This festive season, give the classic Besan Ladoo a makeover with these Chocolate Truffle Besan Ladoo. These ladoos have a melt-in-mouth chocolate truffle inside which melts into your mouth once you bite into them. The nutty besan and decadent chocolate are a match made in heaven!

I don’t know about you but I absolutely love besan ladoo. It is definitely one of my favorite Indian sweets (along with rasmalai and motichoor ladoo). My nani used to make it at home when we were kids and so I also have a lot of nostalgia associated with it. It is one mithai which I make every Diwali, without fail. You must check out my complete guide on besan ladoo which will make you an expert in making them at home!

With the Indian festive season just around the corner, I thought of giving besan ladoo a twist and made these Chocolate Truffle Besan Ladoo. These are the same ladoos but when you bite into them you are greeted with a rich and creamy chocolate truffle on the inside that just melts into your mouth.

Roasted besan has a nutty, caramel-ish flavor and in my opinion that flavor really compliments the chocolate. I first thought of adding cocoa powder to the besan ladoo mixture but the inside truffles were even a better idea. On my recent trip to India, I had a hazelnut praline crunch besan ladoo in Gurgaon where the ladoos had a hazelnut praline inside. So yeah all these flavors really go well with besan. I think salted caramel will also be so nice in besan ladoo, definitely have to try that combination someday.

Ingredients

Besan: for the ladoos you can use either regular fine besan or the coarse besan which is used for making ladoos. I used coarse besan (also known as ladoo besan) for this recipe. It gives the ladoos a nice texture.

Ghee: you can also use unsalted butter if you don’t have ghee.

Chocolate: use a good quality dark chocolate for the truffles. I recommend brands like Guittard, Ghirardelli, Valrhona. Do not use chocolate chips for making these truffles.

Heavy cream: you need cream with a fat percentage of at least 35% to make these truffles.

Step by Step Instructions

1. Start by making the chocolate truffle. Take 100 grams of good quality dark chocolate (I would not recommend using chocolate chips) and chop it fine. You need to chop the chocolate fine so that all the chocolate melts easily when you pour hot cream over it.
2. Heat 1/3 cup of heavy cream in a pan just until it starts to sizzle from the edges, do not boil it. Pour the warm cream over the bowl of chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes.
3. Now, take a wire whisk and stir the cream and chocolate together. Add a splash of vanilla if you like. The chocolate should melt complete and you should have a smooth ganache. If you see that some of the chocolate hasn’t melted and the mixture isn’t smooth, pop the bowl into the microwave and microwave in 10 seconds increments as needed and it should be all smooth.
4. Cover the bowl with a cling sheet with the sheet touching the surface of the ganache. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours for the ganache to harden.

5. Once the ganache has hardened, take the bowl out of the refrigerator. Line a baking sheet or plate with parchment paper or silicone mat. Use a mini cookie scoop to scoop out the ganache, don’t try to shape it at this point. Just scoop out the ganache using the mini cookie scoop and drop it on the sheet. Place the sheet in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Take out the sheet from the refrigerator after 30 minutes, now start shaping the truffles. This can get messy as the chocolate will melt as soon as it comes in contact with your hands. What I like to do is that rather than rolling the truffles between the palms, I push the ganache from both sides to bring it together and shape it into a round (as much as I can). Once it’s reasonably round, then I roll it quickly between my palms to make it more round and then roll into cocoa powder. You have to work here quickly especially if you live in a warm place.
7. Roll all truffles in cocoa powder.
8. Place the prepared truffles in the refrigerator while you work on the besan ladoo mixture.

9. Melt 1/4 cup ghee (55 ml) in a pan on medium heat. Once the ghee melts, add 1 cup besan (110 grams) to the pan and stir and set heat to low. At first it will clump and then start to loosen up around 7 to 8 minutes mark. Keep stirring at all times. Please read my detailed post on besan ladoo for complete instructions, it has all tips and tricks that you need to make this mithai.
10. After roasting the besan for around 25 minutes, it has this nutty aroma and changes to a light caramel color. It also becomes very smooth and liquid-y at this point. Do not burn it. You can also taste test to check if the besan is well roasted or not.
11. Let the besan cool down for around 10 minutes and then add 1/2 cup boora (75 grams) and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder. Mix until the boora is well combined with the besan.
12. Now, let the mixture cool down a little more. Since we are going to stuff these with truffles, we don’t want the mixture warm. We don’t want the mixture to become completely cold either because then the ghee will solidify and it will become difficult to shape ladoos. So, just let it cool down a bit more after adding the sugar. After it’s just slightly warm, start making the ladoos. Take some mixture and press it between your palms. Also, take out the truffles from the fridge at this point.

13. Make a well in the center by using your thumb.
14. Add the prepared truffles in the center.
15. Now use a little more of the besan ladoo mixture and place it on top of the truffle to seal the ladoo.
16. Then gently roll between your palms to shape the ladoo. Do not try to reshape the ladoo once you have shaped it. The chocolate will melt inside the ladoo and if you try to reshape it, the ladoo will break and chocolate will ooze out and then you can’t reshape it again. Make all the ladoos similarly. You would get around 8 truffles from the mixture, keep in mind these truffles are large in size.

Storing the Chocolate Truffle Besan Ladoo

I like to keep them at room temperature. When you keep them at room temperature, the truffles are a little melty when you bite into them and that’s what best about these ladoos. But I also live in a cold place, it might be a better idea to keep them in the fridge if you live in a warm place.

Important Tips (Please Read)

Making these Chocolate Truffle Besan Ladoo will need some skills. The first problem is getting the besan ladoo right. I have an in-depth post on making besan ladoos which covers all the details that you would need to make the ladoos perfectly. Please go through that post and also read the frequently asked questions. It covers all the commonly faced issues while making besan ladoo and offers solutions to fix them.

The second problem is making the truffles which can get messy with chocolate melting all over. And the last is sealing the truffle inside the ladoo, which again if not done properly can lead to lot of mess. Please read all the tips before you start making these.

• While making the truffles, chill the ganache twice. Once for 2 to 3 hours until it sets and then chill again for 30 minutes after scooping out small portions with the mini cookie scoop. Don’t make truffles immediately after that ganache has thickened. Scooping it out, chilling it and then making the truffles makes it less messy.
• Rather than rolling the truffles to shape them, bring the ganache together into a round by pushing it from both sides. Once it comes together and you have a rough round shape, then quickly and gently roll it between your palms and you will have round truffles. Some of the chocolate will still melt and stick to your fingers and that’s unavoidable. You just have to work very quickly here.
• When filling the ladoos with truffles, make sure the besan ladoo mixture has almost cooled down to room temperature. It should be very slightly warm. Do not let it cool all the way down though else it will become difficult to shape ladoos. The truffles should be cold (straight out from the fridge). You might need to use more besan ladoo mixture to seal the truffles inside. Once the truffle is covered from all sides, then roll the ladoo to shape it into a perfect round.
• DO NOT try to reshape the ladoo. Many times, we reshape the regular besan ladoos because initially the ghee isn’t that solid and it becomes easier to give them a perfect shape once the ghee has solidified. However in this case, there’s a truffle inside which will melt at room temperature (especially when you live in a warm place). So if you try to reshape the ladoo, the ladoo will break and the melted chocolate will ooze outside. The ghee solidifies and keeps the truffle sealed inside so don’t try to reshape the ladoos.