Motichoor Ladoo is a popular Indian sweet, made with besan (gram flour).

It’s one of my favorite sweets which I make for special occasions and is mouthwatering good!

I have mentioned this often that as a kid I was a very non-picky eater (and I am still the same!). I used to eat all veggies but the only thing I was picky was sweets.

I only liked 3 Indian sweets as a kid – rasmalai, besan ladoo and motichoor ladoo. These three were my absolute favorite and I didn’t care much for others.

It’s a different story now though. I guess being married to someone who has a massive sweet tooth does change a lot of things!

So, even though I like all sorts of sweets now, the motichoor ladoo remains my absolute favorite!

What is Motichoor Ladoo

Ladoos refers to anything round and sweet and we make a lot of ladoos. I already have several recipes on my blog and there are so many more.

Basically grains, lentils, dried fruits, nuts etc. everything can be converted into a ladoo.

Motichoor ladoo are made with gram flour or besan as we call it.

Tiny drops of chickpea flour (boondi) are deep fried and then mixed with a sugar syrup and then shaped into round balls.

It’s not difficult but like with every Indian sweet, you need some practice and patience to get it right.

How to Make Perfect Motichoor Ladoo

One of the most important things that you would need to make the perfect looking motichoor ladoo at home is a “motichoor ladoo jhara“.

It’s kind of a ladle (usually made with iron or other metal) with very fine holes. You need the one with tiniest holes for this recipe.

They come in different “hole numbers” like you need number 0 for motichoor ladoo. The bigger the hole number, the bigger are the holes and the bigger your boondi will be.

You can make the recipe using a ladle with bigger holes too but then that would not be motichoor ladoo, it would be boondi ladoo. You need very tiny boondi for this ladoo and for that you need this jhara.

And where do you find this jhara? I got mine from India from a store selling kitchen appliances. I just asked for the one with the smallest hole.

Second, if possible have two people make the ladoo. Let one person pour the batter and the other one tap the jhara with force so that the tiny balls fall rapidly into hot oil.

The person holding the jhara has to start tapping on the ladle as soon as the other person pours the batter.

You can do this alone but having two will make it much easier.

Make a thin flowing batter for these ladoos. It should fall on it’s own as you tap on the jhara.

Do not over-cook the boondis. Since these are very tiny boondi, they need to be fried for like 30 to 40 seconds only. You don’t want them to change color.

Don’t look for any consistency in sugar syrup. Just let the sugar dissolve and mixture come to a boil. Then turn off heat, add the fried boondi and cook on lowest heat until the sugar syrup reduced a bit.

Hold the jhara 3 to 4 inches above oil as you pour the batter. If you hold it very high, the resulting boondi might be flat.

Clean the jhara (ladle) with a wet cloth, wipe it completely clean between frying each batch. If you don’t do that, the boondis might clump together in hot oil.

Fry the boondi in ghee. The ghee in these ladoos is what gives them their amazing taste. So fry in ghee, and if you don’t want to do 100% ghee, you can use half oil and half ghee.

The traditional motichoor ladoo in India are often orange colored and hence I have added some food color here.

If you don’t want to add the color, simply skip.

Flavoring the Ladoo

These ladoos can be flavored with saffron, cardamom, rose water, kewra water etc.

If you ask me, the main flavor comes from the besan and ghee. So frying in ghee is must.

I have added some kewra water and cardamom powder in the sugar syrup. You can add rose water if you don’t have kewra water.

Melon seeds are also often added to these ladoo, however since I didn’t have them I skipped on those.

I hope you guys give these motichoor ladoos a try, they are not difficult trust me. You just need the right ladle to make the tiny boondis and of course some patience! 🙂

Method

1- To a large bowl add besan and food color (I used orange food color).

2- Then add little ghee and mix.

3- Start adding water.

4- Add around 1/2 cup (120 ml) to first form a thick batter without lumps. Then add 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water and mix well. Let the batter sit for 15 minutes.

5- Then add remaining 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water and mix. So the total that I used in this batter was 120 ml + 45 ml +45 ml = 210 ml.

6- Batter should be very thin and flowing consistency with no lumps.

7- Heat ghee in a kadai on medium-high heat.

Hold the jhara 3-4 inches above the oil. I use a canister and then place the jhara on top to give it support (see picture).

It also helps to have the support when you shake the jhara vigorously after pouring the batter. The handle of the jhara should be placed on the canister.

8- Fill a ladle with the batter, my ladle was big so I have filled it only half here.

9 & 10- Once ghee is hot, start pouring the batter through the jhara. Ask someone to help you.

11- They should pour the batter on jhara and you should move it up and down quickly (with the handle of the jhara placed on canister) to drop all batter in hot ghee in the kadai. Please see pictures for reference.

12- Let the tiny boondis cook in hot ghee for 30 to 40 seconds only, color should not change.

13- Remove fried boondi in a large sieve. Repeat until all tiny boondis are fried and batter is over. Remember to completely wipe clean the jhara with a wet cloth between frying each batch else the boondis can clump up. Set aside.

14- To make the syrup, to a large kadai, add sugar and water. Add cardamom powder, kewra water (or rose water).

15- Also add lemon juice and food color, if using.

16- Let the sugar dissolve and mixture come to a boil.

17- As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add the fried boondi to the pan. Stir and then turn on the heat again with heat set to lowest setting.

18- Cook on lowest heat for around 3 minutes, stirring continuously. You don’t want to dry the boondi but the excess sugar syrup should become less. It takes around 2 to 3 minutes.

Don’t overcook it else the boondi will dry out and won’t be soft from inside.

19- Remove on a plate and let cool completely. You can add melon seeds now. I didn’t have any.

20- Once the mixture has cooled down, take a small portion of the boondi mixture and roll between your palms to make motichoor ladoo. Repeat with the remaining boondi.

You would get around 12 to 15 ladoos from this.

Enjoy these Motichoor Ladoo as a special treat!

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This post has been updated from the recipe archives, first published in October 2015.