One of the traditional sweets in South India, nutrient-rich Urad dhal laddu helps you have healthy indulgent during festivals. It is also known as ‘Ulutham laadu’ in Tamil Nadu and ‘Minapa Sunnundalu’ in Andhra.
How to make Urad Dhal Laddu / Minapa Sunnundalu?
It’s a simple recipe with very few ingredients that we use in our daily cooking. There are different ways of preparing this laddu, namely:
- Dry roasting urad dhal and grinding into fine flour.
- Soaking urad dhal for few hours, dry roasting and grinding into fine flour.
- Using finely powdered jaggery.
- Using whole jaggery, melting and making thick syrup.
- Using sugar powder instead of jaggery.
Whatever the version is, this Urad Dhal Laddu never fails to satiate your sweet cravings, that too in a healthy way with all its goodness.
In this version (handed down by my Grandma), I have dry roasted urad dhal and grounded into fine flour. The jaggery used in this recipe is organic, in fine powder form. Since it is already cleaned and packed, I just added it to the flour. If you are using non-organic jaggery or whole jaggery, it needs to be melted, strained to remove impurities and made into a thick syrup before adding it to the flour. Let’s got through this easy procedure of making this healthy ‘Urad Dhal Laddu / Minapa Sunnundalu’.
Ingredients
- Whole White Urad Dhal – 1 cup
- Jaggery Powder – ¾ cup, finely powdered
- Coconut – 2 tbsp, finely grated
- Desi Ghee – ½ to ¾ cup (as required to shape laddus)
- Elaichi Powder – ½ tsp
Method
- Dry roast urad dhal till it turns golden colour and emits nice flavour.
- Grind the roasted dhal into powder and sieve it twice to get fine flour.
- Dry roast the grated coconut till it becomes light golden colour.
- In a large mixing bowl take urad dhal flour, jaggery powder, elaichi powder and roasted coconut. Mix well.
- Melt desi ghee. Add ladle by ladle ghee to the flour mix.
- Keep adding ghee till you can hold a handful of flour and shape it into laddu.
- Make laddus while the flour mix is lukewarm.
- The laddus harden up slightly once it gets to room temperature.
- Store them in air-tight containers and relish.
Notes
- You can also substitute jaggery with sugar. In that case laddus will be lighter in colour. Taste also differs. Ratio will be 1 cup dhal : 1 cup sugar
- If using non-organic or whole jaggery, dissolve in hot water, strain to remove impurities, make thick syrup and add it to the flour.
- Cashews and raisins can also be added if required.
Happy Cooking!