Urad Dal Laddu (No Bake Protein Balls) are nutritious, crunchy, and melt-in-mouth treats prepared using only 3 ingredients in less than 30 minutes.
Laddu (Laddo or Mithai) is a popular Indian sweet recipe prepared during special occasions or festivals like Diwali, Navratri, Holi, Eid, etc. These are also offered as prasad or prasadam at temples.
And now for types of laddu, I can go on and list hundreds of them, but the popular ones being Rava Laddu, Motichoor laddu, Boondi laddu, Besan Ladoo, Coconut ladoo, and Jagerry Ladoo.
My husband is a big fan of Rava Ladoo and I love Besan laddu. My little one loves this Urad Dal Ladoo very much. It is for him I prepare this very often.
This laddu is best energy booster for kids and pregnant ladies. If you are planning to travel long flights or on days where your kids are not interested to eat, give them this laddu. This is filled with lot of nutrition and health benefits.
The three main and only ingredients used here are:
Urad dal (Black gram or lentil) :
- Urad dal is rich in protein, and thus acts as an energy booster.
- It is also rich in Vitamin B and useful for women specially pregnant ladies as this lentil also comes packed with iron, folic acid, calcium, potassium and magnesium.
Ghee (Brown butter) :
- Healthiest source of edible fat, heart-healthy fats.
- Reduces exposure to cancer causing agents.
- It has anti-inflammatory properties.
- Best way to boost the calorie intake in babies that keeps them energetic and super active.
Jaggery (Gur or Gud) :
- Boosts immunity within body.
- Eases menstrual cramp pains.
- You can prevent from being anemic as it is rich in iron content.
- It helps in baby movement and prevents the problem of constipation.
- It treats the symptoms of cold and flu
I can go on with health benefits of ghee, urad dal and jaggery, specially for kids... With so much health benefits and taste, I highly recommend you all to try this delicious laddu or ladoo or protein balls at least once.
Please note that I am not health care provider or a nutritionist, and therefore I am note sure if any of the health benefits listed above are backed-up by research - they may just be myths based on peoples experience.
How to make the laddus
First, dry roast the urad dal or black gram on low flame till it becomes light golden in color. Make sure this is done on medium to low flame to prevent any burning from bottom and it is roasted evenly. Allow this to cool down completely.
Grind it to a coarse or fine powder, depending on your liking. For crunchy ladoo make it coarse and for smooth laddu make it into fine powder. Transfer this to a bowl.
In same blender, blend jaggery (may also use brown sugar or sugar) and transfer to the same bowl. If you have bigger blender or mixer you can blend urad dal and jaggery together. Mix this well.
Now add ghee to the portion of this mixture. See that ghee is melted and luke-warm/cool to touch. From this take small portions and roll them into balls. As soon as you add ghee, you will have to roll them into balls. So instead of adding all ghee at once, making it in parts is very helpful. In this way you will know the amount of ghee needed and you will not end up adding extra.
If you really find it difficult to roll the laddu - specially if you are doing it for first time or you are in short of time - you can simply mix all 3 ingredients, store it in air tight container and serve a tablespoon of it as a powder along with breakfast, lunch or dinner.
This laddu or the powder can be stored in air tight container for 10 to 15 days.
Detailed Recipe for Urad dal Laddu or Sunnundalu or Ladoo
Recipe card
Urad Dal laddu
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Urad Dal with or without skin, urad dal is also known as black gram lentil
- 1 ½ cups Jaggery Grated. You can substitute jaggery with Brown sugar or Sugar.
- ½ to ¾ cup Ghee Ghee is also known as Clarified Butter or Brown Butter, warm and melted, adjust as needed
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt a pinch, optional
Instructions
Step I
- Dry roast the urad dal on medium to medium-low flame till you get nice aroma and it becomes golden in color.1 ½ cups Urad Dal
- Keep stirring it continuously so that it gets roasted evenly and does not burn from the bottom. Switch off the flame. Let this cool off completely.
Step II
- Grind the lentils into coarse or fine powder. If you like it crunchy grind it little coarse and if you like smooth laddu grind it fine. Transfer this to a bowl.
- Powdered or grated jaggery or sugar (use whatever you prefer) along with a pinch of salt in the same blender and transfer it to the same bowl of powdered dal and mix well.1 ½ cups Jaggery, ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- Now add melted ghee (should be luke-warm or cool to touch) to portion of mixture little by little. Do not add all ghee at once. Take portion of this mixture and roll them into balls.½ to ¾ cup Ghee
- Keep repeating the process of adding ghee and rolling them into balls till you are done. Transfer them into air tight container.
- Urad Dal Laddu is now ready. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- Start rolling the mixture into laddus as soon as you add melted ghee.
- Do not burn the dal while roasting. and make sure you roast it on medium or low flame.
- If you have a big blender or mixer, you can even blend everything together but make sure the roasted dal is completely cooled.
- If you really find it difficult to roll the laddu - especially if you are doing it for the first time or you are short of time - you can simply mix all 3 ingredients, store it in an airtight container and serve a tablespoon of this powder along with breakfast, lunch or dinner. In this case, just reduce the amount of ghee to ½ cup, as we are not binding them into balls.
- You can use milk instead of ghee. But it should be consumed immediately and has no shelf life.
- As you can see in the mixture above, I have blended my mixture into coarse powder as I really like the crunchy version. If you like it really smooth, make it into fine powder.
- Salt is optional, but I always like to add a pinch to my sweet recipes as it gives a different kick.
- You can use split black gram with or without the skin. The color of the laddu will change accordingly.
Nutrition
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Urad Dal also known as black gram lentil
- 1 ½ cups Jaggery grated or Brown sugar or Sugar
- ½ to ¾ cup Ghee, warm and melted, adjust as needed
- Salt, a pinch (optional)
Instructions
Step I
- Dry roast the urad dal on medium to medium low flame till you get nice aroma and it becomes golden in color.
- Keep stirring it continuously so that it gets roasted evenly and do not burn from the bottom. Switch off the flame. Let this cool off completely.
Step II
- Grind the lentils into coarse or fine powder. If you like it crunchy grind it little coarse and if you like smooth laddu grind it fine. Transfer this to a bowl.
- Powder jaggery, or sugar (whatever you prefer to use) along with pinch of salt in the same blender and transfer it to the same bowl of dal and mix well.
- Now add warm ghee to portion of mixture little by little. Do not add all ghee at once. Take portion of this mixture and roll them into balls.
- Keep repeating the process of adding ghee and rolling them into balls till you are done. Transfer them into air tight container.
- Urad Dal Laddu is now ready. Serve and enjoy.
Recipe Notes
- Start rolling the mixture into laddus as soon as you add warm ghee.
- Do not burn the dal while roasting and make sure you roast it on medium or low flame.
- If you have big blender or mixer, you can even blend everything together but make sure the roasted dal is cooled completely.
- If you really find it difficult to roll the laddu if you are doing it for first time or you are in short of time, you can simply mix all 3 ingredients, store it in air tight container. and serve a tablespoon of it along with breakfast, lunch or dinner. In this case just add ½ cup of ghee.
- You can use milk instead of ghee. But it should be consumed immediately and has no shelf life.
- As you can see in the mixture above, I have blended my mixture into coarse powder as I really like the crunchy version. If you like it really smooth make it into fine powder.
- Salt is optional, but I always like to add a pinch in my sweet recipes as it gives a different kick.
- You can use split black gram with or without the skin. The color of the laddu will change accordingly.
Caroline
I love how few ingredients these have. I'm really intrigued by the method of roasting the dhal rather than cooking as such - definitely keen to try!
Nart at Cooking with Nart
These look so good! Love that they're no-bake and packed with protein!
Beth
I didn't realize that these are so nutritious. I will have to see if the black gram lentils are available to buy where I live.
Stine Mari
What a fantastic energy booster! I love the flavor of brown butter and brown sugar so I think I will try it with those options - yum!