I am a hige fan of gajar desserts and the inspiration for this recipe came from my gajar halwa with khoya recipe and I decided to give it a ladoo form. Ladoo are sweet round shaped mithai that is very popular in India and are essential part of festive celebrations in India.. Ladoos are made assortment of ingredients, including grains, nuts, fruits, flour, ghee, and sweeteners like sugar, jaggery, or dates. When it comes to flavors, the possibilities are endless, from aromatic green cardamom, fragrant saffron to delicate rose water, or the exotic kewda essence.
Gajar Ladoo
These gajar (carrot) ladoos are made with fresh grated carrots, ghee, sugar, coconut and mawa.These are gluten and grain free and can be easily made nut free. Since the carrots are naturally sweet, I did not need add a lot of sugar. This a small batch recipe which makes about 6 to 8 ladoos depending on how big you roll them. This recipe is quite similar to how gajar ka halwa is made in north indian homes. Gajar halwa is an indian dessert made with grated carrots. I make it in the traditional slow cooked method and its delighful. However, these ladoos do not take that long. They come together much faster. You can also make them without the mawa stuffing, they are still quite delicious. You could use store bought khoya or make instant khoya at home and use it for the filling.
How to make carrot ladoos (Step Photos)
These ladoos are pretty easy to make, however there are a few steps and it takes 45 minutes total start to finish. Step 1 :- We will start by grating the carrots. Use a box grater or any grater that you normally use in your kitchen and use the side which will give you thin & short carrot shreds. This is important for the soft texture of the ladoos. Plus it shortens the cooking time as well. Step 2: Once the carrots are cooked in whole milk or half and half we are going to add desiccated coconut and sugar. As soon as sugar is added you will notice that the carrot mixture becomes loose like a slurry. This is because of the moisture of the sugar. However don’t worry, it cooks out fast. Step 3 : While the carrots are cooking, you can quicking make the mawa stuffing by mixing together khoya, sugar and cardamom powder. Step 4: At the last, once the carrot sugar mixture has dried out, we are going to saute it with ghee and mix in the milk powder (or add grated fresh mawa). Once the mixture is cool, roll ladoos by stuffing mawa in them.
Recipe Tips
If possible, select in season carrots for naturally added sweetness. The recipe uses ⅓ cup sugar and these ladoos were mildly sweet. You can add upto ½ cup sugar but remember in that case you will have to cook the carrots a little longer for the moisture to dry out. Don’t use non fat milk powder. Use milk powder with high percentage of fat. I used Nido brand. You can flavor the mawa with saffron, this will make the stuffing nice yellow color.
