Basen Ladoo - Indian Sweets, westernised

Anyone familiar with authentic Indian food might have had the chance to taste some of the Indian sweets. Just to give you some idea of what they're like - well, perhaps my opinion is nothing to go by as I tend to like absolutely anything that's heading for my stomach, but when it comes to Indian sweets, ah! Leave me in an Indian sweet shop and there's a danger I'll be climbing over the counter and begging the owners to let me live the rest of my days in their fridge.

Words can't adequately describe them and 'rich', 'creamy' and 'totally scrumpscious' only linger in the antechamber.

You get the message - they're nice. But the thing is, it's not always possible to find an authentic Indian sweet shop nearby and when making the sweets yourself at home there are other practical factors to consider which is why I've personalised this particular recipe.

Now, before I go any further, if you're interested in making the real Basen Ladoo then I shall direct you to this excellent, excellent site (which is easy to follow as it has videos for nearly every recipe) and suggest you waste no further time with my shoddy efforts. If however, you too would like to try a more practical version or are wondering why on earth I'm tampering with recipes that are thousand of years old in the first place, read on.

The original recipe that I used goes like this:

• 300g/10 ounces of Gram flour (basen),
• 2 tablespoons semolina flour,
• 1/2 cup ghee or unsalted melted butter,
• 250g/8 ounces sugar,
• 4 tablespoons sliced almonds,
• 1/4 teaspoons coarsely grounded cardamom seeds.

After some trial and error (mostly error), this is what I've come up with:

• 150/5 ounces of Gram flour,
• 150g/5 ounces of wholemeal flour,
• 2-3 tablespoons of semolina (or you can leave it out altogether if you want),
• some olive oil,
• some brown sugar,
• some chopped walnuts,
• the seeds of seven to eight cardamom pods,
• water or milk depending on which you prefer.

I use cardamom seeds instead of the powder simply because I couldn't find the powder;the walnuts because almonds cost an arm and a leg here; brown sugar - don't get me started on the horrors of white sugar...;olive oil because it's easier than melting down butter and perhaps lighter; wholemeal flour - this is to substitute the missing quantity of Gram flour simply because Gram flour (also known as chickpea flour) is likely to make things rather windy, if you know what I mean, so if you've organised a sophisticated soirée you're much safer with wholemeal flour. If however you want to try that familiar Besan ladoo taste you can always up the Gram flour quantity when you get a quiet evening to yourself, although it won't be a quiet evening from much longer.

The original Basen ladoo should have plenty of ghee or butter which makes it very rich but my version is a tad lighter because I use only a little olive oil and water or milk to bind the dough at the end - however I can assure you they still taste good (though obviously different from the original ones) and I'm happier too because I can scoff the whole lot in one sitting! Lovely jubbly!

So on with the recipe. Here's what you have to do.

Once you've sieved the flour and semolina into a bowl, rub in just enough olive oil or melted butter to give it a 'crumby' texture. Throw in some cardamom seeds and transfer the whole lot into a frying pan and start roasting it on a low heat, stirring constantly.

After ten minutes or perhaps more (depending on how much flour you've used) it should start giving off a fragance and changing colour - as it's approaching readiness throw in the walnuts and roast them for a few minutes still turning. Turn off the heat and keep stirring so the flour doesn't burn.

When it's cooled a bit, transfer the whole lot to a bowl. Stir in the sugar (it's best to go by sight - stir in a bit at a time until grains of sugar can be seen in every part of the flour). To make the ladoo add enough water or milk or whatever you're using, to make a soft dough and with the palm of your hands roll them into little balls. They're already fine to eat already but they taste even better after a few hours in the fridge.

Happy munching!