Rawa/Sooji Laddu

There are so many fabulous delicious sweets that I associate with my childhood Deepavali memories. I remember helping Amma make Rawa Laddus and later on distributed among friends for Deepavali. An absolutely easy preparation for beginners, Rawa laddu is a delicious combination of roasted rawa/ semolina/sooji, sugar, roasted cashews and raisins and delicately flavored with cardamon.

There are two variations in making Rawa Laddu~ one a simpler version which I am posting today and which has a shorter shelf life and the other one is made with powdered Rawa and Sugar and which has a longer shelf life. I personally like the first version and so does my family. You cannot go wrong with this recipe, even a mistake here and there would not create havoc as is the case with most sweets.

List of ingredients:

1. 2 cups rawa/ semolina/sooji
2. 2 cups sugar
3. 1/4 cup milk
4. 2 tablespoons chopped cashewnuts
5. 1 tablespoon raisins/dry grapes
6. 1/2 teaspoon powdered cardamon
7. 4 tablespoons ghee/clarified butter

Cooking Procedure:

1. Heat a tablespoon of ghee/clarified butter in a kadai/fry pan and roast the cashewnuts and when they turn a very light brown color, add the raisins and toast for some more time until the raisins puff up well. Remove from pan, keep aside.
   
2. In the same kadai add another tablespoon of ghee and roast the rawai/sooji until light brown color ( it will look like the sands of a beach~pretty and moist)
3. To the roasted rawai add the sugar. Stir for 3-4 minutes.
4. Now add cardomom powder, cashews and raisins. Mix well.
5. Now add the milk. Mix well. Remove and set aside to cool and the milk to absorb the rawai.
6. While still warm, shape the rawai mixture into round laddus, and leave till dry and firm. Reshape if necessary and store in airtight containers

Tips: One cup makes about ten laddus in the size shown below. Store in refrigerator for longer shelf life. You could add 1/4 cup of grated coconut roasted in ghee. 

Rawa Laddu~My entry for Lavi`s Diwali Sweets & Snacks event.