If you are dreading to eat sweets this festival season because it is loaded with sugar and calories, there’s good news! You don’t always have to add sugar, jaggery or artificial sweeteners to prepare a sweet dish. Often, we fail to see the health benefits of simple ingredients we already have in the kitchen. Most nuts and dry fruits are used in curries or for garnishing purpose. However, there are also better ways to use them. Dry nuts and fruits are readily available. Each nut or fruit has a unique quality.
Dry fruits laddu is the best sweet snack with all the wholesome ingredients you can ever find. They are usually prepared at home during Diwali, Navaratri and Krishna Janmashtami. You don’t have to consume this power food during the festivals alone. Adults and children can equally relish it between the main meals. However, you might want to watch the quantity. While it is a perfectly healthy snack, it is better not to eat more than one laddu.
Packing this for your kid’s lunch? Make sure you pack them in an school tiffin box or in your kids snack boxes.
Health Benefits
- Dried fruits commonly contain more fiber than the same-sized fresh fruits. Fiber helps keep your digestive system running efficiently.
- Phenols, a kind of antioxidant, are more plentiful in fruits like dates and figs than in some fresh fruits. Plant polyphenols are known to fight heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer and degenerative diseases of the brain
- Walnuts have a good number of neuroprotective elements like vitamin E, Omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants which help to enhance cognitive function. They also aid in fighting stress.
Ingredients
3 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter
1 cup seedless dates
1 cup seedless dates
¼ cup cashews, chopped
½ tsp cardamom powder
¼ cup almonds, chopped
How To Make Dry Fruit Laddu Recipe
- Dry blend seedless dates coarsely. Keep aside.
- In a wok (kadhai), add a tbsp of ghee.
- Add all the dry fruits, raisins, cashews, pistachios, and almonds.
- Stir-fry them on a medium flame for 3-4 minutes until they change color.
- Add dates and continue to fry.
- Smash the dates using a spatula to mix well with other dry fruits.
- Add cardamom powder and continue to fry.
- Keep frying until the dates start releasing oil.
- Turn off the flame and allow it to cool down a little.
- Start making laddus while the mixture is still warm.
- You can store laddus for at least 2 weeks in airtight container.
Trivia
English Walnuts are native to the Middle East, and the Black Walnut is a Native American variety. Walnuts grown in California are English walnuts. Black walnuts are chiefly used as rootstock for English walnuts.
Historians commonly agree that almonds and dates are both mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, were among the earliest cultivated foods.