I love my mum’s besan laddoos.
I don’t know how to make them, though. They’re quite labour intensive — and rich. Something you make for a very special occasion. Which in my culture means when you’re celebrating life’s joyous moments — weddings, pregnancies, university graduations etc — and religious occasions such as Diwali.
So you can imagine my glee when I discovered Ayurvedic bindi balls — they’re just as delicious, but MUCH healthier.
I’ve adapted these bindi balls from the Mudita Institute’s Ayurvedic Warmth cookbook — which you can download for free if you subscribe to their newsletter.
What I love about these balls is that they are super nourishing and filling — given that they are loaded with healthy fats and protein — and are bursting with flavour from the ghee and spices.
Total cooking time: 40 minutes | Makes 22–25 walnut sized balls
These balls are gluten-free.
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup blanched almonds
- 1/2 cup of chopped medjool dates
- ¾ cup ghee
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp cardamom seeds (seeds only), roughly ground
- 1 ¾ cups besan (chickpea) flour
- 1/3 cup desiccated coconut
- 1/2 cup LSA mix
- 1/3 cup rapadura or coconut sugar, lumps removed
In fry pan, dry toast the sesame seeds. Then set aside to cool.
While the seeds are cooling, dry toast the almonds in the fry pan, then once cooled, chop roughly.
In a large heatproof bowl, add the chopped almonds, sesame seeds and chopped dates. Set aside.
Now, warm the ghee in a large wide-based pan. Toast the fennel and cardamom seeds in the warmed ghee until fragrant. Add the besan flour and desiccated coconut and stir continuously until the mixture has a nice toasted biscuit-y smell. You want the besan flour fully cooked — this takes about 5-7 minutes. Next, tip in the sugar and LSA mix to the pan and stir to mix thoroughly.
Remove from the heat and tip the mixture into the bowl with the seeds, nuts and dates. Mix well.
Allow the mixture to cool for 15–20 mins until it is easy to handle.
Roll into walnut sized balls and pop in a large glass jar in the fridge to harden.
Keeps for weeks, but I don’t think it will last long — especially if you share them!
Lesh Karan 
Oh yum, these sounds BEAUTIFUL. I actually just recently bought some besan flour for the first time so I will definitely have to use it to make this recipe. Thank you for the inspiration!
My pleasure Lisa! I hope you enjoy the laddoos 🙂
Just thinking if I use coconut oil instead of Ghee (as im dairy free) would it be same quantities? these look so delish if I had all the ingredients right now i would be making them.
Yep, try it with the same amounts and see how go. If you struggle binding the balls, you can add some more when rolling the balls.
have to ry it out , but what is LSA
Hiya Nasra, LSA is a mix of ground linseeds (flax seeds), ground sunflower seeds, and ground almonds. You could just use ground linseeds or sunflower seeds if you can’t get LSA in Fiji 🙂
Hi Lesh, I made these lovely Bindi Balls, but had to make a few alterations.
Instead of besan flour I used fine corn flour or polenta because I had none
of the other on hand. When the mixture was still a little dry, even after
I had softened the polenta with some hot water, I decided to get creative
and used some orange flour water for flavouring. Then, when my coconut
ran out which I used to roll them in, I used some very lovely pistachio dukkah
that I got from the farmers market yesterday. All in all, I’m rather pleased
with this endeavour. They taste quite lovely. thanks for the inspiration ! Meredith.
Thanks Meredith! What an ingenious creation. I always say that recipes are a guide, and it’s up to the cook to make it their own. Which you certainly have. L x
well in this case my creative attempts were successful. Not always so unfortunately!
Hi Lesh,
I made the besan ladoo following your recipe exactly. Honestly , I did expect them to be tasting good but not as good as they turned out to be. They are addictive! I can’t thank you enough for this wonderful recipe. They smell divine too :-)…
They’re pretty amazing, aren’t they? I hardly make them these days, but will do for Diwali. Enjoy 🙂
[…] These Indian Style Bliss Balls are packed of spices, flavour and can be dangerously addictive. I’d never heard of Besan Laddu’s until recently, when I was spending afternoon tea at a friends house and was served these little bites of delight. I came home that evening with the recipe in my hand and prepared to make them at home. This recipe is adapted from the blog Lesh Karan […]