistachios in the water.
- You will immediately see some of the skins coming out and floating on top and you can switch off the gas, remove the water, drain and place on a cloth to dry.
- Take out the skins and roughly chop the Pistachios
- Same process is to be used for the Almonds
- Chop up the dates in a food chopper or by hand - don't put any additional water in them to do this
- Take a large wok and add the oil and ghee
- Put in the dates and keep making sure you stir with a wooden spoon and pray that you will not have to do arm exercises for a long time because this is strenuous!
- Take off the gas and add the chopped almonds and pistachios
- Put a dot of oil on your palms and start rolling these into little balls
Voila, you are ready to have your Date Dessert - much healthier than the rest and a great gifting idea for your friends and family.
